Use Gateway Cities to find Cheap Travel to Europe

Using Gateway Cities to find Cheap Travel to Europe

Cheap travel to Europe is not a new interest. It’s probably older than either of us know. But before we go into the history of cheap travel to Europe (and don’t worry, it’s going to be a while before either of us wants to, and it definitely won’t be this post), you want to know how to get to Europe as cheap as possible, right? And once you get there, you don’t want it to suddenly get expensive, so you want cheap travel IN Europe, too right? No, you’re not too demanding. I’m still right with you. And so are lots of young and older people (“older” is just a nice way of saying old. Wink wink!). But you are going to have to do some work to find the deals, with help from people like me along the way.

The first task in finding cheap travel to Europe is getting there. I am assuming (and we know what happens when either of us assUME), that many of you are coming from N. America. So we’ll start there. I know I’ll get hate mail from Singapore to Auckland for this assumption. By the way, if you are looking for cheap travel to Europe from South America, though there are exceptions to every rule, you will probably find many deals flying to North America first, so hold the hate mail for a couple days at least, while you check that one out.

Time of year is helpful for finding cheap travel to Europe . If you can go outside the summer months, you will inevitably find it cheaper. Also flexibility of dates will help you find the cheap flights to Europe. If you HAVE to go a certain day or even week, reading this may just frustrate you. Sorry =( .

Since I assume (here we go again!) you are not looking to work on a freighter and get over to Europe on a slow boat, we are probably talking cheap flights to Europe. Cheap travel to Europe usually requires you to travel (at least) through or ideally from a gateway city. Now be careful here. Cheap Travel to Europe can look enticing at the stage of the low sticker price. But not so fast. Many airlines (especially European airlines) package their prices so that it’s not much more to go from your city than it is to go from a gateway city . But if you have to drive or take a bus to a far-off city and then transfer to the airport, pay gas, tolls whatever, your cheap travel to Europe will turn into an expensive trip at best, and a nightmare at worst (waking up at 2:00 a.m. to drive five hours isn’t fun). I am all for this kind of sacrifice—but only if you have genuine savings! Now, if you’re parents or friends are paying all the gas and tolls, food and hotel or you can find a cheap bus ticket, once again, you’ll have to get out the calculator and do the math, it’s your call. We are looking for cheap travel to Europe that helps you save hard earned pennies and in this case, we’re going to try and find a cheap flight to Europe that will offset your expenses and difficulties and be the cheapest all around travel to Europe, right? And once you get there, we’re going to continue to find cheap travel in Europe.

Where are you starting? This is a crucial question in finding cheap travel to Europe (or anywhere). I’ve already mentioned gateway cities, but distance will also define how low you can go in finding Cheap Travel to Europe . Is Los Angeles a great gateway city? Absolutely. Is it going to be cheaper than New York? Rarely or never, because NYC is 4,000 miles closer! Is L.A. better than Omaha, Nebraska? Probably. Let me see, cheap travel to Europe, as with all things will have exceptions to prove every rule, so please don’t get too upset if you find an exception here, in fact if you live in Omaha and you find super cheap travel to Europe, AWESOME! Be happy (and let others know in the comments) . OK, so what to do if you don’t live very near a gateway city and you still want cheap travel to Europe? Do you have friends or family in a gateway city? Can you go and visit them and combine your departure with that visit? This will also probably give you a free ride to and from the airport and avoid bus or taxi fares.

The same way that you use gateway cities in North America to find departure points for cheap travel to Europe, you will use gateway cities in Europe from which to come and go.

So now you’re probably saying: “Ok, get to the departure cities already that mean: Cheap Travel to Europe!”

But this isn’t an exact science either. Just using common sense, however, start with the bigger cities in your area that are East of you. I’ve already mentioned Los Angeles and if you’re on the west coast, It will be among L.A. San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. Moving west try Phoenix, Salt Lake, Denver, Dallas, Kansas City, Minn/St. Paul, St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinatti, East coast: New York, Philly, Washington, Charlotte, ATL, and maybe Orlando or Miami. Remember! This isn’t an exact science or a rule without exceptions! Don’t give up if you don’t live near one of these places! There is still hope for you to find cheap travel to Europe.

You might be saying, “so just try a hub of one of the airlines.” But this is ironically not always cheap, in fact for years it’s been MORE expensive to go in and out of hubs, despite the fact they probably have many empty seats on the connecting flights that people are taking through there. In cases where these cities are cheaper, it’s often the airline which is NOT using that city as a hub (example: cheap travel to Europe out of Cincinatti on non-Delta flights! I know. Paradox.)

Finding cheap travel to Europe into gateway cities IN Europe will also require some thought and insight. But for now, just try to find the cheap travel into Europe using London as the gateway city. It has recently become a great hub city for travel throughout Europe. In fact I recently took a flight to London from Central Europe and then caught a flight out of London back to Central Europe. Total price for both flight: $80 USD! That’s what I’m talking about when I say cheap travel in Europe! I’ll give you some more ideas soon. Thanks for your interest in Cheap Travel to Europe