# FF airline tickets to Europe



## loosefeet (Nov 7, 2014)

We, a family of 4, plan to visit Spain next summer.  Our oldest son is in Spain, teaching English.  We would like to go for a visit.  I have some United FF miles, and planned to use those BUT most FF flights are sold out!  Does anyone know if they will release more seats in the future?  I looked at one way, but that is more expensive than using a different airline RT.
Anyone else have a good strategy for saving on airline tixs to go to Europe?  For example, fly into another European city, and then take a local airline to Spain? Ideas?


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## beejaybeeohio (Nov 7, 2014)

*Ideas...*

1. Search every day
2. Yes, do consider alternative cities, including your departure city. Driving a few hours, or paying for a US connecting flight could result in more ff seat availability. Also, if you can use your ff miles to an alternative European city, Easyjet and other LCC can easily get you to Spain. Don't forget the option of the train, too.
3. Split up, e.g. one parent/one kid- might be easier to book that way using different airlines if need be.
4. Consider Icelandair. You connect through Reykjavik but from there you can fly to just about anywhere in Europe. It might even be cheaper with a stopover. Our May r/t routing is from Toronto with a stopover in Iceland, then on to Paris.  We get to England on our own and fly home on Icelandair from Manchester at the grand cost of $700 per person (thanks to a Tuggers tip on the travel forum that there was a sale going on!).
5. You might call UA- sometimes their Mileage Plus reps can see flights not shown on the website. Ask about Star Alliance options too.

Good Luck!


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## elaine (Nov 7, 2014)

I agree with PP. you can also try flying from NYC to Europe and then getting a cheap flight to NYC from the West Coast.  There is usually good availability to London, then get a cheap flight to Spain. One issue is that you need 4 tickets.  When we need 4-5 seats, we are looking the minute flights open up @ 11 months out. Also, be willing to fly within a 3-4 date range, as well. Last year, we had to fly form NYC instead of DC and out of London vs. Paris to get back. good luck. elaine


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## Pompey Family (Nov 7, 2014)

Bear in mind that if you're planning on using local low cost carriers there is always a fee, quite substantial in some cases, for stowed luggage.


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## mrmarty91 (Nov 7, 2014)

What worked for me recently using FF miles to Rome was looking at one way instead of round trip.  The flight I wanted was available looking for one way travel but not when I tried round trip.


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## Laurie (Nov 7, 2014)

Check flights into Milan - in my experience, this is one of the easiest cities to use as a ff hub, without a lot of lead time, if you can then find cheap flights to where you want to go, using easyjet or some other decent LCC.

Might not hold true for all airlines, but worth checking.


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## Passepartout (Nov 7, 2014)

I think all the U.S. based 'legacy' carriers have a limited number of FF seats on a given flight. More on red-eye's. Those on long-hauls, like from the OP's West Coast location are even less common. I'd check for a lesser number (if 2 can fly on FF miles, you just pay for the other 2), one-ways, or as mentioned Icelandair through Reykjavik to Europe (they allow a layover enroute which could prove interesting) then LCC to Spain. If you are going the LCC route, travel light. Allowable European carry-ons are even smaller than U.S. ones.

Another fun thought, cruise one way- the cruise lines move their ships to the Mediterranean from the Caribbean in early Spring and those are pretty cheap fares. Many terminate in Barcelona or Rome (you can depart the cruise early), then just fly home. Of course you would need to be able to have the available time.

Jim


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## elaine (Nov 8, 2014)

OP wants to travel in summer. Trans-A cruises are usually spring/fall. Unfortunately, summer is prime time to travel to Europe and many are booking up tickets. You can get tickets, but you will likely have to expand your cities and be willing to pay for a cheaper leg or two of the flights. We frequently have to fly out of NYC vs DC to get our seats.
One example I just checked as an alternative:  SFO-LHR is wide open for all of July for 4 persons and open July 1,2,9,10,16 from LHR-SFO.  Returning, all of July BCN-WAS Dulles (IAD) is wide open for 4 persons (no seats to SFO for all of July, seats open 8/18). You could then get a one-way ticket back from IAD-SFO.  IF you do that, I recommend staying at a Dulles hotel and flying the next day, to allow for delays.


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## falmouth3 (Nov 8, 2014)

All good tips.  BJB's tip about calling United may get results.  I am a silver member at United.  My husband has no status.  I was trying to book us both, using miles and I saw flights using my account that his account didn't see.  I ended up booking his flight with my miles and paying for mine because his mileage options were not satisfactory for the trip I was planning.


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## DebBrown (Nov 8, 2014)

Did you call United?  If you search online, you will only see United flights but they have many partners and you might find another route with a phone call.

This past July, I took 10 members of our family to Spain.  We used AA miles but our tickets were on Iberia.  These were only available via phone.

Deb


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## pwrshift (Nov 8, 2014)

mrmarty91 said:


> What worked for me recently using FF miles to Rome was looking at one way instead of round trip.  The flight I wanted was available looking for one way travel but not when I tried round trip.



The round trip searching process is getting more difficult so look at one way flight availability before booking hotels.  It takes time.  In fact, for our flights Sept 13 this year to London (trains overland to Paris, Monaco, Milan, and Rome) and for return flights Oct 10 from Rome I couldn't find any business class with Star Alliance, so I used AA miles to book British Airways biz class instead.  I did the bookings last November!  

I fly out of Toronto but have my miles in UA primarily because they partner with Air Canada and somehow get seats not available with Aeroplan.  About 5 airlines in Star Alliance fly non stop to Europe out of Toronto as a major hub.  Oddly, I've never gone with UA or AA planes as they don't have non-stop to Europe from Canada.

Because I have never gone to Europe economy, getting business class is much more difficult...as a result I start looking 330 days ahead of the return date.  Surprisingly business class on FF miles is a terrific deal compared to cash...figure on about 50% more in FF miles..but 5 times more if paying cash! Once I've narrowed down both outgoing and return flights I usually pay the fee for human assistance ($25 a ticket?), as I want seat selection, flight insurance, etc.  They are also very helpful finding alternate flights to your schedule and you don't pay a fee until they book it.  It is not a good deal to upgrade paid economy seats with FF miles IMO.

Once the airlines are booked on a 24 hour hold I search for the hotels.


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## pwrshift (Nov 8, 2014)

Stopovers are getting harder to get than in the past, but if you say you want flights to the furthest destination, say Rome, you might be able to arrange a stayover of several days in Paris with the same number of FF miles as direct.  

Brian


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## Rsauer3473 (Nov 9, 2014)

*Iceland Air*

Check out the Iceland Air site. We just got Portland OR to Paris (one way) for $462. East coast flights cheaper.


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## jehb2 (Nov 10, 2014)

I was all set to get FF tickets to Europe on American Airlines only to discover that is was going to cost me 60,000 miles and $750.00 in fees.  Domestically it's usually $5.00 in fee.

Also, the following article save me a total of $2000 on 4 tickets.  For some reason it was way cheaper to fly RT to Milan than in and out of Rome.  Maybe you can fly into a cheaper airport

http://www.priceoftravel.com/3468/cheapest-europe-cities-and-airports-to-fly-into/


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## Ken555 (Nov 10, 2014)

I redeemed BA Avios points for an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Boston in business class for just 25,000 points and ~$110 in fees. Great value.


Sent from my iPad


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