what's up with airfares to europe?

If you’ve asked us to price out a flight to Europe for the summer — or even into the fall — you’ve probably had sticker shock. No way to sugar-coat it. Airfares to Europe are crazy expensive right now.

We pulled a quote for flights to Paris from Miami for a client, and the lowest standard (not basic) economy fare was over $2000. Per person. In Economy!

That’s bananas. Just bananas.

Bananas!

Flights to Europe that would have been $800 round trip last year are now pricing out at more than twice that fare. And business class, or Premium Economy is, of course, much, much more expensive.

Interestingly enough, flights to Asia are a relative bargain right now. We’ve been surprised at how reasonable flights to Japan and Thailand are, by comparison.

A few weeks ago, we spoke to our rep with Delta airlines and asked about it. I speculated — was the war in Ukraine having an impact on fuel prices? Nope. She said it’s purely driven by demand. Everyone wants to go to Europe this summer, which means if you want to go to, you’re going to need to pay a lot more for that ticket.

Or will you?

Here’s a crazy idea — why fly to Europe, when you can sail?

A transatlantic crossing in a balcony stateroom on our preferred cruise partner, Cunard, is actually less expensive than a business-class ticket to Europe right now. And an inside stateroom is less expensive than an economy ticket.

A transatlantic crossing on Cunard is more than just a mode of transportation, of course — it’s a vacation in and of itself. There’s so much to do on board, with some special-interest sailing with incredible experiences you wouldn’t find anywhere else. They have a kennel on board, as well, in case you want to bring your pet with you to Europe!

So, if you have the time, and you really want to go to Europe this summer, why not arrive in Europe well-rested, relaxed and ready to have an adventure in the British Isles or on the Continent? It could actually save you a little bit of money!