Save Big on Airfares to Europe

Last week, Nick at Frequent Miler wrote an outstanding piece on getting discount business class tickets to Europe. Discounts of as much as 50%, including hotel!

If that piques your curiosity, I encourage you to read his entire post, “Build Your Own Business Class Fare Sale with Vacation Packages,” for the incredible details.

As you can tell from the post’s title, getting those reductions involves booking via an airline’s vacation package.

Most airlines have vacation package deals, however, it appears American Airlines and Delta Airlines are the ones whose vacation packages give the best savings on business class airfares.

Not everyone wants to spend a few thousand – or more – on a (reduced) business class ticket, though.

Which got me thinking, do the same discounts that Nick wrote about apply to economy class fares, too?

It just so happened that my wife was beginning to price airfare to Europe for a June business trip. Her initial search was bringing up pricing in the $3,000 range for a one-stop, economy class, roundtrip ticket.

I thought I’d use her upcoming itinerary, and Nick’s vacation package suggestions, to compare economy fare options.

And sure enough, the savings, for an economy class, roundtrip ticket – on the same exact flights – were unbelievable.

As I said, pricing for a one-stop, roundtrip ticket on Delta was in the $3,000 range, while pricing for the same exact itinerary, on the same exact flights, including hotel, was approximately $1,450!

A savings of $1,500!

Wow.

Considering the results, I checked a few random itineraries to see if their pricing showed similar savings.

I continued with Delta’s vacation packages for the searches.

Phoenix to Rome – August 20-26 – 1 stop itinerary, 1 person, hotel package

Google Flights is showing $1,480 as the lowest 1-stop roundtrip ticket. You could get the price down to $1,300, but that would involve 2 stops and a longer transit time.

Delta Vacations prices a 1-stop itinerary plus hotel (lowest priced hotel option) for $1,113.

The package offers a savings of over $300 as well as a hotel room for the duration of the stay.

Of course, you could always select a better hotel option, which would increase the cost of the overall package.

Or, you could ignore the low-priced packaged hotel reservation altogether and use points to stay at your preferred hotel.

And if you were to compare apples to apples for this trip, the same exact Delta flights price out at $2,831.

In this case, the package saves $1,718.

Columbus, Ohio to Paris – October 8-14 – 1 stop itinerary, 1 person, car only package

Google Flights shows the least expensive option being a 2 stop, roundtrip itinerary pricing at $1,428. The lowest priced 1 stop itinerary is $1,785, but takes you cross-country, only to fly back again on your way to France.

Delta Vacations price a 1-stop itinerary with car (lowest priced option) at $708.

Again, you could use the car, or not even bother with it, and save 50% off the flight.

And, the apples to apples comparison – Delta prices the flights-only itinerary at $2,740.

The package would save $2,000.

Bottom Line

So, while it’s definitely possible that airline vacation packages can save on economy class airfares to overseas destinations, the amount of savings will depend on your specific travel situation.

You just need to add a quick search of the American Airlines Vacations, Delta Vacations, and United Vacations package deals to your travel planning routine to ensure you’re not missing out on some significant airfare savings.

Something I never even considered prior to reading the Frequent Miler post.  Thanks, Nick!

Have you used airline vacation packages solely to save on airfare?

Eiffel Tower image courtesy of Julie Anne Workman (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons