You can now find significantly cheaper flights to Europe than this same time last year, according to Hopper, a budget travel company who recently worked with Cleveland.com to crunch fare numbers from June 2017 to June 2018.
That analysis found that passage from Cleveland to Europe dropped a whopping 36 percent on average. Flights to Paris went from $1,052 to $588, while fares to London went from $1,159 to $796. Madrid and Rome fares were down 17 percent and 19 percent, respectively.
“There’s a big decline and that’s specific to Cleveland,” Patrick Surry, the chief data scientist for Hopper, told Cleveland.com. “We haven’t seen huge differences to Europe as a whole. It’s primarily due to the introduction of these new carriers. We’ve seen that in other cities, as well.”
Corrine Smith, a travel agent with Independence Travel, says she can’t be sure why tickets to Europe are so cheap right now — be it Brexit, better weather or competition from other airlines — but she says these are the best prices she’s ever seen in her 34-year career.
Since the start of the new year she says more clients are already booking flights to Europe than they did this time last year. She says fares under $1,000 were once nearly unheard of.
“Before if a flight was $1,100 or $1,200, I’d say you got a great deal,” she says. “I hope the airlines do keep these prices, it makes my job easier.”
This article appears in Feb 14-20, 2018.
CLE TO JFK TO PARIS (roundtrip) purchased for $480 via American Airlines with no extra charges for luggage or meals. The discount airlines are not always the cheapest. Returning from Paris end of March.
TG is an idiot. I go to Paris several times a year for a long time. What he says is absolutely not true.