May 28, 2004 -- Let's get one thing straight: we are not shills for 1-800 Fly Europe. We don't take money from them, or from any travel agency -- here at Frommer's, we're independent. We keep featuring Fly Europe because they have terrific fares, and because we haven't heard any complaints about their service.
Fly Europe's latest coup gives you low fares for the fall "shoulder season" to Europe, from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31. In many ways, we think May and September are the best times to go to Europe, and hey, May is over already. June is pretty good, too, but airfares start going up in June. July can be hot, and all the locals go on vacation in August.
As usual, Fly Europe has a huge grid of fares to a slew of European cities. You can see them all at: .
Our favorites include (all roundtrip, before $100 or so tax):
- From New York: London $229; Paris $298
- From Boston: London $242; Paris $298; Madrid $432
- From Washington, D.C.: Paris $314; London $324; Brussels $373
- From Chicago: Brussels $373; London $382; Paris $387
- From Dallas: Paris $345; Brussels $401; Zurich $441
- From LA/SF: Paris $361; London $407; Brussels $460
These prices wreak cruel destruction on published fares. Virgin Atlantic's current fall sale, as shown on Expedia (www.expedia.com), offers Boston-London for $361 and New York-London for $348, both plus tax. Air India (also via Expedia) comes close to Fly Europe's prices, with a fall fare of $420.33 from New York to London including taxes. Want to fly from Dallas to Paris? Published fares right now are over $600, plus tax. Ditto for flights from Chicago to Brussels.
To book Fly Europe's low fares, call 800/359-3876 or go to . As usual with Fly Europe, they'll sell 'em until they sell out.