So, the million dollar question right now is whether or not to book that deal that you are looking at for cheap travel to Europe. One opinion I read yesterday on Yahoo says you have plenty of time as none of the airlines are really doing great. They said that as the economy continues to slump, they will get more and more desperate and will drop their prices lower. I have several people looking for tickets now and I tend to agree. If you haven't already booked for cheap travel to Europe between June 15 and August 15, you are probably looking at flights that don't have bargain seats left and your best deal may materialize in the coming months. Is it a gamble? Yes. So if you have to take the trip and can't sleep until you have your ticket in hand (or in your email inbox in the case of an e-ticket), go ahead and jump. The best policy is to keep looking for cheap travel to Europe at consistent intervals. You may hit it right on in a couple weeks from now. Or maybe a couple months, or even a last-minute special.
If you do, here are a couple hot suggestions: Delta has Ireland on sale with some crazy cheap fares to Shannon (Cleveland $415 including taxes, SFrancisco $515 also including tax!). Once you get there, you can get all over from Dublin on Ryanair.com (no I'm not getting any kickback from them--yet!) smile.
or..
Otherwise, wait. The airlines are going to get more desperate, I'm afraid. But that will mean lower prices hopefully. Have they dropped the fuel charges since oil went way back down?? Just curious.
By the way, I don't know if you saw the news that Ryanair (of which I am a big fan), one of the great pioneers of cheap flights in Europe may start charging for the bathroom (or "one pound for the toilet, please" if you're British). I don't know if it's true or legal or whatever, but it sure is an ingenious idea to get more publicity for free. The "low cost" European airline will be in the heading of most of the stories and I noticed it on my news home-page yesterday. Cheap travel in Europe is alive and well thanks to this kind of ingeniuty. They also make money off the ads on their web-site, which they sell to hotel and car-rental type places and even now has a partnership to book camp sites in Europe. That's just a fun little freebie.
Happy travels!
09 February 2009
Cheap Travel in Europe = Cheap flights in Europe
While it used to mean eurorail, hitch-hiking or taking the bus, with the event of the free skies agreement, Cheap Travel to Europe more and more means FLYING. Yes, flying is CHEAPER than the other options in a lot of cases these days! What do I mean? I mean you may pay more for the shuttle bus to and from the airport than you do for the airplane ticket to another part of Europe. Honestly.
The purpose of this post is to tell you what those places are, so that you can start planning your travel time within Europe. I have already told you how to search for Cheap Travel to Europe and I hope that those hints will help you get to a great gateway city to start taking advantage of the amazing opportunities for cheap travel in Europe. And you don't even have to stand by the highway for hours on end with your thumb out. (Did I ever tell you about the time I hitch-hiked to the Winter Olympics?? But I digress...)
OK, so where do you go to get cheap travel in Europe i.e. the cheapest way to travel around Europe these days- FLYING around Europe!?! Amazingly, there is not just one airline that's doing it all, although I would say that there are one or two doing the lion's share. The fad has spawned several copy-cats, but hey, competition is good for the customer, right?
So, here are some sites to go to when you want seriously cheap travel in Europe. (Disclaimer: I don't currently have a business deal with any of these and don't make anything off this advice. If I figure out a way to do it in the future, I might try... =)
Ryanair.com is one of the best. I have flown them a few times and am pretty impressed. They get you from A to B location at the absolute cheapest price. Their site is actually bloomed into a Travel Cheap in Europe cornucopia of information. I haven't noticed, however, that they are great at finding cheap hotels and rent-a-cars. Flights are their specialty. They often even have 1 penny flights. That's cheap travel anywhere, but especially in Europe! Don't think you just have to transfer 1 pence, though. The taxes will usually run a minimum of 30 Euros each way. But still, flying from the continent (in my case) to England for a long weekend for 60 to 80 Euros is a real steal! They have a few main airports, that have more destinations and then they have a lot of destinations that they fly in and out of once a day or even a couple times a week. The site is pretty easy to keep looking for a flight the next day, so it's not difficult to find cheap flights in Europe this way.
