Chicago to Scandinavia $303+ Round Trip Departures Thru Early May 2019

This is cheaper than flying to *Florida* for spring break!

• March/April 2019 flights are wide open from Chicago to Oslo Norway (OSL) and Copenhagen Denmark (CPH).  Other European cities also available for slightly more $
• Prices on Google Flights, with links to book directly with the airlines, are as low as $327.
• Searching on Momondo and booking with smaller online travel agencies, the prices can be as low as $303 to CPH and $310 to OSL.
• Cheapest flights are on Star Alliance carriers - Swiss International Air Lines (Swiss) and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS).  Some of the fares are even nonstop.
• SkyTeam alliance airlines (e.g. Delta, Air France, KLM) and OneWorld alliance airlines (e.g. American, British Airways) also have fares under $400 as well, with 1 or 2 stops each way.
• At these low prices, many of the flights are basic economy (typically:  checked bags not included, no advance seat assignment, elite status flyers not eligible for complimentary upgrades, etc).
• Regular economy unfortunately costs a LOT more on many of these flights - approx $180 more on SkyTeam.  One of the flights on American Airlines was $260 more in regular economy than basic economy!

How to Get the Deal

Search on Google Flights to find cheap flights based on preferred dates, trip duration, etc.

If you are feeling adventurous, search on Momondo.com and book thru an OTA to save $30-70 vs. booking directly with an airline.

Book now, think later!  You have 24 hours to cancel with no penalty.

Secret Flying reported these deals yesterday, and prices seem to have dropped after they posted, so the cheap seats will be selling out very fast.

Background Information

• Chicago to Oslo Norway from $310 roundtrip
• Chicago to Copenhagen Denmark from $303 roundtrip
• Prices increase to mid $400s after May 8 departures, but the cheap flights are widely available in March and April.  January and February are much more scattered availability at the cheapest prices.

Sample Searches

Google Flights - ORD to OSL/CPH Mon April 1 - Mon April 8

Google Flights - ORD to OSL/CPH Mon Mar 25 - Thurs April 4

Google Flights Price Calendar - 7 day trip

[FARE GONE] Detroit/Seattle/Minneapolis/Atlanta to Madrid $395 Roundtrip Sept - Dec 2018

6/9/2018 this fare sale has expired

Quick deal post.  It is possible to book tickets around Thanksgiving or Christmas via this fare sale.

Star Alliance airlines - Air Canada, Lufthansa, United, etc.

Detroit to Madrid.  Late September to December 2018 flights.

As low as $395 round trip.

Connections thru Toronto (Air Canada), Newark (United), Frankfurt (Lufthansa), etc.

Watch out for some United Airlines fares being a near-basic economy that does NOT include a free checked bag.

Sample Google Searches for Detroit (DTW) to Madrid (MAD):

Fri Oct 5 - Sat Oct 20 from $401 1-stop

Fri Nov 16 - Mon Dec 3 from $395 1-stop

Tues Dec 11 - Sun Dec 30 from $465 1-stop

Background information here:  https://www.theflightdeal.com/2018/06/08/united-402-seattle-atlanta-detroit-minneapolis-madrid-spain-roundtrip-including-all-taxes/

[Expired] Detroit to Europe $400+ Round Trip May/early June

This fare sale has expired

Excellent price on United and other Star Alliance carriers (e.g. Air Canada) from Detroit to Europe with departures in May thru early June.  As low as $400 per person round trip.

More details here:  https://www.theflightdeal.com/2018/03/27/united-starting-457-fort-lauderdale-miami-boston-philadelphia-atlanta-charlotte… 

NOTE:  fares are pricing out cheaper on Google Flights as of 4pm Eastern than reported on The Flight Deal's article (link above)

Most of the cheap fares look to be to Amsterdam, but some availability to Paris and other cities is also sprinkled in.

