How to Find Cheap Flights to Europe: Our Top Tips

Heading to Europe is by far one of my top ways to spend vacation time. Unfortunately, the high cost of airfare can be a deterrent.

While there’s plenty to see in the U.S., you don’t have to rule out the fantastic European destinations from your travel plans. There are tactics you can use to save on airfare, effectively cutting what may be your biggest expense, if you have a little flexibility.

Here are the top travel strategies I recommend, including using the best travel credit cards.

Key takeaways

• Check flight savings apps and aggregators like Going, Google Flights, and Kayak to find the cheapest flights to Europe.
• Online shopping extensions like Honey can help you save even more on your airfare.
• Using credit card rewards is a great way to earn free or discounted flights.
• Flexibility with dates and airports will give you the most opportunities for travel savings.

How to find cheap flights to Europe

The first step to finding cheap flights is using the right tools. You can use flight aggregators to find the best flights, learn the optimum times to book, and set price alerts.

Here are apps we recommend to make your search easier:

Going

Going, formerly known as Scott’s Cheap Flights, is an iOS and Android app. Simply select your U.S. departure airports and set alerts to receive notifications of great flight deals to Europe.

Try Going for a free 14-day trial, and then there’s a cost of $4.08 per month for Premium membership or $49 annually ($39 if there’s a 20% off deal). Their Elite membership is $16.58 per month or $199 annually, which would only be worth it if you’re planning to book quite a few flights each year.

I tried the Limited membership option for free just to see how it works. Using Limited, you can only access domestic deals, but you can get a peek at international flight deals as well. I selected Louisville and Cincinnati, the two nearest major airports, and plugged in European destinations.

I’d have to upgrade my membership to unlock those deals, but one showed I could travel from Cincinnati to Dublin (one of my dream destinations) for $486 (down from $1,015), and a similar deal departing from Louisville. Pretty sweet deals! This sneak peek also shows whether the flight is nonstop or how many stops it includes.

The potential for savings with Going could easily outweigh the $4.08 monthly fee, even if you’re only planning one special European vacation. The Premium membership for a year is $49 ($39 when they have a 20% off deal), and Going says the average member saves $500 on international flights.

Visit Going | Read our Going review

Dollar Flight Club

Dollar Flight Club works the same way as Going. According to the website, it can find deals up to 90% off. There are free, premium, and premium plus versions, and you select your departure airports to receive deal alerts.

The premium membership gives you access to all flight deals including “mistake” fares from up to four chosen departure airports. Try it out for $1 for the first 14 days. (But here’s a tip: I signed up only with my email and moments later, I’d received an offer to increase it to three months of Premium for $1. I can’t promise that’s what always happens, but it’s something to keep in mind.)

Premium Plus membership offers business class flight deals and support team access. If you join under Premium, you can then upgrade to Premium Plus for $14 per month.

Visit Dollar Flight Club | Read our Dollar Flight Club review

Google Flights

Google Flights is another great place to search for airfare. It’s free and relatively intuitive to use. You set your search parameters, then Google shows you the best flights, which are based on convenience, price, number of stops, and other factors.

When you pick dates, you can also see a calendar grid showing how flight prices differ from day to day. Google also shows you whether the price for your flight is typical, high, or low. Set price alerts so you get emails based on your search parameters.

If your plans are flexible, you’ll want to set up multiple alerts to various European destinations like Paris and Amsterdam and hop on the lowest prices. Alerts for different dates may be helpful as well, if you aren’t tied to a specific travel period.

Visit Google Flights | Read our guide to Google Flights

Hopper

Like Google Flights, Hopper shows you the best time to find the most affordable airline fares for a specific trip. So if you’re interested in flying to France, for example, you’d look for flights from your preferred departure airport to Charles de Gaulle International Airport. Hopper will show you a calendar where you can find the least expensive flights.

Hopper is available as a mobile app and a website. There are also flash deals available only within the app and only for a limited time. The app has 4.8 stars out of 5 and over 650,000 reviews.

Plus, if you want to feel a little “greener” about your travels, Hopper plants two trees on your behalf with every booking.

Visit Hopper | Read our Hopper review

Skyscanner

Skyscanner is another aggregator that allows you to set price alerts and search for flights. The website searches dozens of airlines and travel sites for applicable flight deals.

Like other apps, you can book flights directly through the app, but it’s best to use it for research and book directly with the airline. That’s especially important if you’re an airline loyalty member and need to input your membership information to get credit for the purchase.

