Unreal airfares to Europe this year

Unfortunately, no time soon.

Jet fuel prices are going to be high for some time, even after (or if) the Straight opens again. Refinement and distribution of jet fuel takes time. Also, the "cheap" seats are no longer favorable for the airlines: they're making more on premium economy and business class seats. Add to that the fact the airlines now know travelers will bear higher prices, they'll be in no hurry to lower them again.

CNBC and Bloomberg have both been running articles about how the era of inexpensive travel is probably over until there's some kind of economic correction that makes it profitable again.

As always, your mileage may vary.

-- Mike Beebe

No one knows; no one could have predicted this current international mess.

You can use Google Flights and set up price Alerts. Sometimes a fare will drop for a few hours. You can also see how prices change with the days of the week, and research the history of the prices. You can also search flights to other European airports- sometimes that helps. Or from different US airports.
Once you have done your research, always book directly with the airlines.
I'm afraid we are all going to be affected by these price bumps. Good luck!

Dear OP, Could you perhaps give a little more detail? For example. What were they asking in 2025 and what are you getting as quotes now? Also, what city pairs are you looking at?

We do sympathize, but are thankful we purchased our ORD-LHR tickets for August/Sept back in December.

Hmm... confusing post. I checked a random day Nov 11-19. Nonstop roundtrip Chicago to Paris $778 on United. Delta and American also have a similar fare. Agree with Carol now retired; hard to understand this post until more info is provided / sources sited.

Yes, I have a Google Flight alert. Sorry for any confusion, we are flying business class. When I turned 65 I decided I had enough of economy/plus and I am working full time with an incentive to be able to travel in business class on the once per year trip to Europe. Booking in 2025 for April 2026, Polaris to Brussels, non stop, was about $3,500. The fare in and out of CDG is about $5,000 for a non stop.

Maybe it's me, but is anyone seeing lower prices in 2026?

I am sorry. I know it is pricey. I was debating making some changes to my itinerary for September, but oh boy. The difference in fare price is out of this world. My husband thought I was crazy booking my flights in early February for my September trip (multi-city with SFO as base; and I booked separate flights within Europe). I am glad I did, and now I am stuck with my itinerary as too costly to change.

For some reason. British Airways to Dublin- Business Class- is lower than other locations. And we also have the BA Visa 10% discount. Is it worth it to you to fly into Dublin, then get to Paris via another mode? We are seriously considering Ireland/ Dublin for spring, and this is one of the reasons. We have always wanted to go, so this is added incentive.
Good luck to us all!

Okay, maybe prices for Business are manipulated differently than the cheap seats but less than 30 days ago I booked my July 7 trip Budapest > Philadelphia, Washington DC > Madrid > Valencia for under $800. I'm not too upset. Yes, 3 goats, but I doubt i could have done better if I had booked them a year ago.

3 goats ???

OP - just think how lucky you are to be booking from a city that has direct flights fo Europe !!

As has been suggested you may also need to get creative. Maybe a business class fare to London (or Amsterdam or Brussels) is cheaper, then you can take the train to Paris (Eurostar tickets are less expensive the earlier you purchase).

FWIW, in February I used my Delta miles to get a multi-city ticket for comfort economy for a November trip to Portugal. I have tracked the retail price since then and so far the price has not changed at all. I just checked and it's the same today as what I would have paid in February. No rhyme or reason it seems. I am not sure about United but Delta will refund you a credit if the price goes down after you buy a ticket. I've successfully done that adjustment, you just have to pay attention to the expiration date of the credit if there is one.

The stock market has nearly doubled in the last 3.5 years. Boomers may be cashing in on some of these gains to upgrade from steerage to B-class, increasing demand and price.

Marie, I almost always fly American, but I have definitely seen an increase in fares, both in money and in miles, for business flights in the upcoming year. But strangely not in economy. I have all my tickets for 2026 but am looking ahead at 2027 and waiting. I will fly business when I find a miles deal (I don’t yet pay cash for it), but am using the mentioned strategy of looking at many destinations in Europe to see what is available. Then I would buy a short separate hopper flight for my final destination. That might cost me an extra night of lodging, depending on where I wind up. But I am fortunate to have time to play with - not tied to a certain length of trip, so I have the freedom to do that.

I have definitely seen an increase in fares, both in money and in
miles, for business flights in the upcoming year. But strangely not in
economy.

