Budget Travel - US to Europe Summer Fares

Airfares from the US to Europe seem to be well over $1000 for Summer travel (late June/early July). Should I wait and expect these fares to drop? Fares for flights in March are half that price.

Welcome to FlyerTalk mhollisco !

The reason the prices for March are half the price for Summer is that it's still cold in Europe and kids are in school. Summer has traditionally been a lot more expensive, and last year the fares seemd to hover around there. If you keep an eye on the Mileage Run forum here at FT you may come across a fare sale, or on rare occations, a mistake fare.

EmailKid

US-Europe = mind boggling combinations.

Why not share your precise routing preferences and your budget?

You may get a better answer than "supply-demand-stay tuned."

USAir has a mid August sale. LAX-CDG rt $665 AI...You can check it out on Orbitz...

Thanks for all of the replies! I am trying to get from DEN to Italy. I wasn't that specific because it really doesn't matter. I can connect through another hub in the US, and I will probably end up connecting in some hub in Europe. There are direct flights from DEN to Heathrow and Frankfurt. From London, I could take a cheap Ryan Air flight to a destination in Italy. These alternatives are all over $1250 a person.

garygleck's LAX-CDG rt $665 AI route looks intriguing... Thanks!

I was thinking that perhaps the consensus would be given the soft economy and soft Euro, prices may drop this Summer... I guess nobody can predict for sure :).

Try matrix.itasoftware.com - great site for fare search where you can provide multiple origins and destinations. Example:

From: den;las;slc
To: mxp

means start from denver or las vegas or salt lake city.

Delta comes up with a total fare of $939 from DEN-MXP, July 9 to July 16 and plenty of other dates in Summer. For other creative ways of using matrix.itasoftware.com, read their faq or the MileageRun forum too.


Thanks for all of the replies! I am trying to get from DEN to Italy. I wasn't that specific because it really doesn't matter. I can connect through another hub in the US, and I will probably end up connecting in some hub in Europe. There are direct flights from DEN to Heathrow and Frankfurt. From London, I could take a cheap Ryan Air flight to a destination in Italy. These alternatives are all over $1250 a person.

garygleck's LAX-CDG rt $665 AI route looks intriguing... Thanks!

I was thinking that perhaps the consensus would be given the soft economy and soft Euro, prices may drop this Summer... I guess nobody can predict for sure :).

Some price breaks if you depart after mid-August. Found with ITA month-long search (see new user thread if not familiar with it). I have not x-ref’d availability with other sources yet.
NYC-DUS $619 Lufthansa
NYC-FRA $635 Air France (op by Delta)
JFK-DUB $713 Delta
EWR-DUB $714 Continental
JFK-BER $620 Air France (op by Delta)
EWR-CGN $705 Continental
BOS-LIN (Milan-Linate) $790 Air France
DCA-SNN $715 Continental