I'm a returning traveler and going for the first time without parents this summer 2018 (they usually did all the trip planning). I really want to stay in the loop as far as cheap flight deals to anywhere in continental Europe. I'm a college kid on a budget, but will book any round trip or open-jaws flight without hesitation that's under $700.
Also I'm trying to find a platform in which I can find deals for a certain date May 7-14 until June 7-14. Any thoughts?
Do you spend a lot of money on credit cards - or can you? The Alaska Airlines mileage plan is pretty good, and their credit card deal of 30,000 miles for signing up (after you spend $1,000 in three months) is decent. You can get a round-trip ticket to Europe on Alaska partners like AA for as cheap as 40,000 miles (after May 15 maybe through September, the cost is a little more, so you'd need 50,000 miles with a return June 7-14). I've used Alaska miles mostly obtained via credit card promos to get to Europe four years in a row. Only about $100 in fees, plus you can change/cancel the ticket for almost no cost up to 60 days before departure. I always change my ticket a few times when better flights show up.
But, I pay off my balances every month, so I'm not paying interest. And I can charge a lot of expenses to a credit card. It doesn't pay off to get one of these cards if you can't pay the card balance off every month. It also isn't helpful if you aren't someone who has trouble managing money and can't resist the temptation of running up charges on a credit card just because you can...
Maybe you won't get enough miles to make it for 2018, but you might have enough by 2019 if you want to travel often. If you decide to get that card, there's a way to get a $100 credit too (to offer the $75 annual fee). Google for it. You can actually cancel the card and get a new one every year and get another 30,000 miles - some people do it more than once a year.
Otherwise, pick your ideal flights on Google Flights and set an alert when fares drop below a certain level. Use the "track prices" feature of Google Flights.
FYI, last fall, Delta had a massive sale for flights for the whole following year (only some blackout dates in the summer). Some amazing fares - like under $500 open jaw or round trip US to Europe, good flights. I was going to book something, except I used my Alaska miles instead. I have a number of friends who took advantage of that hoping Delta does it again this fall!
matrix.itasoftware.com
Run by Google for airlines and other pros. It does not sell tickets but in my experience it has good coverage of airline data (no site has everything.) I think it includes a function that will show all flights for a month. Buying tickets directly from an airline is generally cheapest.
Best site I have found for no-frills airlines in Europe and Asia. These airlines (Ryanair, easyJet etc.) operate on one-way rather than return fares and some won't appear on the big North-American-based search sites.
Frequently checking this forum is also very helpful. Thanks to a poster last Nov., I was able to purchase airfare with Delta to Berlin and back from Bucharest for $444.00. I just returned last week. As another poster mentioned, maybe Delta will offer another sale in the fall.
Follow travel industry web sites such as The Points guy, One Mile at a Time and the Flight Deal. Sign up for their e-mail lists or follow them on Facebook or Twitter. They post flight deals all the time. Others to consider following on Twitter: Gary Leff, Boarding Area, Error Fares.
If you're in Arizona as your post indicates, you will have far fewer options than those in areas with more flights to Europe. If you can crash with someone in Boston, DC, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, etc, you will have more options. But if you're thinking of booking two separate tickets to save money (say, Southwest from Phoenix to Boston, then Icelandair from Boston to Europe), make sure you understand all the risks. Here's a good summary: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g41707-c207311/Newton:Massachusetts:Connecting.On.Separate.Tickets.html
You should also be aware that there is no longer any rhyme or reason to airfares. In March 2017 I was looking at airfares for May 2017. First, according to the "experts," that's far to late to get any deals. Guess what I found - JFK to Zurich for $349, nonstop, with a choice of airlines! Not a typo - three hundred and forty-nine dollars. Then, I looked at JFK to Geneva for the same dates. It was $1200 nonstop; the cheapest one-stop ticket was about $650 with a 12 hour layover in Casablanca (Royal Air Maroc had several routes on sale); and the cheapest one-stop with a more reasonable layover was about $700.
Why was Zurich so cheap? Why was Geneva so much more expensive? Your guess is as good as mine.