Ryanair operates a lot out of Stansted airport in London, which is quite a distance from the city center (about 90 minutes to Victoria station, if I remember right). They also have over 50 destinations at different times during the year from Dublin, Ireland. If you haven't read one of my previous blog posts, feel free to do so. In one post I found cheap travel to Europe by flying ORD (Chicago O'Hare) to DUB (Dublin) on Aer Lingus (non-stop!) If you did that, you could assumably then go with your cheap travel into Europe on Ryanair.
A couple notes on Ryanair. They often fly to a destination seasonally, so you need to check that out on the website. For example, they will fly to beach destinations only in the summer and they will fly to ski destinations in the winter. They still have a lot of destinations that are year-round, so you will have to check it out.
None of the airlines I mention here will probably be luxury liners to compete with the concord, but I've always thought the concord a big rip-off anyway.
The next one that I can personally recommend is wizzair.com. This airline also has a lot of cheap flights in Europe. They use both Budapest and Katowice/Krakow Poland as hubs and have quite a number of destinations at reasonable rates. They do cater to business travellers so weekdays may have a higher pricetag, but I have found rates that rivaled Ryanair and combined to get the exact dates I wanted between the two airlines.
Some others to check out:
skyeurope.com has a lot of good deals. Vienna and Bratislava are their main hubs and they even run busses between the two airports as part of their service, so you can catch the cheapest flight to either city and then bus from there.
Germanwings.com is a good one. They have several hubs including but not limited to Berlin, Budapest, Stuttgart, and Munich. Currently are advertising some 20EURO plus tax flights around Europe.
smartwings.com is one that is based in Czech, I think. They have a lot of flights from Prague and a few from other Czech cities (Brno, Ostrava) to beach destinations including Greece and Spain, amoung others.
You can play around on easyjet.com They have good deals quite often too, usually out of London to vacation destinations.
Now for a couple you may have never heard of: flyniki.com is based in Austria and serves that market as well as the Spanish market quite extensively.
Air Berlin has some cheap travel in Europe. It also has flights to/from the USA to/from Vienna via Dusseldorf (NYC, L.A. Vancouver, BC, and Miami, FL). These flights may not always qualify as cheap travel to Europe, depending on your dates.
Also try: TUIfly operates Cheap travel in Europe from northern destinations to Southern climes, such as Turkey, Egypt, Italy and Spain.
Italian budget airline WindJet flies from ten airports in Italy, three in Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Rostov), and a smattering of other destinations in Romania, Spain, France, and Greece. Forlì and Catania are WindJet's primary bases.
Clickair flies A LOT in Spain and has several connections from other countries.
Several of the above mentioned companies have cheap flights to Russia (mainly Moscow, but also some other options).
If you have suggestions or questions, please add them to the questions or email me at cheaptraveleurope on the big gmail. I will see what I can do as long as you let me post it as a case study for others.
Fasten your seat belts and tighten your money belts!
The purpose of this post is to tell you what those places are, so that you can start planning your travel time within Europe. I have already told you how to search for Cheap Travel to Europe and I hope that those hints will help you get to a great gateway city to start taking advantage of the amazing opportunities for cheap travel in Europe. And you don't even have to stand by the highway for hours on end with your thumb out. (Did I ever tell you about the time I hitch-hiked to the Winter Olympics?? But I digress...)
OK, so where do you go to get cheap travel in Europe i.e. the cheapest way to travel around Europe these days- FLYING around Europe!?! Amazingly, there is not just one airline that's doing it all, although I would say that there are one or two doing the lion's share. The fad has spawned several copy-cats, but hey, competition is good for the customer, right?