One notable feature is its “everywhere” search that allows you to input a destination and travel dates and see the best flight deals to a variety of destinations.

You might try one of the paid travel apps like Going but also compare flight deals you receive on a free tool like Skyscanner, just to give yourself more options to choose from. For example, I found Cincinnati-Dublin itineraries for as low as $474 on Skyscanner, but with a 28-hour total flight time, so I’d probably look at Going’s deal to see if their under-$500 flight had fewer layovers.

Visit Skyscanner

Kayak

Kayak is another aggregator that searches different airlines and booking sites so you get a comprehensive view of your choices. You can select which features to include or filter out, based on baggage fees, departure times, flight quality, cabin type, and more. And of course, set up price tracking for your upcoming trips.

On Kayak, you can also sign up for exclusive mobile deals, input your email to get the Kayak newsletter with travel recommendations and “Private Deals.”

You can also test out the beta version of Ask KAYAK, which is a ChatGPT-powered tool where you can type in preferences such as “show me flights with no layovers under $500”.

Visit Kayak | Read our guide to Kayak

PayPal Honey

PayPal Honey (previously known as Honey) is different from the previous tools on our list. It’s not a travel app, but a discount app that could help you save money while you’re shopping online, including for airfare. You can use it with a mobile app or browser extension (or both) to search for coupon codes for free.

By adding PayPal Honey Shopping Extension to your browser, you can get access to cash back offers and coupon codes. You can install it to Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Opera and the extension will automatically search over 30,000 sites for applicable deals. Plus, you can earn PayPal Rewards, which are points redeemable for certain products at retailers.

The mobile app is only available on iOS for Safari. Android users won’t be able to get the mobile extension.

Visit Honey | Read our Honey review

Rakuten

While you’re searching flight options, you might also give Rakuten a try. It’s another online shopping discount app. When you’re getting ready to buy your plane tickets, download the Rakuten browser extension, use the Rakuten app, or start at Rakuten.com.

You can see discounts in dollar amounts or percentages for a wide range of airlines and shopping websites.

Visit Rakuten | Read our Rakuten review

Capital One Shopping

Capital One Shopping¹ is a free browser extension that could help you find lower prices on your purchases, potentially including airfare. Install it on your desktop browser to get automatic discount codes applied to your flight search.

As you browse through online shops and look at products, Capital One Shopping compares the prices of those products to prices on other websites. If Capital One Shopping finds potential savings, it will display them to you — all within 10 to 15 seconds.

Visit Capital One Shopping | Read our Capital One Shopping review

More tips for booking cheap flights to Europe

Other than using apps that can search for discounts on international flights, you can also implement other strategies related to the timing of both when you book and when you travel.

Book in advance

Prices tend to rise in the last three weeks before a departure date, so booking in advance is best, especially when traveling internationally. (I personally can’t imagine booking a flight to Europe that late in the game, but some travelers love to be spontaneous!)

CheapAir’s annual study of 917 million airfares revealed that the best time to buy a flight to Europe is 10.5 months in advance. But you can find deals throughout the prime booking window, which is between 6 weeks and 10 months ahead of time.

Fly on Tuesday or Wednesday

CheapAir’s annual study also found that Tuesday, followed closely by Wednesday, is the cheapest day to fly on average. Unsurprisingly, Saturday ranked as the most expensive day of the week to fly to Europe.

You should still check flight prices using a tool such as Google’s Flight Calendar to find the best price, since this is just a guideline, but know that it’s generally going to be less expensive to fly in the middle of the week.

Travel during off-peak months

This is unfortunate if you’re a parent who’s subject to your kids’ school schedules, but June and July are the peak months for traveling to Europe and therefore the priciest. That’s not to say you shouldn’t fly in the summer, but if you have some flexibility and can be creative, you could find amazing destinations at off-peak times.

According to Cheapair’s survey, December and February are the cheapest months for flying to Europe. Average airfare was about $844 during those months, compared to $1,349 in June and July.

Obviously, the weather might not be ideal in the winter, but think about the other benefit besides saving money: popular destinations won’t be so crowded! This means you’ll often save on lodging as well, so it’s a win all-around.

Pay attention to other factors like festivals or holiday celebrations that might affect travel to certain locations, of course. If you want to attend those events, that’s great, but if you’re hoping to save money, you’ll generally want to find a quieter time to visit.

Choose less popular airports for arrival and departure

Some airports are more expensive on average than others. I’ve felt this pain in the years since moving from the Chicago area — flights are typically more expensive from my local airports than they are from O’Hare International. If you have a couple of choices of airports near you, be open to traveling a bit further to the smaller or less popular one, since you might find lower airfares.