Sample searches on Google Flights:

May 5 - May 19 - $400 and up

June 4 - June 15 - $407 and up

[Expired] Widespread Fare Sale US to Europe $450+ Most US Airports to Rome, Milan, Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Brussels etc.

This fare sale has expired

Big fare sale, apparently started by Delta and matched by United.

Dates:

• Now thru May
• Mid-September thru early December

7-day stay required.  Must book 28 days in advance.

Big airports around the US, including Detroit (DTW) and Chicago O'Hare (ORD) are showing the cheap fares.

So are small airports in Michigan, all showing sub-$500 roundtrips to various European cities.  Includes flights from:

• Grand Rapids (GRR)
• Lansing (LAN)
• Traverse City (TVC)
• Muskegon (MKG)
• Flint (FNT)
• Kalamazoo (AZO)

Destination Cities Available Include:

• Rome (FCO)
• Milan (MXP)
• Paris (CDG)
• Amsterdam (AMS)
• Munich (MUC)
• Brussels (BRU)
• Frankfurt (FRA)
• Dusseldorf (DUS)
• Berlin (TXL)
• Marseille (MRS)
• Zurich (ZRH)
• Geneva (GVA)
• Prague (PRG)
• Krakow (KRK)
• Warsaw (WAW)
• Bucharest (OTP)
• Zagreb (ZAG)
• Barcelona (BCN)
• Madrid (MAD)
• Valencia (VLC)
• Bilbao (BIO)
• Lisbon (LIS)
• Porto (OPO)
• Possibly others

More details here:  https://www.theflightdeal.com/2018/02/05/united-starting-507-united-states-amsterdam-milan-rome-paris-roundtrip-including-all-taxes/

Sample Dates with Cheap Flights:

• Fri Oct 12 - Sat Oct 20.  From GRR/LAN/TVC/FNT/MKG from $453.  Google Flights
• Weds Nov 21 - Sat Dec 1 (Thanksgiving is Nov 22).  From $451.  Google Flights
• Mon Mar 12 - Tues Mar 20.  From $451.  Google Flights
• Fri Mar 30 - Mon Apr 9.  From $503.  (Spring break week).  Google Flights
• Sun Apr 1 - Mon Apr 9.  From $458.  From Detroit.  Google Flights

Google Flights "Explore" View from October showing available prices from GRR

Detroit to Iceland $200 Roundtrip! Amsterdam/Berlin/Copenhagen/Dublin/Paris from $300 RT

WOW air begins service to Europe from Detroit (DTW) in 2018.  WOW air already flies from several other large US cities to Europe, and their fares are VERY low.

Flights from DTW to Europe have been bookable for several weeks now, and the prices on certain dates are VERY cheap.

As a low-cost carrier, WOW charges extra for a lot of 'regular' stuff such as a 2nd cabin bag, seat selection, checked bags, etc.

WOW air flights between US and Europe all connect in Reykjavik (KEF).

If you can pack light - or even if you can't - their prices can be tough to beat.

Sept/Oct 2018 flights to Reykjavik (KEF) from $200 round trip on certain dates.

Examples

• DTW-KEF $200 round trip Sept 8-19 (Google Flights link)
• DTW-DUB $300 round trip Sept 17-28 (Google Flights link)

• DTW-CDG (Paris) $300 round trip Oct 8-19 (Google Flights link)

• DTW-London Stansted (STN) $340, Amsterdam (AMS) $300, Paris (CDG) $300 Oct 15-26 (Google Flights link)

Details about fare sale on WOW air's website - https://wowair.us/flights/best-fares/?selected_airport=DTW

Highly recommend registering to receive Travelzoo email updates.  They find and post some good deals and also some good travel content in general.  That's how I heard about this particular WOW air sale from Detroit to Europe.

[MOSTLY GONE] Europe on Sale across the U.S. $400+ Round Trip Jan - March 2018

UPDATE 11/25/2017 most of the cheap fares have disappeared.  However, certain destination cities continus to pop up for early 2018 travel < $500 round trip.  Keep an eye out if you are still looking to book something.  And feel free to ask if you need help!