Also remember, a bargain airfare is only a bargain if it goes where you want to be. There was a post here from someone who had snagged a bargain to Stockholm (presumably on Norwegian Air). But she had no interest in Stockholm, or Sweden, or even Scandinavia. She wanted to see Italy, and only had 8 days. Guess what - she lost one day getting from Stockholm to Italy, and another day getting from Italy back to Stockholm, and spent who knows how money much doing it - so, not much of a bargain. Of course, if you have more time than money, this can work. But it's important to look at ALL the costs before making a final decision. And on a similar theme, look at smaller airports. If you want to see a swathe of France, look at the cost to fly into Paris and out of Nice or vice versa; it may not be any more than flying roundtrip to Paris, and you'll save time and money not backtracking.
The 'Mileage Run' section of the Flyer Talk forums is the source of fare sales and mistake fares for many of the other travel blogs out there.
Unfortunately, it's harder for college kids to get the good credit card offers unless they've also got an actual job in hand- the banks were giving out too many higher credit limit cards to people who made $3K or less in reportable income and it was seen as exploitive so regulations now require credit limits that make sense for income reported to the IRS.
student universe is sill around try that
https://www.studentuniverse.com/
I use kayak.com. Enter your dates and the airports you want to fly to/from. I was checking a few times a day and for some reason often find the best deals late in the evening Pacific time. Last year I bought tickets on American Airlines/Iberia from Seattle to Naples and Venice to Seattle on August 31st for a trip in early May of this year. $762 round trip going Seattle to O'Hare, OHare to Madrid, Madrid to Naples, then Venice to London Heathrow & London Heathrow to Seattle with decent layovers. So it's not too early to be looking. Good luck and have a wonderful trip!
I second the previous mention that Zurich almost always cheap to fly into. Brussels is usually fairly cheap, too. I frequently see killer deals for Ireland. Getting to Europe is the tough part...once you're there, trains and cheap flights abound.
According to Wikipedia Phoenix is a hub for American, so you may find the best deal there. It also said Phoenix is a hub for Southwest, so you might consider flying from Phoenix to Boston, NYC, Washington, or Atlanta (a day early to give yourself wiggle room) on Southwest, then booking on another airline from one of those cities. Atlanta is a big Delta hub, Boston has a lot of the Ireland flights, etc. Delta's website has a great "flexible dates" feature where you can see 5 weeks at a time for a fixed-length trip, or you can see 7 days at a time for a variable length trip.
One thing I have learned is that one-way tickets to Europe are usually more than a round-trip. I was thinking, hmm, maybe I could use miles one way and pay the other way, and NOPE, that is not the cheap way to do it. Open-jaw is much better!
Since many (maybe most?) airlines allow you to book one-way flights with miles at half the round-trip rate, it's worth looking at using two different airlines if you have not-quite-enough miles for a round-trip on one airline. Or you might book one way with miles and fly back on one of the budget carriers like WOW, Icelandair or Norwegian Air Shuttle. Don't they all have low one-way fares? Or book one way with miles and return on a repositioning cruise?
I do want to add a caution based on our recent experience with Alaska Air. We used Alaska miles for a trip to London on British Air, and decided to treat ourselves to business class, which triggered a hefty "fuel surcharge." While at the airport, our flight was cancelled due to an engine problem. We were in line for over 6 hours waiting to be re-booked. British was able to re-book all but the Alaska Miles passengers, because somehow, although they are miles partners, their 2 systems don't communicate with each other. The British Air agents were unable to get anyone at Alaska to help them we watched them make call after call. When we called, the Alaska agents just told us that we were "under the care of British" so they couldn't help. In the end (somewhere around 1 a.m.,) a BA agent figured out some innovative workaround, and put us on another airline for a flight the next day. So, we were able to complete our trip. I sent letters to Alaska about this issue of the 2 systems not communicating, including finally to the CEO, but have no indication that they are looking into resolving it. We also were unable to get a refund on our fuel surcharge, which was paid directly to Alaska as each airline claimed the other was responsible. We don't know if other airline partner plans have similar problems in re-booking and refunding or if this is unique to Alaska Air.
I wonder whether you'd have any success disputing the fuel surcharge with your credit card issuer?
Have you looked into Norwegian Air? I know they don’t fly to AZ, but they have killer deals from LA and Oakland, and many of those flights leave later in the day, which would allow you to take a cheap flight there on Southwest or Alaska to catch your overseas flight. I know someone near Portland who does just that repeatedly to fly to Europe cheaply.