So thats why I still travel cheap. I am saving the investment in Business Class for when I get old and need it.

Part of the problem is the options. There is always a cheaper option, its just, do you really want a 7 hour layover. And can you say that the ticket last year purchased 9 months in advance with 4 hours in CDG was cheaper than the one you buought this year 6 months is advance with 2 hours in FRA? Its a bit of a shell game. Google Flights will show you on a graphic scale if the cost is Below Average - Average - Above Average but I dont know the data set for that. Today? This year? Last 5 years? For the date or for the week? But its good for a gut feeling if I need to look a bit more.

My gut, still many good deals to most locations if you have some flexibility. The Google Flights cost matrix always saves me hundreds of dollars. For anyone who hasnt used it, it shows the simple round trip flight cost options by day of departure and day of return. Of course the numbers they show you are the cheapest fare so once you find the cheap combos you have to research and see if the numbers still hold up for your seat type. But its a start.

Mr. E, good to see you again (you helped a lot with our family trip to Budapest in 2024, thanks again for that!).

LOL, I AM old now! Or at least at 65 I am saying enough to a slimmed down economy seat, wide eyed all nine hours from O'Hare to Europe with all the "perks" of a cheap seat. I love to travel, it's nice now when I actually feel human disembarking in Europe.

And congrats and great job to those who booked fares well in advance of the Iran situation. What will you do next time? While we Boomers may have the money, I can't say I will adopt a Europe at any cost outlook...what are you all thinking?

Agree with poster that airlines (most recent article in NYTs last week was on Delta's up-market strategy) are enlarging the business class census. We flew to/fr Japan last year and 2/3 of the seats were first, bus or prem econ. The "regular" seats were confined to a few rows in back. I think that suggests on longer flights, like Europe or the far east, people will pay for a better experience.

I do use the Google matrix. And I did try segmenting the trip, e.g. ORD/LHR/Eurostar. LHR is consistently pricier and my cousin, a pilot, says the fees and taxes at LHR are the culprit. Who really knows.

Thanks to all who posted, I love this forum!

I am a United premier member

You might buy a premium economy ticket and then monitor upgrade prices.

Alternatively, you could use points plus cash (I believe it is 20K points plus $575) to put yourself on the upgrade waitlist. What premier level are you? The higher your status, the more likely that you will get the upgrade.

https://thepointsguy.com/loyalty-programs/ultimate-guide-upgrades-on-united-airlines/

news on when this might get better

My sense is that’ll probably be at least two years and seven months from now. In the meantime, people sensitive to prices for long flights may be switching to vacations closer to home. Reduced funding for national parks could have an effect on experiences there, so other diversions and sights might be seeing more visitors as a result.

Airlines can’t/wont be having huge fare sales, so this is the current reality. How about a getaway in Wisconsin this year?

I caveat I am not a politician. Just another person on this forum who loves to travel to Europe. My prediction, for what it is worth, is people are finding the cost of flights domestically or internationally are just cost prohibitive. They, like me, will defer travel and the impact will be significant over time. It's simple economics: Airlines will either cancel flights (which still cost money for idle equipment and staff), reduce routes, lower fares or get a government bailout. None of those help me book my trip to Paris now, tho!

I fly AA premium economy. I have moved on from back of the plane into a bigger seat and more legroom but I can not bring myself to spend the $$$ for business class yet. This past February round trip to Paris was $1500. Next year’s January round trip is $1900. Considering what our Iranian incursion has done to fuel prices I’m not surprised that prices increased 26%.

The premium economy cabin has the fewest seats available so I buy early. I’ve learned the hard way that the price always goes up if you wait too long. It is the trend that more people are choosing to upgrade their travel choices and the premium economy cabin will probably enlarge eventually.

All of us have our different priorities. It must be disheartening for the OP to see an already very expensive seat go up in price even more. I get that.

I also get choosing to treat yourself a little better when you get older. It is just that this looks quite different for different people. My splurges are paying for an extra legroom seat and an occasional taxi vs. public transport. I’ll plan a hotel layover when flying to Asia and break up the flight.

I could never bring myself to pay the equivalent of an entire additional vacation for business class, but I will use miles/points occasionally. For others, they would rather have fewer trips but feel pampered on the ones they do take. Either way is a valid choice.

Airfares often seem to have no rhyme or reason to them. I know I was quite surprised to learn that flying to Africa, connecting through Europe, is often no more expensive than flying to Europe itself. There are very reasonable airfares to Asia right now.