So, here are some sites to go to when you want seriously cheap travel in Europe. (Disclaimer: I don't currently have a business deal with any of these and don't make anything off this advice. If I figure out a way to do it in the future, I might try... =)
Ryanair.com is one of the best. I have flown them a few times and am pretty impressed. They get you from A to B location at the absolute cheapest price. Their site is actually bloomed into a Travel Cheap in Europe cornucopia of information. I haven't noticed, however, that they are great at finding cheap hotels and rent-a-cars. Flights are their specialty. They often even have 1 penny flights. That's cheap travel anywhere, but especially in Europe! Don't think you just have to transfer 1 pence, though. The taxes will usually run a minimum of 30 Euros each way. But still, flying from the continent (in my case) to England for a long weekend for 60 to 80 Euros is a real steal! They have a few main airports, that have more destinations and then they have a lot of destinations that they fly in and out of once a day or even a couple times a week. The site is pretty easy to keep looking for a flight the next day, so it's not difficult to find cheap flights in Europe this way.
Ryanair operates a lot out of Stansted airport in London, which is quite a distance from the city center (about 90 minutes to Victoria station, if I remember right). They also have over 50 destinations at different times during the year from Dublin, Ireland. If you haven't read one of my previous blog posts, feel free to do so. In one post I found cheap travel to Europe by flying ORD (Chicago O'Hare) to DUB (Dublin) on Aer Lingus (non-stop!) If you did that, you could assumably then go with your cheap travel into Europe on Ryanair.
A couple notes on Ryanair. They often fly to a destination seasonally, so you need to check that out on the website. For example, they will fly to beach destinations only in the summer and they will fly to ski destinations in the winter. They still have a lot of destinations that are year-round, so you will have to check it out.
None of the airlines I mention here will probably be luxury liners to compete with the concord, but I've always thought the concord a big rip-off anyway.
The next one that I can personally recommend is wizzair.com. This airline also has a lot of cheap flights in Europe. They use both Budapest and Katowice/Krakow Poland as hubs and have quite a number of destinations at reasonable rates. They do cater to business travellers so weekdays may have a higher pricetag, but I have found rates that rivaled Ryanair and combined to get the exact dates I wanted between the two airlines.
Some others to check out:
skyeurope.com has a lot of good deals. Vienna and Bratislava are their main hubs and they even run busses between the two airports as part of their service, so you can catch the cheapest flight to either city and then bus from there.
Germanwings.com is a good one. They have several hubs including but not limited to Berlin, Budapest, Stuttgart, and Munich. Currently are advertising some 20EURO plus tax flights around Europe.
smartwings.com is one that is based in Czech, I think. They have a lot of flights from Prague and a few from other Czech cities (Brno, Ostrava) to beach destinations including Greece and Spain, amoung others.
You can play around on easyjet.com They have good deals quite often too, usually out of London to vacation destinations.
Now for a couple you may have never heard of: flyniki.com is based in Austria and serves that market as well as the Spanish market quite extensively.
Air Berlin has some cheap travel in Europe. It also has flights to/from the USA to/from Vienna via Dusseldorf (NYC, L.A. Vancouver, BC, and Miami, FL). These flights may not always qualify as cheap travel to Europe, depending on your dates.
Also try: TUIfly operates Cheap travel in Europe from northern destinations to Southern climes, such as Turkey, Egypt, Italy and Spain.
Italian budget airline WindJet flies from ten airports in Italy, three in Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Rostov), and a smattering of other destinations in Romania, Spain, France, and Greece. Forlì and Catania are WindJet's primary bases.
Clickair flies A LOT in Spain and has several connections from other countries.
Several of the above mentioned companies have cheap flights to Russia (mainly Moscow, but also some other options).
If you have suggestions or questions, please add them to the questions or email me at cheaptraveleurope on the big gmail. I will see what I can do as long as you let me post it as a case study for others.
Fasten your seat belts and tighten your money belts!
04 February 2009
Cheap Travel to Europe Cheap Skiing
Hi everybody,
I probably shouldn't call myself a cheapskate. But cheap ski, now there's a label to be worn like a badge!
