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nearly 50 years, SatoTravel has provided travel services for the United States military under routine peacetime conditions, at times of war and during national and international emergencies. However, the shocking and tragic events of September 11, 2001, with their immediate aftermath (including the first-ever complete closure of US airspace), and long-term affects on the travel industry have tested our associates and company as never before.

In previous articles on this site, we’ve covered the primary budget airlines that fly in a few major countries – but perhaps the best crop of budget airlines is in Europe. Many of the low-cost carriers in the US tend to be regional, only serving a portion of the country – but in Europe, the budget airlines not only cover the country they’re based in but also typically many other countries in Europe besides.

Using the budget airlines that fly in Europe has become such a cheap way to get around that even the traditional Euro backpackers are often opting for a cheap one-way flight from one city to another instead of the time-honored Eurail pass and overnight train. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them don’t fly all the way across the ocean to get you from the US directly – but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be informed about them anyway.

There are a couple ways in which Europe’s budget airlines can be useful to you, which I’ll outline below – and then you’ll find a list of some of the more prominent budget airlines in Europe.
Budget Airlines that Fly from Canada and the US to Europe

As mentioned, most of the low-cost airlines in Europe don’t fly across the Atlantic – but a few of them do. The airlines listed here generally have some budget flights connecting major cities in the United States and Canada with major cities in Europe.

* Aer Lingus – Ireland’s national flag carrier, Aer Lingus isn’t usually thought of as a budget carrier. But in order to compete with Ryanair, they’ve been lowering their prices on many flights – including some of their trans-atlantic routes. You can get to Europe via Aer Lingus from Boston, Chicago, Orlando, Washington DC, and New York.
* Eurofly – Eurofly is a small Italian airline that is mostly owned by another Italian airline called Meridiana. But what’s important is that during the high season, Eurofly routinely has spectacular deals on flights between Italy and cities on the US east coast.
* US Airways – Although US Airways calls itself a budget airline (and it may feel like one with the bare-bones service they offer), its trans-atlantic flights aren’t usually a huge savings over other big airlines.
* Air Transat – Based in Montreal, Air Transat is mainly a charter airline but it does offer some fairly inexpensive flights to Europe during the summer.

How to Use Budget Airlines in Europe

If you’re not fortunate enough to live near one of the cities served by any of the discount airline listed above, then you might have to look at Plan B for flying on budget airlines to get to Europe. Plan B is more complicated, but it’s always worth checking if you’re more interested in saving money than anything else.

The idea of Plan B is that you find the cheapest flight to Europe – anywhere in Europe, whether it’s close to where you want to end up or not. Then you find a super-cheap ticket on one of Europe’s budget airlines to get you from that entry point to the city where you actually want to be spending your holiday.

This can, as mentioned, get sort of complicated – especially if the budget airline flies out of a different airport in the entry city than you flew into. And regardless of which airport you’re in, you’ll always have to collect your bags from your first journey and then check in all over again for the second leg. It can be a hassle, there’s no denying it. But it also has the potential to save you several hundred dollars on your ticket, so it’s a good idea to check out at the very least.
Budget Airlines in Europe

If you’re interested in trying this two-step method of getting from the US to Europe, then here are some of the main budget airlines you can check out for cheap fares to your destination (country where they’re based is in parentheses, but most of these airlines serve several countries in Europe):

* Air Berlin (Germany)
* Blu-express (Italy)
* Blue Air (Romania)
* bmibaby (England)
* easyJet (England)
* Flybe (England)
* Germanwings (Germany)
* Jet2 (England)
* Jetairfly (Belgium)
* Meridiana (Italy)
* Pegasus Airlines (Turkey)
* Ryanair (Ireland)
* Smart Wings (Czech Republic)
* transavia.com (France, Netherlands)
* TUIfly (Germany)
* Vueling Airlines (Spain)
* Wizz Air (Hungary)

SatoTravel announced today it has been awarded a major contract to serve the official and leisure travel requirements of the U.S. Army in Europe (USAREUR).

Over an expected five-year term, the contract value could exceed $400 million.