The past few days is one of these times when domestic airlines started having mini fare wars on Europe flights.  American and Delta in particular are going back and forth, although United also has gotten involved.  The result is lots of cities available for $400-500 round trip Jan/Feb/March 2018 and also some in May if you look.

I leave it to you to do your own flight searches at Google Flights or ITA Matrix (matrix.itasoftware.com) -- beware that no flight search engine or aggregator will show ALL the cheap flights; sometimes you'll see things on Matrix that aren't on Google Flights, or vice versa.

Detroit and Chicago are definitely available for many destination cities.

Grand Rapids is also available to many destination cities, at similar prices.

Background Articles:

http://faredealalert.com/2017/11/20/american-starting-at-401-united-states-europe-roundtrip-including-all-taxes/

https://www.theflightdeal.com/2017/11/20/delta-klm-royal-dutch-401-dallas-chicago-miami-philadelphia-phoenix-charlotte-d…

https://www.theflightdeal.com/2017/11/20/american-starting-430-united-states-milan-rome-venice-italy-roundtrip-including…

If you are more 'adventurous' with booking thru a third party online travel agency (OTA) rather than booking directly with the airline, you can save another $25-50 per person by searching at Momondo and then clicking thru and booking with whichever OTA has the cheapest price on your desired trip.  More info here:  http://www.secretflying.com/posts/sale-usa-europe-434-roundtrip/

Detroit Flights

Grand Rapids Flights

Book flights with confidence | Google Flights

March 3 - 11.  Zurich, Brussels, Munich, Rome, Milan $550 or less RT.  LINK

Jan 13 - 21.  Paris and Amsterdam $405-450 RT.  LINK

Feb 18-25.  Barcelona, Madrid, Frankfurt, Milan $417-510 RT.  LINK

Big Europe Fare Sale Jan-May 2018 - $340+ RT from ORD/DTW, even GRR, LAN, & TVC!

Many U.S. cities are on sale to Europe - including Grand Rapids (GRR), Lansing (LAN), Kalamazoo (AZO), even Traverse City (TVC).

Do some searches for yourself thru approx May 2018.  Use Google Flights or Kayak or your favorite search engine.  Most of the cheapest flights are available thru March, but some are thru May.

Background Articles

• The Flight Deal - $400 and up to many cities Jan-Mar 2018
• Valid for travel from late January 2018 – mid March 2018.  A 7 day minimum stay is required. Availability is limited. Must purchase at least 50 days in advance of departure

• Spain on sale from many U.S. cities from the $400s - Fare Deal Alert

• Helsinki from most of the U.S. from $445 round trip - Fare Deal Alert
• Valid for travel from mid-January 2018 – mid-March 2018 for Thursday through Sunday departures and for Friday through Monday returns. A 7 day minimum stay is required. Must purchase at least 50 days in advance of departure.

Which Cities are On Sale?

• Cities showing flights available < $500 round trip include:
• Barcelona (BCN)
• Madrid (MAD)
• Rome (FCO)
• Milan (MXP)
• Zurich (ZRH)
• Amsterdam (AMS)
• Paris (CDG)
• Helsinki (HEL)
• Munich (MUC)
• Frankfurt (FRA)
• Geneva (GVA)

Deal Breakdown - $340 Round Trip Chicago to Geneva

• Chicago to Geneva (GVA) from $340 round trip

ORD>GVA Friday May 11 - Sunday May 20 - $340 and up RT

ORD>GVA Sun May 20 - Sat May 26 - $354 and up (includes Icelandair flight w/24 hr layover in Reykjavik)