I would have written sooner but I went skiing (actually it's been a few days now). I know that you want cheap travel to Europe and I don't blame you. I don't know how long you're staying and what you'll be doing in Europe, but I like to ski. I'm not that good at it, but it's great to just be out there in creation and enjoy the mountains, forests and snow. So if you like winter sports and you are looking for cheap travel in Europe in the winter (which is a cheap time to look), you might want to check out some (downhill) skiing. But skiing is not a poor person's sport, right? Well, it can actually be pretty affordable. I have a three or four year old pair of skies that I bought used from a ski shop owner's dad in Maribor, Slovenia (just south of Graz, Austria), so I usually don't have to rent. But keep reading if you have to rent, the principles apply.
Here are a couple quick tips for you if you are a cheap travel to Europe freak who skis:
before we start, Disclaimer: If you are an awesome skier who needs REALLY challenging slopes, you may have to pay the big bucks to get them.
1. Stay away from the really big resorts! If you are like me and just enjoy the ride (and aren't in Olympic shape either), look for a smaller ski center that is adequate. It will be cheaper for everything from lift ticket to ski rental. Even in parts of Europe that I would usually avoid because of the expense (see tip 2 below), there are little resorts, often very family friendly (baby lift, sled runs on one side, ski on the other) that will suit you fine and save you beacoup Euros! I may have more details on this soon. I am going to do some cheap travel in Europe of my own and go to a little place in Austria and I'll try to let you know how it goes.
2. Go EAST, young person. Yes. Your cheap travel to Europe may start you in London, but if you want to ski, go EAST! Yes, go past France and Andorra, and definitely Switzerland and probably even Austria and Italy (haven't researched Italian prices too much). Poland has a ski area at Zakopane, which is on the border with Slovakia. Slovenia has amazing mountains at better prices, just an hour or two south of Salzburg and the Alps. There are some real steals in Croatia, usually better known for its' amazing Adriatic Coast with good reason. Did you know that Bosnia and Herzegovina hosted the 1984 Olympics? Sarajevo, baby. Yes, though they had a war in the 1990's, the ski resorts are getting back up on their feet and have a rather impressive local ski culture at very good rates. Getting there by air for cheap might be tricky, but there are other ways. Macedonia and Bulgaria also have great mountains, as well as young Montenegro. I even recently read about a tall mountain (top is 2500 metres, bottom 1100) ski resort in Kosovo (Brezovica) which might be a little more challenging and adventurous, but if you don't want that, what are you still doing here? You want the "Expensive travel to Europe" blogs... This is Cheap Travel to Europe and once you get there, we are going to stay cheap... and SKI cheap!
3. If you are a really really cheap skate--oops, ski, just show up a little late. Maybe like noon. Look for people leaving and ask for their lift tickets. If they are one day people, they usually don't care and just give you one. The later in the day it gets, the more likely you will find people heading out. You can also get cheaper tickets from like noon or 13:00 on, too, though hour for hour, you get a better deal to ski the whole day... By 14:00 or so, you'll surely find somebody, but alot of places close by 16:30, so it's up to you. You should be able to find cheap places to stay at these Eastern European neighbors, also, because the 7.50 EURO for a whopper "value" meal that grips Western Europe hasn't seemed to catch on here. This is maybe an already known not-so-secret of cheap travel in Europe, but there you go.
So holler at me on the comments or by email if you have some good experiences and or suggestions about Cheap Travel to Europe, Cheap Travel in Europe or Cheap Skiing. I'll be in touch. Gotta' check out the snow report...
I probably shouldn't call myself a cheapskate. But cheap ski, now there's a label to be worn like a badge!
I would have written sooner but I went skiing (actually it's been a few days now). I know that you want cheap travel to Europe and I don't blame you. I don't know how long you're staying and what you'll be doing in Europe, but I like to ski. I'm not that good at it, but it's great to just be out there in creation and enjoy the mountains, forests and snow. So if you like winter sports and you are looking for cheap travel in Europe in the winter (which is a cheap time to look), you might want to check out some (downhill) skiing. But skiing is not a poor person's sport, right? Well, it can actually be pretty affordable. I have a three or four year old pair of skies that I bought used from a ski shop owner's dad in Maribor, Slovenia (just south of Graz, Austria), so I usually don't have to rent. But keep reading if you have to rent, the principles apply.
