Best cost for flight to Germany

No one can help you much unless you let us know where you are flying from. Different cities/markets command different prices.

Where are you flying from?

I bought an open jaw flight from ATL to Munich and from Vienna to CDG to ATL for $822. Granted I'm flying 11/28 and return 12/09.
I think any price around $1,000 and under is fantastic.

I go on the Delta Airlines website weekly or a couple times a month and check out the dates I want to fly and make note of the prices. I do this over several months' time and then when I see a good price in comparison to what I've been tracking, I buy!

This method works for me because I fly out of Atlanta and Delta is our airline. Also, I work and time is an important factor in that I don't have extra days to fly somewhere and spend the night to get a really cheap price or time to drive to Orlando, for example, to catch a really cheap flight.

My point is that "cheap" to me is expensive to someone else and you have to make your own judgment about what you are willing to pay to travel.

I'm just looking for a general/average price that people consider a good deal. USA (LAX) to Germany. I mean, what is the best deals that people have found $400 or $800, etc. Thanks.

Thanks, Judy!

I'll say this is a good price... if you're dep from LAX to Frankfurt or Munich...anything under $ 1,000. for a ticket in Basic Economy, be it in April all the way to Oct. The lower the better, even if it's a sardine can seat.

I go in the summer, so anything I can get for less than one grand, non-stop to Germany, I'll take, obviously, the lower the fare, the better.

If I can get a flight on United, Lufthansa SFO to FRA or MUC non-stop (prefer the straight 11 hrs) for $500 or $ 600, grab it.

Likewise on flying non-stop to Berlin from Calif.

Right now SAS has tickets for about $600 per person (long layover in ARN). I've been watching tickets for about 600-800 per person. I was aiming or $500 and am a little nervous about booking 6 months in advance! :) But so far I definitely can get there for under $1000 each. I guess I will go with the best flight I can find for 500-600.

I should ask, if I have a LONG layover on a flight, we can leave the airport and come back in through customs? They let you leave?

If you are looking at the Monday $589 SAS flights the answer is yes they let you leave the airport and comeback but the 18h layover is really overnight so if you factor in the price of a hotel in Sweden does this affect your decision? It would affect my decision since the United/Lufthansa nonstop flights are $1700. These prices are per person for random days in September using the monthlong feature of matrix.itasoftware.com.

$1700 per person is way over budget for me! I'm looking to spend $1200-$1400 for 2. I did consider the hotel. I still am looking into going to London first.

Condor Airlines will fly you LAX-SEA-FRA for around $950 each (roundtrip) at that time. You will fly on Alaska Airlines from LAX to Seattle and have a layover of 1 hour 50 minutes before boarding the non-stop to Frankfurt. Overall flight time is just over 15 hours. That is their basic fare, so you would have to pay another $35 each per flight if you want to reserve seats or buy a special meal.

We like Aer Lingus connecting in Dublin. It is also nice to be able to go through US customs and immigration in Dublin on the way home. When you arrive in LAX you would just able pick up your bags and go home. Aer Lingus fares are in the $1,000 - $1,100 range.

I would expect flights to start increasing in cost as the Boeing 737 grounding is going to take a lot of aircraft out of service until a fix is found.

I haven't seen a good round trip flight to Europe for under $700 in a couple years.

If you are flying out of LAX why not book on Norwegian Air to London or almost anywhere in Europe and take a short hop to Germany?
I've flown Norwegian from SFO 3 times and I think that they are just fine.

In your search, realize that the price quoted should reflect round trip or open jaws. Don't buy 2 one way tickets--they are ungodly expensive. I was fortunate to pick up an Air Canada flight from LAX to Rome with a 24 hour layover in Montreal. The original RT fare was around $600, a steal. That was for a barebones teeny seat, so I upgraded my seat to one that was more desirable, and the total was about $850 roundtrip.

Start checking Scott's Cheap Flights -- free email of bargains that may be available only a day or two. We have flown RT SFO to Paris for under $500 each (the latest being United Basic Economy) in April and May so $500 is my jump-on-it level. But we do NOT travel in summer high season, and we have time flexibility.
EDIT: only use Scott's to alert me to bargains -- I book directly with the airline. Also, people often post on this site about sales they have found.

Last summer I flew PDX to FRA, MUC to PDX for $780 rt with Air Canada/Lufthansa with a layover in Vancouver. Cheap flights are out there. We’re flying to Madrid and home from Paris this fall for $630 rt on Delta/Air France from a small local airport. Flying from PDX would cost $200 more!

Go to google and plug in your airports. Look at multi-city. Try different days of the week. I found the best deal for our trip this fall by flying mid-week. Check prices often, they fluctuate daily. One day I saw fares of $1300, the next day $630. Same airline, same route. Check surrounding airports. Try Orange County and Burbank.

Once you find fares you like, book directly with the airlines. Beware that google flights may show flights that aren’t actually available, so be flexible.

Last year's trip departing on April 28 from OAK to Gatwick non-stop, on Br Air in Basic Economy r/t was $500. Return was on June 7.

SAS is a great airline, why would you avoid them? And, they don't fly the 737 Max…

@douglasmeyer Have you tried flying to Kennedy and getting a flight from there? That's what we've been doing lately. Delta doesn't have much competition from the more convenient for us Atlanta airport. It's like the olden days when there were no regularly scheduled international flights from Atlanta and everyone going to Europe from Georgia had to go to Kennedy/Idlewild. I think prices are about competition, not distance.

" I think prices are about competition, not distance."

Indeed they are!

When I see what others pay from other US cities to get to Europe, I'm always a bit fearful to post how inexpensively I can fly to the same place from New York. In addition, I can often get good deals with only 2-3 months advance purchase; many others report that they need lots more advance time to get an affordable fare.

For domestic US flights, Los Angeles has some of the lowest flight prices in the country, because all the airlines have a large presence there, but no one airline dominates. At Charlotte, NC, on the other hand, American Airlines has 90% of the flights; they have very high prices for flights.

So, to the OP, there is no such thing as a "good price from the US to Germany." You have to specify the origin and destination airports and the dates. A cheap fare from New York to Frankfurt won't work if you need to get from Omaha to Berlin. And if you are booking separate tickets to save money, do understand all the issues risks; there's a great summary here: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g41707-c207311/Newton:Massachusetts:Connecting.On.Separate.Tickets.html

Again, I'm not saying you can't or shouldn't do this; just be aware of what you are doing.

As for SAS and Norwegian, they are apple and orange. Norwegian is a budget airline that has no affiliation with other carriers. You pay for everything a la carte (seat selection, baggage, food), and if there's any problem, you have to wait until Norwegian fixes it (they can't put you on anyone else's planes). SAS is a "legacy" carrier that is part of the Star Alliance group. More things are included with your base fare, and if there's an issue, they can use United, Lufthansa, etc.

I last flew SAS in 2003; at that time, even in coach, it was definitely nicer than other airlines in coach. I haven't flown Norwegian, but those who do have good reports, as long as you understand how they work (in other words, people who didn't do their research complain that there's no free food or drink on board). There are also questions about Norwegian's continued survival; I don't know the latest, but I do remember last year when another transatlantic budget carrier, Primera Air, shut down with absolutely no notice, leaving people stranded.