• It is possible to book a routing with a long enough layover in Montreal, Brussels, or other connecting city to get out of the airport and explore the city.
• If you like the sound of a long layover, you'll probably want to use ITA Matrix for your search, and experiment with the connection times as a way to find these longer connections.
• Otherwise, Google Flights should work well enough.
• Once in Geneva, it's easy to get cheap intra-Europe flights if there are other places you'd like to visit.
• Minimum 7-day stay.
• More details at The Flight Deal

Sample Fare Searches on Google Flights

GRR/LAN/AZO/TVC/FNT to FRA, MUC, MXP, FCO, TXL Sat March 17- Sun March 25.  $450-500 round trip to Frankfurt, Munich, and Rome

GRR/LAN/AZO/TVC/FNT to AMS, CDG, BCN, MAD, BRU Sat March 3 - Sun March 11.  AMS from $425, MAD from $434, CDG from $441, BCN from $453

GRR/LAN/AZO/TVC/FNT to BCN, MUC Sun March 4 - Mon March 12.  BCN from $408, MUC from $462

ORD/MDW/DTW to Helsinki (HEL) Fri May 25 - Sun June 3.  $450+ RT

ORD/MDW/DTW to MAD, BCN, AMS, CDG, ZRH Sat Feb 3 - Mon Feb 12.  AMS from $348, CDG from $378, BCN from $404, ZRH from $423

Don't Forget About Toronto!

These aren't necessarily 'sale' prices, although they are very CHEAP prices.  Toronto offers a great alternative to Michigan-based travelers since it's only about 5 hours drive from Grand Rapids.  Lots of inexpensive Europe flights are available from Toronto (YYZ).

YYZ to Copenhagen (CPH), Dublin (DUB), Stockholm (ARN), Berlin (TXL), Paris (CDG) from $346 RT on Wow Air

Cheap Flights to Europe? Toronto is a Great Option

Many folks are not aware that Toronto's Pearson International Airport (YYZ) offers lots of cheap flights to Europe.  Folks in the Midwest may consider Toronto a viable option to Chicago or Detroit.  Combine a day in Toronto before or after your flight to get some extra vacation out of your vacation.  Plus, Toronto is several hundred miles east of ORD and DTW, which means shorter flight across the pond - Toronto to Reykjavik is less than 6 hours, Dublin is 6.5 hours, London is < 7 hours.

Numerous airlines, including:

• British Airways, Air Canada, Air France, KLM, Westjet, Aer Lingus, Air Transat, LOT, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, WOW Air, and Icelandair

fly nonstop from Toronto to several European cities including:

• Dublin, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Munich, Paris, Rome, Milan, Barcelona, Vienna, Brussels, Warsaw, Istanbul, and Reykjavik.
• LINK (Wikipedia) - nonstop flights from Toronto to Europe, listed by airline and city

Here are some sample roundtrip airfares from Toronto for various dates; prices as low as the following:

• Weds Nov 23 - Sun Nov 27 - long weekend over Thanksgiving.  Reykjavik $388, London $420, Paris $438, Copenhagen $441.  LINK
• Sun Nov 27 - Mon Dec 5 - 8 day trip.  Reykjavik $320, Amsterdam $355, Paris $381, Dublin $419, Copenhagen $419, Oslo $426, Bordeaux $435, Rome $446.  LINK
• Thur Feb 23 - Sun Mar 5 - 10-day midwinter break trip.  Reykjavik $267!, London $342, Amsterdam $398, Copenhagen $407, Helsinki $413, Paris $414, Rome $433.  LINK
• Weds Mar 23 - Sun Apr 2 - 10-day Spring break trip.  Reykjavik $282!, Paris $375, Stockholm $381, Amsterdam $419, Madrid $427, Rome $440.  LINK​
• Mon May 1 - Sun May 14 - 14-day late spring trip.  Reykjavik $381, Paris $375, Marseille $447, Rome $453, Barcelona $452.  LINK

Approximate Drive Time to YYZ:

• Rochester NY 2:30
• Detroit 3:30
• Syracuse NY 3:45
• Cleveland 4:30
• Grand Rapids 5:30