Here are a couple quick tips for you if you are a cheap travel to Europe freak who skis:
before we start, Disclaimer: If you are an awesome skier who needs REALLY challenging slopes, you may have to pay the big bucks to get them.
1. Stay away from the really big resorts! If you are like me and just enjoy the ride (and aren't in Olympic shape either), look for a smaller ski center that is adequate. It will be cheaper for everything from lift ticket to ski rental. Even in parts of Europe that I would usually avoid because of the expense (see tip 2 below), there are little resorts, often very family friendly (baby lift, sled runs on one side, ski on the other) that will suit you fine and save you beacoup Euros! I may have more details on this soon. I am going to do some cheap travel in Europe of my own and go to a little place in Austria and I'll try to let you know how it goes.
2. Go EAST, young person. Yes. Your cheap travel to Europe may start you in London, but if you want to ski, go EAST! Yes, go past France and Andorra, and definitely Switzerland and probably even Austria and Italy (haven't researched Italian prices too much). Poland has a ski area at Zakopane, which is on the border with Slovakia. Slovenia has amazing mountains at better prices, just an hour or two south of Salzburg and the Alps. There are some real steals in Croatia, usually better known for its' amazing Adriatic Coast with good reason. Did you know that Bosnia and Herzegovina hosted the 1984 Olympics? Sarajevo, baby. Yes, though they had a war in the 1990's, the ski resorts are getting back up on their feet and have a rather impressive local ski culture at very good rates. Getting there by air for cheap might be tricky, but there are other ways. Macedonia and Bulgaria also have great mountains, as well as young Montenegro. I even recently read about a tall mountain (top is 2500 metres, bottom 1100) ski resort in Kosovo (Brezovica) which might be a little more challenging and adventurous, but if you don't want that, what are you still doing here? You want the "Expensive travel to Europe" blogs... This is Cheap Travel to Europe and once you get there, we are going to stay cheap... and SKI cheap!
3. If you are a really really cheap skate--oops, ski, just show up a little late. Maybe like noon. Look for people leaving and ask for their lift tickets. If they are one day people, they usually don't care and just give you one. The later in the day it gets, the more likely you will find people heading out. You can also get cheaper tickets from like noon or 13:00 on, too, though hour for hour, you get a better deal to ski the whole day... By 14:00 or so, you'll surely find somebody, but alot of places close by 16:30, so it's up to you. You should be able to find cheap places to stay at these Eastern European neighbors, also, because the 7.50 EURO for a whopper "value" meal that grips Western Europe hasn't seemed to catch on here. This is maybe an already known not-so-secret of cheap travel in Europe, but there you go.
So holler at me on the comments or by email if you have some good experiences and or suggestions about Cheap Travel to Europe, Cheap Travel in Europe or Cheap Skiing. I'll be in touch. Gotta' check out the snow report...
28 January 2009
Finding Cheap Travel to Europe Case Study
OK,
Let's have some fun right now... We want cheap flights to Europe, right?
Putting the gateway city theory to the test, let's do a little case study on getting Cheap Travel to Europe :
I'm going on a travel web site to check for fares to London. Just pick your favorite for now... I may have some recommendations on best web sites in the future. But let's keep it neutral for now.
So I'm going online today and searching for cheap travel to Europe on a specific date with specific destination in mind and find some cheap flights to Europe if it's possible today. Hey sometimes it is better to wait for a sale.
Ok...
Let's say I'm from... Indiana and I want to take a trip from there to London, and I want to go in the Summer.
I go online -sorry that some of this will be super specific to today =( I see that Continental has a special on airfare to Europe. Wow! I can go for as little as $168! There's always a catch, right. Wrong! There are always several catches. Nobody is going to just GIVE away cheap flights to Europe. You're going to have to work for it. But I'm ok with that! The first catch is that it's from the East Coast, Newark. The second is that they are showing the one way fare, so I have to double it, but hey $336 is still a great deal, right? Catch number three (working our way up to catch 22!) is that taxes aren't in the price and the taxes and fees are outrageous especially since Sept. 11 fees etc. The final price for March dates is $406 Round Trip from Cleveland to London. The final catch is that it's a Spring sale and it won't last until June. May quotes are around $665 and June goes up to $882 before taxes, which will put me at around $1100. USD in summer from the East Coast. So I will have to find cheap travel to Europe somewhere else!
So I see that United is having a sale specifically on flights to Europe, so I go to their web site. Those stinkers want me to enroll (incidentally I already am but don't feel like looking up my numbers), so it takes a few minutes, but I finally get to the "book travel" page and I can begin to look for cheap flights to Europe. They are bragging about a good sale. So I work on a flight to London from June 10 through July 7, 2009. I try my gateway city (see Last blog post for the whole nine yards). In this case, I start with Chicago, the windy city and it blows me a $1293.20 not-a-deal. Cincinatti is $1327 and St. Louis is $1329. Louisville was even more, but Indianapolis comes in at $1096. including the taxes. Base fare is 718 and taxes are $378 (50% taxes?? Are we already in Europe?). Cleveland also comes in at that rate (though I'm not driving there, thank you very much, since Indy is the same. So maybe I look like a moron, but wait a minute. I check another gateway city, Los Angeles. Wouldn't you know it? It's $1141, almost $150 cheaper than Chi-town! Since Chicago is a United hub, this makes sense in the sick sort of way that alot of what the airlines do make no sense! So our cheap flights to Europe today are out of Indy and Cleveland.
Don't get excited if you are trying to get last minute flights near the summer and you find this post. These cheap flights to Europe have several restrictions and rules, so you DON'T qualify. I am using this as an example of the process to get cheap flights to Europe. The restrictions were basically, 7 day advance purchase by Jan 28 (today I believe) with a 30 day max stay and minimum Saturday night stayover. In my opinion, we can beat these rates, but it doesn't hurt to keep your ear to the ground. Play around and find a couple good sites that you can use when you are ready to book your cheap flights to Europe. That way you're familiar and have a password. BTW, I would just an email account for the junk mail like JohnDoetravel@yahoo or whatever and even sign up for updates on trip destinations (LONDON) you are planning to take and have them send you a heads up when there are what they consider cheap flights to Europe.
Now, here's where the fun begins. On one of the main sites (I'm still keeping it under my hat, huh?) where I know I can look up any flights, including cheap flights to Europe, I click nearby airports and see some flights out of Chicago going to Birmingham via Dublin. Now because I know a bit about travel within Europe and I'm going to get to that on this blog, but not today, I know that if I can find a cheap flights to Europe that arrive in Dublin, I can get out of there to the rest of Europe really reasonably as well. So I look at CHI to DUB and find a non-stop flight on Aer Lingus for my exact dates for $799 including the taxes ($679 + $120). That my friends is one of the best cheap flights to Europe I've seen in a while. And it's non-stop. Am I driving up from Indiana? At this point, at almost $300 cheaper, yeah (since I have friends in Chicago who will drop me off =).
Let's have some fun right now... We want cheap flights to Europe, right?
Putting the gateway city theory to the test, let's do a little case study on getting Cheap Travel to Europe :
I'm going on a travel web site to check for fares to London. Just pick your favorite for now... I may have some recommendations on best web sites in the future. But let's keep it neutral for now.
So I'm going online today and searching for cheap travel to Europe on a specific date with specific destination in mind and find some cheap flights to Europe if it's possible today. Hey sometimes it is better to wait for a sale.
Ok...
Let's say I'm from... Indiana and I want to take a trip from there to London, and I want to go in the Summer.
