I'm hoping to got to Europe for the second time in August for two weeks. I'm based out of SLC but with airline miles the best deal for my wife and I would be to use miles to get round trips to Boston or NYC and then pay for round trips from BOS/JFK to either London or Amsterdam. Right now I'm seeing them at about $500 (about, give or take the day) each for a round trip. Since I've always flown out of SLC, I'm not sure if this is a good price. Should I jump on it now or wait it out and hope it drops?
Posted by
Missouri, USA and Essex, UK.
1028 posts
Tickets to Europe from certain US airports are at bargain prices right now. You just have to do some research and get the best deal from an East Coast airport which is where the bargains seem to be from. You could use airline points to get to your East Coast airport or just buy a separate ticket. Now, there are some draw backs when doing this. When you have two separate tickets, the airline does not have an obligation to get you to your final destination if you miss your connection. You will also likely have to check luggage in twice. (if you only have hand luggage then this is not a problem). Just make sure you have plenty of extra time at each airport to make sure you make your next flight. If you can get tickets for $500.00 return I would buy now. A few weeks back I brought tickets from Chicago to Dublin for $500.00 for June 2017. The prices of these tickets are now almost $1000. I usually fly from St. Louis through Chicago to Europe and for the past several years I have paid close to $1900 a ticket. So I am thrilled to get a ticket at $500.00. I have travelled to Europe every year for the past 25 years and I have not seen prices this low for a very long time.
Posted by
Lewiston, Idaho, USA
2092 posts
Jeremy, we often fly in or out of SLC but lately the best fares are out of Seattle. Personally, I do everything possible to not fly across the US because if there are any delays, I'd prefer to be delayed in Europe. In Europe there are usually more flights to my final destination within a couple of hours; in the US usually not till the next day. Delta has non-stops to Amsterdam (my favorite connecting airport) and Paris (more of a challenge but with 3 hours or so layover, manageable).
Posted by
OP
Utah, USA
84 posts
I would definitely perefer the nonstop from SLC-AMS, I took it last year and it was great but the prices are much more than I'd like to pay. And I'll actually be in SEA the week before so I looked at possibly going from there but it's still about $200 more to fly from there. I'm just not sure what kind of deals people have found from the east coast. Thanks for the replies!
Posted by
Midwest
2768 posts
Yes, $500 from the east coast is quite good. I'd buy.
Another option is to look at Toronto - I have often found their fares to be cheaper than anywhere in the US.
Posted by
Houston
3522 posts
Compared to this time a year or so ago, those are great prices. Could they go lower? Who knows. It all depends on global political situations that could pop up any time.
The lowest price is not always the best price. How far out of your way do you need to go (and how much extra is it going to cost to get there) to save that $100 or so. While I don't want to pay more than I have to, I am also not going to fly to the West coast because I see a flight to London from SFO for $250 less than a flight from EWR or JFK. I just doesn't make sense, to me, to go that far out of the way. And it depends on the airline as well. I know which airlines I want to fly and which I don't. That lower cost flight may be on an airline I have flown before and been miserable on.