Help me find cheap plane tickets to Europe

freebread03

I know many of you ladies travel internationally, and I need help with methods to find cheap plane tickets to Europe.  We definitely want to go in May, and maybe in the fall, but don't have any specific destinations in mind (we're actually thinking of flying into wherever is cheapest, and backpacking for a few weeks without a tight itinerary).

I've looked at Iceland Air, which has some good deals, and TravelZoo publishes some good deals as well, but wanted to see if you ladies had any other recommendations for the adventurous traveler.

Wiscisbliss

europeandestinations.com  

My parents have used it and had great sucess.  

sunshine_day_dreams

I was going to suggest Iceland Air.  They are by far the cheapest I've found within the past few years.  If you're adventurous, a layover in Reykjavik would be an awesome start to a European vacation. :-)

You might also consider signing up for a credit card with bonus airline miles.

MandiNoel

We are planning a honeymoon to Paris, so I've been researching this a lot myself!

We looked into Iceland Air, however, we are not within driving distance of any of the departure cities from the US, so we would have to fly into one of those. The prices ended up being the same as flying out of New Orleans or Houston but with a lot more trouble and time spent. However, if you are close to one of those airports, it seems like a nice idea.

I will warn you to be careful when searching on EuropeanDestinations. The same flight we booked through priceline cost $500 more per ticket on European Destinations. I've had much more luck going through Kayak.com and comparing all the travel sites. Once I find a flight I am interested in, I always go back to the airlines site to double check the price just to make sure I am getting the best possible deal.

Wishing you good luck on your search!

emilyinchile

SkyScanner and Cheapoair (yes, really) are two other sites. I'd check those and Kayak, then once you find a flight double check to make sure it's not cheaper on the airline's own site. You can also set price alerts on Kayak so that you get an email telling you the price week by week, and if it drops, you'll know to buy.

Also, prices often are lowest on Tuesdays and highest on weekends.

freebread03

Awesome, thanks ladies!  I've used CheapO Air and Kayak before, and typically book mid-week, so I guess there aren't too many "secrets" that I'm not using.  But am always open to new ideas or places to look.

hz80408

You can also look at flight price predictors on bing.com > travel, if you meet their criteria (I've been annoyed with them b/c our Mar/April trip doesn't not meet the requirements); but for example my parents are fllying roundtrip to London in Feb and bing said with 70% confidence that flights will go down.

Also, TN's travel board suggested tracking flights on Yapta.com

Like Kayak, they'll let you know when the price drops on a flight.  Unlike kayak; they don't send a daily or weekly email, they send you an email the moment they find the price-reduced flight so that if it's some type of flash-sale, you have a better chance of getting tix at the lower price.

annakb8

Where are you flying from? That can make a big difference. I'd look at what airlines have hubs close to you and see what their hubs in Europe are. That way you can probably get a cheaper ticket. I've also had good success with cheapoair.com and farefinder.com. The main thing though is to remain flexible. The more flexible you are the cheaper your airfare will be. It sounds like you are already pretty flexible about the dates and locations so you should be able to do pretty well.

Also, I'm jealous of these great deals people are getting with Icelandair. I have family in Icleand and I want to go see them very much but I the Icelandair tickets never seem to drop in price that much.