I go online -sorry that some of this will be super specific to today =( I see that Continental has a special on airfare to Europe. Wow! I can go for as little as $168! There's always a catch, right. Wrong! There are always several catches. Nobody is going to just GIVE away cheap flights to Europe. You're going to have to work for it. But I'm ok with that! The first catch is that it's from the East Coast, Newark. The second is that they are showing the one way fare, so I have to double it, but hey $336 is still a great deal, right? Catch number three (working our way up to catch 22!) is that taxes aren't in the price and the taxes and fees are outrageous especially since Sept. 11 fees etc. The final price for March dates is $406 Round Trip from Cleveland to London. The final catch is that it's a Spring sale and it won't last until June. May quotes are around $665 and June goes up to $882 before taxes, which will put me at around $1100. USD in summer from the East Coast. So I will have to find cheap travel to Europe somewhere else!
So I see that United is having a sale specifically on flights to Europe, so I go to their web site. Those stinkers want me to enroll (incidentally I already am but don't feel like looking up my numbers), so it takes a few minutes, but I finally get to the "book travel" page and I can begin to look for cheap flights to Europe. They are bragging about a good sale. So I work on a flight to London from June 10 through July 7, 2009. I try my gateway city (see Last blog post for the whole nine yards). In this case, I start with Chicago, the windy city and it blows me a $1293.20 not-a-deal. Cincinatti is $1327 and St. Louis is $1329. Louisville was even more, but Indianapolis comes in at $1096. including the taxes. Base fare is 718 and taxes are $378 (50% taxes?? Are we already in Europe?). Cleveland also comes in at that rate (though I'm not driving there, thank you very much, since Indy is the same. So maybe I look like a moron, but wait a minute. I check another gateway city, Los Angeles. Wouldn't you know it? It's $1141, almost $150 cheaper than Chi-town! Since Chicago is a United hub, this makes sense in the sick sort of way that alot of what the airlines do make no sense! So our cheap flights to Europe today are out of Indy and Cleveland.
Don't get excited if you are trying to get last minute flights near the summer and you find this post. These cheap flights to Europe have several restrictions and rules, so you DON'T qualify. I am using this as an example of the process to get cheap flights to Europe. The restrictions were basically, 7 day advance purchase by Jan 28 (today I believe) with a 30 day max stay and minimum Saturday night stayover. In my opinion, we can beat these rates, but it doesn't hurt to keep your ear to the ground. Play around and find a couple good sites that you can use when you are ready to book your cheap flights to Europe. That way you're familiar and have a password. BTW, I would just an email account for the junk mail like JohnDoetravel@yahoo or whatever and even sign up for updates on trip destinations (LONDON) you are planning to take and have them send you a heads up when there are what they consider cheap flights to Europe.
Now, here's where the fun begins. On one of the main sites (I'm still keeping it under my hat, huh?) where I know I can look up any flights, including cheap flights to Europe, I click nearby airports and see some flights out of Chicago going to Birmingham via Dublin. Now because I know a bit about travel within Europe and I'm going to get to that on this blog, but not today, I know that if I can find a cheap flights to Europe that arrive in Dublin, I can get out of there to the rest of Europe really reasonably as well. So I look at CHI to DUB and find a non-stop flight on Aer Lingus for my exact dates for $799 including the taxes ($679 + $120). That my friends is one of the best cheap flights to Europe I've seen in a while. And it's non-stop. Am I driving up from Indiana? At this point, at almost $300 cheaper, yeah (since I have friends in Chicago who will drop me off =).
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
25 January 2009
Welcome to Cheap Travel Europe
Welcome to Cheap Travel Europe. This site provide tips and techniques and relevant information about Cheap Travel, specifically related to Europe. The world is out there for us to explore and travel is not just for the rich and famous anymore. Cheap travel is more acheivable now than it ever has been. It's going to be a fun adventure sharing information with each other on how to find cheap travel in Europe and around the world. Ready for take off? Let's go!
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