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Cheap flights to
Europe

Save hundreds on your next flight with deals on highly rated airlines.

Flights to Europe overview

Going searches for the best fares and sends members deals bookable 1-12 months in advance. Going members save approximately 34% compared to normal flight prices to Europe.

Cheapest Going deal

$199

Average price roundtrip

$835.98

Average Going deal price roundtrip

$549.70

Best month to fly

Going found the most deals with travel dates in January.

January

Worst month to fly

Going found the least deals with travel dates in July.

July

Top tips for finding a cheap flight to Europe

Click the buy button during the Goldilocks Window

Despite what you might have read elsewhere, there isn’t a specific day of the week or exact moment when airfare is magically cheaper to buy. What years of watching fares rise and fall has taught us, though, is that there’s a period of time before a flight when fares tend to be at their best prices. For domestic flights, it’s 1-3 months before a trip. For international flights, it’s 2-8 months before. We call this the Goldilocks Window.

The exceptions here are big ones, though. If you’re traveling during a holiday or a peak season, or your travel dates are set in stone and can’t be adjusted by even a day or two, we suggest you add a few months to the schedule. If your heart is set on a summer European adventure, you’d best book those trips the winter beforehand. And remember, airlines usually raise prices on tickets 21, 14, and 7 days before a flight, so book before those dates when possible.

Try the Greek Islands Trick

One of our favorite ways to save money on airfare is something we call the Greek Islands Trick. It can come in handy when all the fares you’re seeing to your dream destination are giving you sticker shock. Instead of giving up, look for the cheapest flights to a different destination that’s close to where you really want to go. From there, it’s a matter of booking a flight on a low-cost airline (or a train ticket, or even a ferry ride) to where you want to end up.

We call it the Greek Islands Trick because it works so beautifully for trips to the Greek Islands, but it works on plenty of destinations around the world, too. If you want to take a vacation in Croatia from New York, you might be shocked at the $1,200+ cost of tickets. Instead, see if you can find a deal on flights from NYC to London, and then book a separate roundtrip ticket from London to Croatia on a budget European carrier. You might save $500 or more, which makes the extra planning required worth it.

Consider flying from different departure airports

Just as the Greek Islands Trick suggests you think about flying into a different destination to save a little money on airfare, this tip is about flying from a different departure airport than you might ordinarily use. We see pretty fantastic deals on airfare all the time, and they’re not all from the major airports—sometimes they’re from smaller airports that you might overlook.

Travelers in Philadelphia who want to visit Paris, for example, might be dismayed by nonstop fares that are $1,000 or more roundtrip. If you’re looking at more than one departure airport, though, you might find a fare from NYC to Paris that’s less than $350 roundtrip—which certainly makes the train trip into the city worth it.

Flexible plans mean cheaper fares

You may already know that being flexible with your travel plans is a good way to save money—aiming for shoulder season vacations instead of the high season, for instance. Even if you can look at airfare options over a span of a few days instead of only having one day when you can fly, you stand a much better chance of finding a cheaper flight.

But flexibility isn’t always an easy option. The summer is Europe’s high season for a reason. The weather is reliably sunny, and that’s when your kids are out of school, after all. If summer is your only option, you may find cheaper fares in the first two weeks of June and the last two weeks of July.

And, if you want to take advantage of days when your office is closed, you might find killer deals on international flights over Thanksgiving weekend—most people are flying home for the holidays, not overseas. And, no matter when you’re traveling, try to avoid the days when it’s more expensive to fly (Fridays and Sundays) and aim for the days when it tends to be cheaper (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays).

Sign up for airfare alerts for specific trips

We’ve been tracking airfare on a near-constant basis since 2013, and one of the things we’ve learned is that it takes time—sometimes a lot of time—to stay on top of it all. Luckily for folks who don’t look at airfare as a full-time job, technology has a solution. You can sign up for fare alerts for any itineraries you’re looking at, and then you’ll get an email when the fare gets into the price range you want to pay. If your plans are still flexible, just note that you’ll need to set up an alert for each trip option. Or? You can join Going and let us do all the searching for you.