Airline search engines let you easily check for multiple airports near your destination as well. Of course, be aware of logistical issues. If you land in an airport that’s forty miles from your hotel, how will you get there? Factor in the cost of transportation to get where you’re going. Otherwise you could negate any flight savings by paying for rideshares.

Be flexible about arrival and departure times

Are you sensing a common theme here? Flexibility is key when you want to find travel savings!

In addition to flexibility on dates of flights, think of your departure and arrival times. Prices vary a lot depending on those things. Often, the cheapest flights will be the most inconvenient (like my recent 6 a.m. departure on a weekend trip), but not always.

To get the best price, be open to any departure and arrival times. Remember you can sleep on the plane no matter what time you’re flying — just be sure to pack a cozy neck pillow in your carry-on bag.

Get comfy with layovers

While you might prefer a nonstop flight (who doesn’t?), you might find that a flight with a long layover is significantly cheaper than a direct flight. Obviously, if you’re flying to Europe, it’s not a quick trip anyway. If you think saving several hundred dollars is worth several extra hours of your time, go for the layover option.

Then, to make your layover more pleasant, get a credit card with travel perks, such as airport lounge access. Plan to enjoy a meal at the airport, and bring entertainment or work with you if you’ll have a lot of time on your hands.

Hop around Europe

While getting overseas is expensive, flying from one European country to the next is actually quite cheap; fares are frequently less than $50. It’s a great strategy to find the cheapest flight to any European city and then hop on a plane to your dream destination.

For example, on Google Flights I just found one-way flights from Paris to Barcelona for $36. How about Berlin to Brussels for $32? Or Oslo to London for $15?

These deals sound a little ridiculous, and you’ll need to factor in time and other transportation to and from airports, but what a great way to see lots of different parts of Europe. I’m getting anxious to plan a trip just thinking about it.

You can use this strategy to save money on your overall trip as well. Check different arrival cities to compare the cheapest fares from your departure airport. If there’s a difference of several hundred dollars, you might be able to pick the cheaper one, then fly to your final destination from there. How well this works depends on how much time you have, availability and pricing of flights between European cities, and more, but it could net you some decent savings.

Consider flying into and out of different airports

You can also opt to book the cheapest one-way flights you can find to and from Europe and travel in between those cities. Depending on how long of a vacation you want to take, you may be able to knock several cities off your bucket list for one low cost.

This might be more trouble than it’s worth, though, especially if you’re driving your car to the airport. For me, leaving my car parked at the Cincinnati airport but then flying back to Louisville would make no sense. But if you’re using other transportation like a friend or an Uber, this strategy can be helpful.

Do flight searches on multiple search engines

Google Flights is a great place to start looking, since the calendar and map are handy tools to find the best deals. But you should also take a look at sites like Expedia and even European sites like eDreams to locate the best deals. You can check an airline’s website directly, too. Just make sure you use a credit card with no foreign transaction fees if you’re booking in a different currency.

Check baggage policies

If you’ve flown at any point in recent years, you know bags rarely fly free. Know what you’ll need to bring with you and be sure to account for baggage costs in the total cost of your flight. While most international flights include carry-on baggage, checked bags are almost always extra. Review the policies and prices for your airline before booking.

Know your cancellation and change policies

Airlines are more flexible now, but it’s still important to know your rights and any potential fees. I’m super paranoid about whether my fares are refundable or not, because you just never know what could happen. Keep in mind that if you cancel a trip or change your plans, you may need to pay for any difference in your fares.

Also be aware that you have rights as a passenger, and that you may be eligible for compensation if your flight is cancelled or delayed when you’re flying in or out of the European Union.

Use your points and miles

If you’ve racked up enough points on one of your travel credit cards, you may even be able to book a free trip to Europe! And if you’re a Chase Ultimate Rewards cardholder, you can use some sleuthing to stretch your Chase points even further.

Should you find a great deal on a travel website, you can often replicate it in the Chase Travel portal by inputting the same dates. And if you have a premium card, like the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, your points could be worth 25% or 50% more when you use the card to book a trip through the portal. The best part is that there are no blackout dates, and any flight available for cash via the portal can also be purchased with points.

FAQ

Bottom line

With some patience, planning, and flexibility, you can find some seriously cheap flights to Europe worth bragging about. And if you’re not booking your travel with points, be sure to use your trusty travel rewards card to make your flight purchase so you can earn points toward your next trip!

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