Travel demand to Europe exploded last summer, leading to eye-popping airfare of $1,500 a ticket or more for many travelers. Cheaper fares have come and gone in the months since, but we're seeing transatlantic fares dip back into the $400s (and sometimes even in the $300s!) for a trip this spring and next fall.
We've seen it again and again over the last two weeks – and so have our Thrifty Traveler Premium subscribers. We've found nationwide sales from airports big and small (nearly all 200-plus airports in the U.S. and Canada we search, in fact) to Europe under $499; nonstops to popular spots like Portugal, Paris, and Rome as low as $417 roundtrip; low fares to off-the-beaten-path destinations like the Baltics or Finland; and even ultra-rare business class award deals like flying Delta One across the pond for just 50,000 points.
Deals this good rarely last long – as spring and then summer draw closer, we're likely to see the cheap rates rise … and rise … and rise. But for now, flight prices don't get much better than this. It's time to start planning your 2024 Eurotrip – and we're here to help.
Let's take a spin across the continent and see just how cheap flights to Europe can get for a trip later this year.
Nationwide Deals to Europe
After a record-setting summer when seemingly everyone was heading to Europe, airlines are clearly seeing some empty seats on their planes heading across the Atlantic this spring. And when that happens, they do whatever it takes to fill those seats.
How low can they go? This low.
These fares are gone now! Get the next deal in your inbox with Thrifty Traveler Premium!
When the airlines offer you a roundtrip flight to Europe under $500, take it! These fares to Spain are Exhibit A with some fares below $450 roundtrip – including long nonstops from Los Angeles (LAX) and Miami (MIA) for a trip this spring.
Let's narrow it down a little bit, though. Is it really cheap everywhere right now? Yeah, kind of. If there's one European destination that we get asked about over and over again, it's Italy.
Yes, we're seeing dropping fares to get there, too. Take a look.
Look at that list of destination cities. There are the usual suspects like Rome (FCO) and Milan (MXP), but you could also get to beloved spots like Florence (FLR) and Venice (VCE) at a steep discount.
When we call a deal “nationwide,” this is what we mean: From Evansville, Indiana (EVV) to Scranton, Pennsylvania (AVP) and up to the heavy hitters like Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) and New York City (JFK), this deal touched every corner of the country.
And what, did you think France was just going to let Spain and Italy have all the fun? Of course not! Cheap flights to Paris won't be denied this year, either.
Interestingly, this flight included some fares on Icelandair, the budget-friendly carrier that we love for many reasons. But the best part about flying Icelandair is its phenomenal stopover program, allowing you to build in a pitstop in Iceland for three or even to seven days on your way to or from Paris … all for the same price as a regular roundtrip ticket!
What would you do in Iceland for three nights? I'm so glad you asked!
Read next: How to Book an Icelandair Stopover
Finally, the airlines also sprinkled in some love for Deutschland with these fantastic fares to Germany in 2024.
We find flight deals from 200+ airports in the U.S. and Canada!
Dropping Prices to Greece, the Baltics, & Beyond
From Spain and France and over to Italy, we've hit all the big hubs in Europe already with dirt-cheap prices. But the savings extend beyond the biggest hotspots: We're finding cheaper fares to further-flung destinations across Europe, too.
How about Athens (ATH)? Whether you want to explore the ruins in the birthplace of democracy or hop out to the Greek isles, we rarely see fares to Athens under $1,000 roundtrip.
How about paying less than half that price?
You'd be hard-pressed to find a better deal than that to Greece. And while only travelers flying out of Boston (BOS) benefitted from these cheap fares, you could book a positioning flight to BOS and still save big on a roundtrip ticket.
These low fares to Athens got gobbled up fast – get the next alert in your inbox with Thrifty Traveler Premium!
Further north – like, way north – are the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. A trip to one of these beautiful (and cheap!) European countries is for the real travelers out there. This one's for the people who are looking for the hidden gems of the world, leaving the crowds and tourist traps behind.
The cities of Riga, Tallinn, and Vilnius are true diamonds in the rough of eastern Europe and are known for being an especially thrifty option for travelers. No tourist prices here!
Plus, with fares like these, it might be cheaper to visit Riga for a week than it is to visit Orlando!
One more for the hardcore travelers out there: A Northern Lights adventure in Finland. No, you're not seeing things: You can really get to Finland for under $400 roundtrip if you time it right with a deal like this.
This flight deal to Finland happens to feature some of the best months of the year for viewing the elusive Aurora Borealis. If you connect on from Helsinki (HEL) to Finnish Lapland, your chance of seeing the Northern Lights goes up exponentially, too.
Business Class Deals & Points Deals
What's better than a cheap flight to Europe? A cheap flight to Europe in the front of the plane – or maybe even a (nearly) free one booked using points and miles.
As flight prices to Europe dropped, we've also seen a serious resurgence in cheap business class flights and premium cabin award space to book those seats with points lately. In just the last few weeks, we've sent Thrifty Traveler Premium members a record number of business class deals across the pond. Like this one:
This unreal deal is long gone – get an instant alert for the next deal with Thrifty Traveler Premium!