Europe remains the most popular continent for travelers, so getting there from the United States is pretty easy. Major international gateways like London, Paris, Amsterdam, Milan, Frankfurt, and Munich are extremely well-connected to the US with nonstop flights on multiple airlines, and there are a number of smaller airports around the continent that also have nonstop flights from the United States.

Frequently asked questions about flying to Europe

When is high season in Europe?

Europe’s high season is, generally speaking, the summer months of June-August. In many popular cities and countries, though, the high season has spread into May and September, too. Summer means warm weather (sometimes it’s downright hot, especially as you go south), and there are dozens of summer events and festivals throughout Europe that take advantage of nice summer weather.

In some parts of Europe, the Christmas and New Year holidays are a mini-high season in the middle of winter, too. This is especially true where there are famous holiday markets or celebrations.

When is the best time to visit Europe?

Europe is big enough that the weather can vary quite a bit, so the best time to go depends on where you want to be. Generally speaking, though, the shoulder seasons of March-May and September-November tend to offer a nice mix of pleasant weather, smaller crowds, and lower prices.

How many airports are there in Europe?

There are thousands of airports of varying size and busyness throughout Europe, and every European country has one main international airport through which the majority of visitors arrive. Some countries have several of these international gateways.

Some of the busiest international airports in Europe are London’s Heathrow (LHR), Paris’ Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Amsterdam’s Schiphol (AMS), Iceland’s Keflavik (KEF), Milan’s Malpensa (MXP), Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Munich Airport (MUC), Madrid’s Barajas (MAD), Barcelona’s El Prat (BCN), and Rome’s Fiumicino (FCO).

The European cities for which we most frequently see deals are Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Barcelona, London, Frankfurt, Zurich, and Munich.

Which country in Europe is the easiest to get to?

There are international airports in every European country, but the countries that traditionally see more (and cheaper) nonstop flights from the US on a regular basis are Western European nations like England, France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, and Italy.

There isn’t a hard and fast rule about this, however, so it’s always a good idea to check fares from multiple departure airports as well as multiple potential European airports.

Which country or city in Europe is the shortest flight from the US?

This very much depends on where you start in the United States—but if we’re just talking about the very shortest possible flights to Europe, that’s a flight from Boston to Reykjavik, which is just over five hours.

After that, the airports in Ireland (Dublin and Shannon) and England (London’s multiple international airports) will usually offer the shortest flight times from the eastern part of the United States.

Which country in Europe has the most direct flights from the US?

As mentioned, countries like England, France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, and Italy tend to have more direct flights from the United States. Because of their proximity to the continental US, however, countries like Iceland and Ireland have more direct flights than you might otherwise expect. The further west you go in the US, the fewer direct flights you’ll find to Europe.

What are the rules for traveling with pets to Europe?

The rules regarding traveling with pets from the US to Europe vary widely depending on which European country you’ll be visiting. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has details about every country in Europe’s rules about bringing an animal with you, so it’s important to look into the specific country’s requirements.

It’s also important to note that the CDC has a temporary ban in place for dogs coming into the US from countries deemed at high risk for dog rabies, so be sure to check that list of countries before you take Rover on an overseas adventure. And you’ll also need to check with your airline, since airlines set their own rules for flying with animals.

How long is the flight to Europe?

Flights from the US to Europe vary a great deal in duration, depending on where you’re flying from and where you’re flying to.

As mentioned above, the shortest flight is from Boston to Reykjavik at around 5.25 hours—but if you’re flying nonstop from Los Angeles to London, that’s a 10.5-hour flight. And, of course, any itinerary that involves layovers will add hours to your travel day.

Going helps you find flight deals to Europe and save big. Try Going Premium today.

Number of deals

Total to Europe in the last month

25210

Total Mistake Fares

Airline slip-ups we've caught to Europe

439
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* Prices are per person and include all taxes & fees in USD. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing, however, prices are not guaranteed, as airline pricing can change by the minute. Average Going fares are based on average prices of deals found by Going.

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