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Cheap Flight Work Around to Europe

Hello Sara Rose, There is a little work around to finding cheap flights from the USA to Europe. First buy a flight to a cheap hub like London or Dublin –this will get you into the region — then connect to your actual destination through a budget air carrier. Your best bet would be to [...]

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Hello Sara Rose,

There is a little work around to finding cheap flights from the USA to Europe. First buy a flight to a cheap hub like London or Dublin –this will get you into the region — then connect to your actual destination through a budget air carrier.

Your best bet would be to look for flights departing from JFK (check first) or Boston that goes to London or Dublin. In my experience, these are the cheapest European hubs to fly into from the USA. From here you can artfully find a cheap flight on Ryan Air, Aer Lingus, or another European budget airline to Italy.

I usually shop for flights using Kayak.com first to give me a ballpark shot at what is being charged, and then, if the prices are not good enough, I do a more thorough search of the internet.

If you only want to go to Italy for a month and have definite departure and return dates, then it may be a good idea to get a round trip ticket from JFK to London/ Dublin, as this MAY be a little cheaper (though very often it is not).

But, ultimately, time of year is probably the biggest factor as far as finding a cheap ticket to Europe. In summer it is going to be real difficult, if you go in January then you can probably get to Italy for around $250 using the method described above.

There are no hard rules to finding cheap airfares, sometimes this “branch out from a hub” strategy works, but sometimes there are mysteriously good deals going direct to where you want to go. Try them both.

One thing is for certain though: flying within Europe on a budget airline is often vastly cheaper than taking trains or buses long distance.

Thanks for the question. Have fun finding roots in Italy.

Walk Slow,

Wade
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Original question about finding a cheap flight to Europe

hey wade —

i’m trying to get to italy for just a month or so. do you have any suggestions on how to find cheap flights from anywhere to anywhere? like is there a website that just lists available tickets? i am open to leaving from any city in the northeastern usa and arriving just about anywhere in europe and travelling to italy via road/train/whatever. but it doesn;t seem like i can enter “leaving from anywhere in NE usa” and “arriving anywhere in europe”. any thoughts on this? i am also somewhat flexible on dates as well. glad you’re still building this website. it’s pretty great. xo- sara rose



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Filed under: Air Travel, Europe, Travel Help

About the Author:

I am the founder and editor of Vagabond Journey. I’ve been traveling the world since 1999, through 91 countries. I am the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China and have written for The Guardian, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. has written 3692 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.

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  • Moscow hotels April 29, 2010, 1:51 am

    Surely this information will be interesting to all especially for first time visitors in USA. Concerning Ryan Air – I always use this company only when I fly from Riga to London or Paris.

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