@carol now retired: All of us have our different priorities.
That is very well said.

My main issue is being stuck with Delta miles and leaving near SFO which is not a hub. Flights always include at least one connection, and paying up for direct price on partner airline is exorbitant. I've been slowly building credit card points on a new non-Delta credit card and hoping to soon have more flexibility on choosing airline. Until then, I will continue to fly Comfort+ which is what my budget allows me.

Marie, I remember. Time for a return visit. You are among the best of the best.

For those who travel as much for the love of travel and for discovery as for where; if the flights that meet your criteria make Paris too expensive, then consider looking Eaat. I meet a loy of goat farmers in the East.

A post of what you enjoy with the question "where can I find this in the East" might get some useful results.

Why East? Its 25 to 35% cheaper than the West. Let's say your Business class flight just went up $3000 total for the 2 of you. In the East you might save $200 a night on a 4 or 5 star hotel and $100 a day on meals. You might be able to cancel out that $3000 in full or in part.

But, only if you can find what you enjoy. Never save money and regret it. Better to stay home.

We're leaving for Europe in Sept - Tampa to Frankfurt or Paris and points beyond.

I also have ticker shock from our last trip in 2017 and especially all the "new" seating arrangement. Delta's 5 levels of seating are confusing with their Delta One lie-down seats and Business - Delta Premium Select @ $4400/ person seats are little more than the old Economy Comfort which for a 6'2" - 190 lbs person was awful - comfort and money wise. I'm finding better pricing and quality (full reclining seats) with Condor or Singapore at around $3500 from New York to Frankfurt.

I still like the old Delta Business wide seats when we flew a lot in 2000 - 2017 even tho they didn't't fully recline. What I'm seeing of the new configurations are narrower seats and being boxed in.

But are people buying tickets?

In April, I flew from Detroit to Frankfurt, and in May, I flew from Munich to Atlanta. Both flights were on Delta. The first flight was only 75 percent full. The second flight seemed only 50 percent full--there were rows that were empty and numerous rows with only one passenger.

It has been years, if not decades, since I had seen flights with so many empty seats. And of course, when I was coming back, my flight from Atlanta to New Prleans was absolutely packed.

I keep in mind that $100 for one person might be $1,000 for somebody else depending upon their financial situation. I have a friend that won't flinch on lie down seats of $10K or more each. For us it's a pie-in-the-sky cost and probably for many others as well, which is one reason why you're seeing an increase of premium economy seats as a sort of step above steerage. And yes, as we get older it does make a difference in how well rested you feel upon arrival.

BigMikeWestByGodVirginia, $1000 is 3 goats for me. That's tough when they all have names.

The last that I read said tourism in Europe as a whole was on the road to being pretty much flat compared to last year in both number of tourists and income from tourism. That means some markets may be way up and others way down. But I didn't look for individual statistics beyond Hungary.

How much is gas price and how much is war and how much is the struggling EU economy ... no idea.

I'm in the camp of what goes up usually stays up ( in terms of money ) Once oil companies , airlines , etc. as examples, get higher prices it allows their bottom line to rise and they are generally loath to let go of increased profits . But the other issue is when you book . I booked passage for late September 2026 to November 2026 last November . The fare for two was $ 3,200.00 . ( premium economy ) Just checking now , the same trip is $6,000.00 ( into CDG . return from VIE ) Book as early as possible is my maxim

As we know, the pricing for flights to Europe can be dynamic. I fly on Delta and use SkyMiles. If I see a fare that seems somewhat reasonable, I will book early. But I can cancel that reservation without penalty. Monitor the fares and you can often--at least on Delta using Skymiles--find lower fares as the departure date approaches. I have already changed a reservation several times achieving a major reduction in the Miles I spend. But you have to frequently check. And yes, the pricing can change dramatically in a matter of hours.

Agree on all points made above, thanks to all who weighed in. Just saw an article in the NYTs this morning that is right on point with this thread: "This Summer Travel Season Will Be a Nightmare, " it's on page one of the NYTs web version.

The take away from the authors, who are airline industry consultants, it will be a "bummer of a summer" (their quote) that will extend into fall. They report that even IF oil starts flowing from the Middle East this month, the jet fuel supply constraints and price increases will most likely remain through early 2027. Sad for all of us who want to travel more...