Europe deal alert: Round-trip flights under $500
If you missed out on Europe this year or want to start the new year with a bang, this wide-reaching deal to Europe is calling your name.
Flights from all over the U.S., including New York City, Los Angeles and Seattle are available to Paris, Amsterdam and select cities throughout Greece and Italy starting at around $400 round trip and going up from there.
These deals are mostly good for travel starting in 2023 throughout the year's first half, with limited availability in the remainder of 2022.
Deal basics
Airlines: TAP, Aer Lingus, Lufthansa, Swiss, British Airways, Finnair, Air Canada, United.
Routes: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Italy's Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP), Greece's Corfu International Airport (CFU), Mykonos-Manto Mavrogenous Airport (JMK), Heraklion International Airport (HER), Thessaloniki Airport (SKG), Santorini Airport (JTR), Rhodes International Airport (RHO), Chania International Airport (CHQ), Athens International Airport (ATH), Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) and Paris-Orly Airport (ORY).
How to book: Directly through the airline.
Travel dates: November-December 2022; January-May 2023, exact availability depends on the route.
Book by: ASAP.
Shoutout to Scott's Cheap Flights for sending us this deal. You can sign up for a Premium membership to get deals up to 90% off, which users can try for free for 14 days or $49 per year. Or upgrade to the Elite tier for $199 per year and receive all the Premium deals plus premium economy, business-class and first-class alerts.
Sample flights
Though this deal includes departing flights from many domestic airports, some of the best-priced round-trip routes currently available are:
- John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Paris-Orly Airport (ORY), starting at $387.
- JFK to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), starting at $452.
- JFK to Athens International Airport (ATH), starting at $460.
- JFK to Rhodes International Airport Diagoras (RHO) and Santorini Airport (JTR), starting at $462.
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Heraklion Airport (HER), starting at $464.
- LAX to Mykonos International Airport (JMK), starting at $477.
- LAX to Corfu Airport Ioannis Kapodistrias (CFU), starting at $484.
- LAX to Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia (SKG), starting at $499.
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to Malpensa Airport, starting at $565.
- JFK to Chania International Airport Ioannis Daskalogiannis (CHQ), starting at $597.
As mentioned, you can find departing flights to the above destinations from other cities, including Boston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Houston, so be sure to search this deal beyond the highlighted routes.
To book this deal, start by searching your home airport and destination via Google Flights, as I have done with a search from New York to Amsterdam.
Once you identify a flight that works for your schedule, I would recommend booking directly through the airline, even if doing so results in a slightly higher price, which is the case for this flight.
Read more: How I used points and miles to book my dream trip to Europe
Many of the flights in this deal, including this one, will have at least one layover, so be sure to consider that for planning purposes. However, some, such as this one-hour layover in Dublin Airport (DUB) are much more manageable than others.
The lowest-priced flights available will be for the carrier's most restrictive economy fare, which in this example is Aer Lingus' saver fare. These fares include one carry-on bag but charge between $25-$65 for checked baggage depending on the size.
Although baggage fees vary by carrier, you'll want to factor in $27-$75 each way for luggage in addition to the fare, depending on the airline.
Maximize your purchase
If you book this deal, use a credit card that earns bonus points on airfare purchases, including The Platinum Card® from American Express (5 points per dollar on airfare booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year) or the Citi Prestige® Card (which also gives you 5 points per dollar on airfare). For 3 points per dollar on airfare, consider the Chase Sapphire Reserve or American Express® Gold Card (when booking directly with airlines on Amex Travel). Or try the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card for 2 points per dollar on travel.
See this post to read more about maximizing your airfare purchases.
The information for the Citi Prestige Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Bottom line
A $500 round-trip flight from the U.S. to Europe is a great deal under any circumstances, particularly when the dollar remains particularly strong versus the euro.
Not only can you save money on airfare with this deal, but you can also use those savings once you are on the ground in Europe. Per my test search conducted for this story, some of these flights have only a few seats remaining, so be sure to book quickly if interested.