Howdy, 2 friends and I are heading to central Europe for graduation and we were wondering which airport is the cheapest to fly into from any of the Texas airport. We are heading there in mid May and would like it be either Germany, Denmark, Czech, Switzerland, or Austria. I've heard that Frankfurt is cheap, but are there cheaper options? Would Kayak Explore be my best option? Thanks for any help you may have.

Where exactly do you want to travel? I have flown into Frankfurt from IAH multiple times but always to catch a connecting flight. I flew to Prague (via Frankfurt) for $650 last March. I am flying to Rome (via Frankfurt) for $700 this March. Prices for flights to Europe seemed to have gone up a bit. I guess it depends on where you guys plan on travelling.

Its more of a get the flight then decide based off of that city.

If price is a factor, why not look into connecting flights

I think flying out of Houston is probably your best bet for Texas.

In terms of flying into Europe, I don't know which city is cheapest but I would even consider looking at other cities not on your list. Easyjet is a European airline that is so dirt cheap, it might be more cost effective to fly into the cheapest city you can and then getting a different flight to your real destination.

Thanks for the help guys. We are continuing to look. So getting there for $800 or less would be considered ok?

yes that would be considered good for May or June.

Kayak all the potential cities leaving from either DFW or IAH (as well as your closest airport). If you have set dates, that will make it even easier. Search each of those to all of the main cities and see what you find. It may take some time, but will be well worth it. There is no guarantee where the cheapest location is.

Also, I always fly in one city, and fly out another. It may cost 100 more, but it saves you on travel back and overlapping cities (and trains can add up, so it may cost the same in the end). Just my suggestion...

quote:

---

I always fly in one city, and fly out another. It may cost 100 more, but it saves you on travel back and overlapping cities (and trains can add up, so it may cost the same in the end). Just my suggestion...

---

I agree 100 percent. We will be doing this in April, but we are able to do so much more during our stay rather than backtrack to depart out of arrival city.

quote:

---

Also, I always fly in one city, and fly out another. It may cost 100 more, but it saves you on travel back and overlapping cities (and trains can add up, so it may cost the same in the end). Just my suggestion...

---

That's what we had planned on doing. Thanks for the help. Time to start hunting...

Depends on the part of Germany or Denmark you would start at. Schipol in Amsterdam is often cheaper than Frankfurt, of course Frankfurt is more central and Lufthansa offers connecting flights to everywhere, but KLM does out of Schipol as well. If you were flying out of Detroit or Minneapolis, Id say KLM, because Northwest/Delta has deals with KLM.

When I was around B/CS I would fly out of IAH, even if my parents had to drive my car back to Dallas, because it was cheaper. Dallas is a ripoff airport.

Also something to consider would be to fly to Chicago or Atlanta first and then get a flight to Europe out of one of those airports. I know that United has a partnership with Lufthansa and you can book a direct Ohare-Frankfurt flight through United, but its Lufthansa and therefore you get free booze .. if that matters to you lol.

Delta flys direct out of Atlanta to a lot of places, including here to Stuttgart, if they fly direct to here, then they probably fly to where you are going as well.

So summary, northern Europe first, Schipol would be an option to look at (Brussels, Paris, or Bonn/Cologne might be options as well), if you are headed elsewhere first, Id say that Frankfurt is the best choice.

Oh .. however I have seen some specials from Swissair, Zürich to the US for decent prices, was under 600€ on signs around here, that might be an option as well.

[This message has been edited by Randy03 (edited 12/13/2010 5:04a).]

quote:

---

So getting there for $800 or less would be considered ok?

---

I'm hoping this is $800 round trip. I'm pretty cheap about traveling. Heck, I couch surf just to avoid paying hotel costs. If that's $800 one way, you can do much cheaper if you're willing to fly just a little extra. Example:

One-way Overnight flight from IAH to LHR (London, UK) for $447 on May 18th. One-way flight from LHR to MUC (Munich, Germany) on May 18th for 27 pounds ($45ish). Add in about $100 in stupid fees and you'll be spending just over $600 or so.

So flying somewhere slightly more inconvenient and taking another flight could save you $200 or so. Just depends how frugal you want to be.

He means 800USD round trip, it is a standard price.

One time my wife and I got about 600$ a piece, after fees and taxes and everything, but that was a Lufthansa sale that we booked on the US site, on the German site it was like 600€, having CCs and bank accounts in both countries helps to always get the best rates.

You should not have to pay over $800 for a flight in May. I would say the cheapest flight from Houston are into Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London, and Paris. Typically I find the cheapest fares on Continental.com out of IAH. Just get in the system and play witht the dates and locations until you find one that works for you. The thing about Frankfurt is that there is nothing there of tourist value. You will end up having to pay for a connecting flight or take a train....either way you are adding to your cost. I would definetly decide where you want to start your trip ad go from there.

I'm looking at flights into Madrid and out of Lisbon for March and they are around $815. Roughly the same price for into Munich, out of Rome (which last year was $100 cheaper). I'm flying out of STL though.

I've had good luck with Zurich

Thanks for all the help guys. Sorry I couldn't post yesterday for some reason I was banned even though this is the only thread I posted on. We found a nice deal to Paris via Aer Lingus. I know they are budget, but does anyone have personal experience? Budget doesn't really bother me though as I flew Allegiant out of Orlando a lot.