Making the long journey from the West Coast to Europe can be a hassle — and very expensive. Luckily, Irish carrier Aer Lingus is offering round-trip flights for less than $500 from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle to multiple European destinations.
There is plenty of availability this winter, including some options around the holidays.
Deal basics
Airline: Aer Lingus
Routes: From LA, San Francisco and Seattle to Amsterdam; Barcelona; Brussels; Madrid; Malaga, Spain; and Paris
How to book: Browse Google Flights, then book directly with the airline.
Travel dates: November 2023 to February 2024, including holiday availability
Book by: As soon as possible
Kudos to Going, formerly known as Scott’s Cheap Flights, for scouting these deals. For $49 a year, the site’s Premium membership offers discounts of up to 90% and comes with a 14-day free trial. The Elite membership also finds premium economy, business-class and first-class deals.
Sample flights
- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), starting at $459
- LAX to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), starting at $485
- San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Brussels Airport (BRU), starting at $453
- SFO to AMS, starting at $459
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to AMS, starting at $421
- SEA to Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD), starting at $461
- SEA to CDG, starting at $465
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Let’s say you want to spend Thanksgiving in Amsterdam. A quick search on Google Flights shows some good availability around those dates.
For a total of $482, you could take a trip from Nov. 22 to Nov. 29 and spend almost a full week exploring Amsterdam.
Google Flights will bring you to Aer Lingus’ website to finish booking these flights. The website will prompt you to choose which ticket tier you want to buy. The discounted tickets we’re looking at are part of the Saver fare, which comes with one carry-on bag and a complimentary meal.
If you are a heavy packer and want to check a bag, you might consider upgrading to the Smart fare to get the bag plus some other perks like seat selection.
The returning flight is a bit more expensive, coming in at about $271 for a Saver seat, and brings the total to $481.28. Also, note that there is a layover at Dublin Airport (DUB) each way.
Maximize your purchase
Don’t forget to use a credit card that earns bonus points on airfare purchases, such as:
Bottom line
It’s rare to find inexpensive flights to Europe from the West Coast, so these deals are worth checking out. Not to mention, there is holiday availability, so you could spend Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s Eve in a European city.
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