Current US to Europe air fares - FYI

[robbie21]

I have used Oceania air packages in the past with good results but for next summers trip I found I could save a couple hundred dollars by booking air on my own. Airfares for May-June seem quite low right now.

 

I used kayak.com (nice web site) and their multiple stops feature for open jaw routing and had no difficulty finding very acceptable routing, etc. at prices considerably below Oceania and ended up booking directly with the airline. As usual, I ended up paying a bit more for my preferred arrival and departure time and for direct, non-stop routing but the savings was still significant.

 

FYI - Oceania air credit is just a little confusing. They give you a credit for the air ticket (which seems lower than the cost of any ticket you could buy) but then they charge you directly for all the taxes. If you call them they will tell you what the credit is for your home airport and will also disclose the taxes they would charge you. Taxes are roughly one third of the total ticket cost so, for example:

 

if your air credit is $800 and the taxes $400 for a total of $1200 (plus $100 deviation fee if you intend to arrive early) then the fare to beat in this case is $1200 or $1300.

 

Bottom line - it's worth checking out:)