FLIGHT FROM LAX TO EUROPE - best / most cost effective route?

Check out the new Google travel site, www.google.com/flights. It looks like it is better than all the other flight booking sites. I haven't used it but it does list some cheaper airlines flying to Europe, like Iceland Air and others.

The google site isn't any good if you are traveling over 15 days. I tried to find flights leaving on Jun 20th and returning on July 11th (a 3 week period) and it kept saying my dates were too far apart!!!

So get creative. Try shorter trips which have your dates.... Trip 1 is departure date and 'random return" Trip 2 is random departure and your return. When you find things you like go to another site and try pricing it the way you want to fly....

Just call various airlines and ask them for their suggetions and your options. The agents at American (or British Air is their partner airline) are always able to help. I know American or their partner flys to Spain. We were offered that option last summer when we were going to Rome. It was either London or Madrid with American Air.

I posted this in another thread: we got a terrific deal on Air New Zealand - a 4* airline - and they have a non-stop from LAX to LHR.

Try airberlin.com and condor.com.

Be careful. If your destination is Spain, a cheap flight somewhere else is only a "bargain" if you have the time and money to get from the somewhere else to Spain. For instance, someone (elsewhere if not on this board) is likely to suggest a flight from LAX to London, then a cheap flight on Ryanair or Easyjet to Spain. The problems with this approach: 1. Flights from LAX land at Heathrow; flights on Ryanair or Easyjet leave from other London airports, and it takes time (hours in some cases) to get from one to another. 2. You will be on separate tickets, meaning that if you miss the connection for any reason, you will have to buy a new, full price, last minute ticket (if there's room on the flight you want). The check-in times for cheap flights are strict, so you need to allow plenty of time if you're connecting on the same day as your London arrival. 3. The baggage allowances for the cheap flights are extremely tight, and they are followed strictly. Any overage is charged for, at high rates. The same with all their other rules; these airlines make their money by charging for EVERYTHING (including using a credit card instead of a debit card, and checking in in person instead of online). If you want to see London and so spend one or more days between your flights, this can work well; if you want to get right to Spain, it's a false economy. As others said, you should research using www.kayak.com or matrix.itasoftware.com to your final destinations . Then, you can try other nearby places to see if it's cheaper. But again, make sure they're really nearby. For example, if you want to go to Seville but it's much cheaper to Madrid, that's reasonable; but if you want to go to Seville and it's much cheaper to Frankfurt, beware.

I would look at flying British Airways from LAX to London and then continue on BA to Spain if possible. If BA does not fly to your city in Spain you can try BMI out of Heathrow too.