Cheap Flights to Central Europe from PDX or SEA

I like Condor out of Seattle. They fly nonstop to Frankfurt one or two days a week in the summer. I randomly picked travel dates for you - July 17 with a return on August 7. Condor prices out at about $1273. Lufthansa wants nearly $1800 for the same flights on that day. I find Condor to be reliably less expensive and a totally acceptable airline.

Cheap is a relative term. There is no best time and no city is routinely better. Only thing you can do is use a search engine and try a different set cities and time and see what happens. Some will suggest 90 days but that is a risk especially since you are flying at the peak time. Personally I find early as possible is general the best time.

Justin,

welcome.

so far, my cost Round Trip (R/T) from Portland (PDX) to Amsterdam (AMS) has been around 1200~1300 with 1300 USD for this year. I haven purchased my tickets yet, but the way things look, its going to be about 1300 r/t PDX to AMS. it will go up since i plan on adding some additional legs to the r/t this time.

by the way (btw) i use AMS as my hub since they have direct flights from PDX to AMS and i choose to fly non stop for now. just an for your information (fyi), i did take a cheaper flight on my first time with 2 layovers but it added 6 hours to my fly time. I saved 200 USD, but it cost me 6 addtional hours in airport. So you can determine for yourself its worth it.

Also, when it comes to $$$, dont be afraid to state your budget. different people have different budget and what they think of as "cheap".

Charlie may chime in. I believe he flys in/out of SEA.

IF you dont mind the drive to the other airport, then i would look at whatever less expensive flights that can be purchased. the cost of the tickets will be the deciding factor. Also, if you do use the other airport, add the cost of $$ and time of the drive to that too.

i hate driving so driving to SEA for a flight doenst appeal to me, however the greedy part of me could cause me to look if i can trim mucho $$$ off a ticket. but i doubt that will happen.

happy trails.

I would take a look at Iceland Air. Though it isn't non-stop, the layover in Iceland is only 40 min. and the trip from Seattle to Iceland is only 7 hours. That is hard to beat. If you are like me, the trans-Atlantic part of flying is what I dislike the most. Just sitting there for 9, 10, or 11 hours is the worst.

Thanks for the info! Ideally I would like to leave from PDX, but did notice that SEA to Frankfurt would be a convenient flight as well. Do you think the nonstop flights to AMS from PDX will go down in price for the summer? Right now they are hovering around $1700.

@ justinwojo,

Thanks for the info! Ideally I would like to leave from PDX, but did notice that SEA to Frankfurt would be a convenient flight as well. Do you think the nonstop flights to AMS from PDX will go down in price for the summer? Right now they are hovering around $1700.

I try to do my travels in March/Sept and my last 2 trips to Europe has been in Sept. The r/t from PDX to AMS has been around the 1200~1300 and rising. It 2x+ a couple weeks before my trip last year.

Since its the summer (summer = higher prices), i doubt the cost will drop, but who knows. For me, the 300 price dif to play their game isnt worth it.

you can do all of the tricks to try and see if there any difference.

happy trails.

We would not expect prices to come down for summer travel. Find the best combination of schedule and price that you can, and get it booked, presumably as a multi-city itinerary, such as into Poland and out from Italy, if those two end points have been decided. The trip looks pretty crammed, so also lay it out on a calendar and consider whether any destination can be cut, before locking in nonrefundable flights.

First: do you have a copy of RS "Europe thru the Back Door" book yet? If so, great. If not, I would strongly recommend that you get a copy as soon as possible as it is often considered the "must have" book for first time travelers to Europe. It can be ordered elsewhere on this web site.

Second: I go to Europe every summer for a month for 11 of the last 12 years, and travel in the spring or fall to avoid higher prices and crowds. I fly out of Seattle as I am in Seattle at that time of year. I have always tried to fly on an European airline so I can get a non-stop flight as opposed to a "direct flight" that may have several stops even if it is cheaper. Since I have some flexibility in my schedule, I do shop price. I use a couple of the web consolidators to find prices and then I alway book directly with the airline just in case there are any problems during my trip related to air transportation as it is much easier dealing with the airline directly rather than a third party that you may choose. If I was living in Vancouver, WA, I would be flying out of PDX.

Third: I would never try to visit 5 countries in 3 weeks. (21 days - one day time zone change going over / -4 days traveling between 5 countries / -1 day for return to US = 15 days for 5 countries or 3 days each) That is certainly doable but you will certainly be wacked out when it is over. Better to try for 3 or at most 4 countries. You should check out flying into Germany (Lufthansa?) then going to Poland or Austria and finally to Italy where you should fly home from ("open jaws").

Fourth: If you are actually still planning on going to Europe as early as July, you had better get you schedule figured out "yesterday" so that you can find some places to stay wherever you plan on going as you will be finding a lot of places sold out a long time ago. I make B&B/hotel reservations about 6 months before I go. There is not much need to book air fare if you do not have a place to stay unless you are booking refundable/changeable tickets which are much more expensive.

Lastly: I take a RS tour every year while in Europe (#12 - Greece later this month) and I get one of his guide books that covers whatever areas we will be visiting and I take the whole book with me. I would suggest that you investigate getting someones guide books for whatever places you decide upon. RS guide books can be ordered elsewhere on this web site. Guide books are indispensable as they are a cheap investment when considering how much your trip is costing and I would strongly recommend them for new travelers to Europe. Seattle to AMS to Greece and return May and June $2000 each on KLM/Delta (code share).

Happy travels and hope all works out for you and just remember that so many folks that go to Europe for the first time do return.