Airlines have not stopped reducing fares to Europe this month. Here’s the latest deal: Icelandair and SAS are reducing economy, premium economy and business class services to many cities in Europe.
These flights only depart from Los Angeles, New York and Seattle, but the options are otherwise endless. You can fly to London, Paris, Berlin, Reykjavík, Copenhagen and Brussels, to name a few. Icelandair and SAS also have premium economy and commercial contracts to Munich; Dublin; Frankfurt; Stockholm; Zurich; Amsterdam; Hamburg, Germany; and Dusseldorf in Germany.
Travel dates for these deals are from February to June and August to October, but keep in mind that dates also vary widely by route.
With so many discounted fares across all classes, these prices won’t last long, so be sure to book your flight soon.
Basics of contracts
Airlines: Icelandair and SAS.
Ways: From Los Angeles, New York and Seattle to many European cities.
How to book: Search through Google Flights to find your best dates, then book directly with the airline of your choice.
Travel dates: Generally from February to June and August to October.
Book by: The next one to two days.
Thanks to Going, formerly known as Scott’s Cheap Flights, for finding these deals. At $49 per year, the site’s Premium membership offers discounts of up to 90% and includes a 14-day free trial. The Elite membership also provides premium, business and first class offers.
Example of flight
If you’re flying from Los Angeles, New York or Seattle, you can fly to almost any major tourist destination in Europe with these deals. In addition, you can choose to fly in Economy, Premium Economy or Icelandair’s Saga Premium class, which is similar to business class.
These are a few flights that stood out to us:
- Icelandair: John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Keflavík Airport (KEF), from $442.
- Icelandair: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to KEF, from $461.
- SAS: JFK to Brussels Airport (BRU), from $619 (this is a premium economy flight and includes a stopover in Copenhagen).
- SAS: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Copenhagen Airport (CPH), from $739 (this is a premium economy flight).
- SAS: LAX to Oslo Airport (OSL), starting at $795 (this is a premium economy flight and includes a stopover in Copenhagen).
- SAS: LAX to Heathrow Airport (LHR), starting at $832 (this is a premium economy flight and includes a stopover in Copenhagen).
- Icelandair: JFK to KEF, from $929 (this is a Saga Premium flight).
- Icelandair: JFK to Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), from $1,040 (this is a Saga Premium flight and includes a layover in Reykjavík).
- Icelandair: SEA to Helsinki Airport (HEL), from $1,030 (this is a Saga Premium flight and includes a layover in Reykjavík).
- Icelandair: SEA to Dublin Airport (DUB), from $1,022 (this is a Saga Premium flight and includes a layover in Reykjavík).
- Icelandair: SEA to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), starting at $1,303 (this is a Saga Premium flight and includes a layover in Reykjavík).
We recommend using Google Flights to determine availability and then book flights on the airline’s website as airlines are more reliable in the event of a flight cancellation, delay or rebooking.
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The number of options with these offers may be overwhelming. You can fly in business class with Icelandair or Premium Economy with SAS. If you’re on a budget, you can fly Icelandair’s basic economy to Reykjavík.
Let’s say you want to fly business class to Europe, specifically to Berlin from JFK. Story Icelandair’s $1,040 premium flight is a steal — the regular price for such a flight to Berlin is around $3,500.
As shown above, the Icelandair Saga Premium flight on March 28 departs JFK at 20:25 and lands in Berlin at 13:10
For round-trip flights, the April 4 flight to JFK departs Berlin at 2:10 p.m. Both flights to and from Berlin have a stopover in Reykjavík.
While Google Flights shows the round-trip fare from JFK to Berlin as $974, the flights actually cost $1,040 if booked directly on Icelandair’s website. Sometimes prices on Google Flights differ from those on airline websites due to the availability of third-party options. For this route, Google Flights offers the option to book with numerous third-party sites.
Icelandair’s Saga Premium class is almost identical to the typical business class you’ll find on many other airlines, except Saga Premium doesn’t have lie-flat seats. Passengers can bring one piece of hand luggage and two checked bags with Saga Premium. This fare also includes meal service.
Maximize the purchase
When it comes to booking flights, be sure to use a card that earns bonus points on airfare purchases, such as Platinum Card® from American Express (5 points per dollar of airfare booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel, up to $500,000 in these purchases per calendar year), Citi Prestige® Card (5 points per dollar of airfare), Citi Premier® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve (3 points per dollar in airfare), American Express® Gold Card (3 points per dollar in airfare when booked directly with the airline or through Amex Travel) or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2 points per dollar on travel). Check out this post for more on maximum airfare purchases.
The information for the Citi Prestige card has been independently compiled by The Points Guy. The card information on this page has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The crux of the matter
These deals to Europe are amazing, so they sure won’t last long. Flying premium or business class to Europe can cost thousands of dollars. However, Icelandair and SAS have a good number of offers to Europe for less than $1,000 — and Icelandair’s Saga Premium flights are all under $2,000.
You can fly at any price you want and visit almost any part of Europe in the warmer months. Typically, this is not only one of the most popular times to visit the continent, but also one of the most expensive.