Nonstop to Frankfurt flying Condor Airlines' sneakily amazing business class seat is one of the coolest new ways to cross the Atlantic. And if you have Alaska Airlines or Emirates miles (or one of the many credit card points that transfer to Emirates), you can make this seat home for your journey to Germany.
Have Turkish miles instead? Oor Capital One, Citi, or Bilt points that transfer to Turkish on a 1:1 basis? You can book TAP Air Portugal business class to Lisbon (LIS) this year, too!
I flew TAP Business Class a few years back and thought it was a great way to get to Europe. Waking up refreshed in Lisbon (LIS) after a good night's sleep was amazing for a city where you can expect to do some walking!
Flying Delta One Suites should be on anyone's bucket list, but there's a problem: Delta regularly charges 300,000 SkyMiles or more each way. No thank you.
One of our latest business class award alerts solved that problem for you.
We gave this deal the “Unicorn Fare” stamp because of how rare this is: Delta One Suites bookable via Virgin Atlantic for just 50,000 points is one of the best deals in the world of points and miles. But availability to book these seats during peak summer in Europe is completely unheard of … unless you're a Thrifty Traveler Premium member of course!
Just 50,000 Virgin Atlantic points – transferable from Chase, Capital One, American Express, and more – could put you in one of these suites heading for Dublin (DUB) or Munich (MUC). And just a few hours later, we found more Delta One availability flying this spring to Amsterdam (AMS), Frankfurt (FRA), and Lisbon (LIS), too.
These seats are long gone now – get the next award alert with Thrifty Traveler Premium!
Bottom Line
Flight prices to get to Europe this winter, spring, or even next fall have been dropping. But deals like these don't last long: Time is running out to book low fares (or amazing points deals) before they disappear as spring and summer draw closer.
But for now, the deals just keep coming. From deeply discounted nonstop economy fares to ultra-rare business class points deals, Thrifty Traveler Premium members are getting email alerts almost every day alerting them to cheaper flights all over Europe.
Lincoln?!! Where can I head off to on the cheap from Lincoln? I’m in!!
Hi Lynne, yes! In the past month alone, we’ve found cheap international flights from Lincoln to Hawaii, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Chile, and Toronto. There’s more to come in the coming months: we’d love to have you join us for more cheap flights! More info on our Premium service here: https://thriftytraveler.com/premium/
What about London ? Any changes there?
I have been a Premium member for several years!
Hi Lynne,
You can add LNK to your departure city preferences to get alerts for deals from Lincoln! Sent you an email with details 🙂
Thank you!
We see cheap fares to London come around every few months! Most recently, we found fares in the low $300s 🙂
London RT from TPA
Hi Nat! We don’t make the deals (just find them), but we see cheap fares to London come around every few months 🙂
Looking for cheap flights to Europe from pdx thru october
Lynda, great! We see cheap fares to Europe every month or so from cities including PDX. Just this weekend, we found flight deals to Croatia, Czechia, and Poland for $530 roundtrip from PDX. Don’t miss the next deals we find out of Portland: https://thriftytraveler.com/premium
I’ve been watching your site and keep seeing the ads for premium. I’m wondering if it is worth it for us to join as we are in western Canada. Are we really going to see many great deals that originate from Calgary, AB YYC? The whole concept sounds wonderful, but not for us if this is primarily an American site. Any thoughts on this.
Hi Linda! While we do cover mostly US travel news on our website, our flight deal email alerts are for both US and Canadian departure cities 🙂 We typically find flight deals out of YYC at least a few times a month! Would love to have you join for cheap flights 🙂
The fares to Europe over the summer have not come down very much at all. What are your predictions there?
Thank you for the mail list – love it!
Until Europe drops the vax card requirement, I’d assume they’ll be hurting for flying business. It’s way stressful to protect that little card.
Looking for a cheep non-stop flight to Copenhagen on July 5, returning on August 13. Is this an impossibility?? I know it’s soon.
Greetings and thank you for excellent info. What does your crystal ball reveal with regards to airfare deals to Spain from mid 19/20June to 9/10July 2023. I love Google Flights and use it often. I’m WA state resident and have found SFO to be the best west coast departure port. Willing to fly through any European city if less since fares intra-Europe still remain inexpensive. Thank you
Chris
Taking my Grandaughter to Paris for her graduation trip, 2024. Unfortunately it’s the Olympics and I’m worried pricing is going to be crazy. Want to snag tickets early but am flexible on dates. End of May through September. Any suggestions??
Hello, we are a family of six (2 kids) looking for affordable tickets to Europe. Could leave from Chicago or Detroit. Spring 2024 would be perfect, but can wait til fall if more affordable . What’s the forecast for prices next year? Many thanks,
Susan
The discount fares of today don’t match the ones we were seeing pre Covid. Sure the price may be similar but airlines have devalued the international basic economy product so much that you should expect to pay $160 RT plus for any option to even have an oppt to select a seat. Even then seat prices add $15-$50 per segment. By the time you add in all the hidden costs and fees expect to pay $200-$250 over the discount price listed. The old days are gone and those fares are not coming back…ever.
Browsing now, prices for summer are higher then in 2023, what r u talking about, get real
The insights on dropping flight prices to Europe are spot-on and came at the perfect time. Thanks a ton for sharing, making it easy for folks across the U.S to plan an European getaway.