Under the terms of the contract, SatoTravel will provide travel services in Germany, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands through more than 20 staffed on-site offices.

According to Lawrence Hough, CEO of SatoTravel, "Winning the USAREUR contract is a significant victory for SatoTravel. It underscores our position as the preeminent travel provider to the U.S. armed services and reflects our aggressive marketplace stance as an innovative travel management provider to military, U.S. government, and commercial customers."

SatoTravel, headquartered in Arlington, Va., combines almost 50 years of experience and leading travel-related technology to provide high-quality, low-cost travel-management services. SatoTravel was purchased earlier this year from 11 domestic airlines by an investment group headed by Ambassadors International Inc., Stuart Mill Capital Inc., and GE Pension Trust.

In addition to airline tickets, the company provides hotel and car rental reservations, data collection, meeting and convention planning, and leisure travel services. SatoTravel operates two state-of-the-art call centers one in Sterling, Va., and the other in Seattle, Wash.

Travel services are provided through more than 1,500 staffed and automated locations in all 50 states, various U.S. possessions, and 18 foreign countries. SatoTravel presently has approximately 2,000 employees.

Finding Flights to Europe

Our European low-cost air guide is mostly concerned with getting around Europe. But what about getting to Europe from North America? We've got some ideas. Gather round, pay attention and then get packin'!


There are two keys to getting to Europe from North America without breaking the bank: flexibility and timing. Say it again. Flexibility and timing. Of course, these aren't the whole story, by any means, but they're crucial to getting to Europe inexpensively.


We'll also profile trans-Atlantic budget airline options, discount airfare sites, rate comparison tools, charter flight options, the travel agency option, air/hotel packages, travel by courier, and last-minute deal alerts.


Flexibility: Rethink Your Trip's Timeframe


The first key to getting to Europe cheaply is to be flexible—and this includes your timeframe. Try to begin your trip research before deciding on your exact dates. By prioritizing a cheap fare and devoting serious time to figuring out the best window for travel, you'll be able to take advantage of seasonal fluctuations.


And even if you can't be flexible about your travel period, you can still test out different fares on a range of days of the week, even at different times, to figure out the cheapest flight within a given time frame.


It's tough to generalize, but we've found that our flights are cheaper when they leave or return on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.


Timing: Rethink Seasons


During high season, round-trip flights to Europe are expensive. End of story. High season, loosely speaking, stretches from June through August. Not only are flights between North America and Europe more expensive during this period, but they appear, if anything, to be getting more pricey.


This past summer, one EuroCheapo staff member flew from New York to Athens in mid-July and then back home from Madrid in early August. His ticket ran $1200, despite the fact that he flew both directions on a Saturday.


Another member of the office flew roundtrip from New York to London in May. London is traditionally one of the least expensive European destinations from North America, but even so, a $500 roundtrip was a real bargain.


Timing is everything in this example. May is before the summer season; mid-July through early August is the height of summer season. But consider May as a travel month. Much of Europe is warm and inviting. The most popular cities and the most engaging sites are not yet swarming with tourists.


And while you're at it, consider a wintertime trip to Europe. Traditionally, January and February witness the very best transatlantic airfare pricing all year round. Yes, it will be cold in much of Europe, but with low-season hotel rates throughout Europe (barring beach and ski resorts) you'll save money and appreciate Europe in the off season.


Here's a quick and dirty seasonal fare grouping. It's not scientifically tested, but it matches our observations over the past several years of travel.


Cheapest travel period: mid-January through March; mid-November through mid-December


Most expensive travel period: June through August; mid-December through early January


Shoulder season (mid-range fares): April, May; September through late November


Rethink Airline Loyalty: Trans-Atlantic Budget Airlines


The benefits accruing to your conventional airline just seem to get paltrier and paltrier. Your carefully harvested frequent flyer miles are less and less broadly useable, and you're understandably frustrated.


It may be time to question airline brand loyalty, which to the loyal Cheapos behind this air travel channel, has never seemed like less of a safe bet.


Cheap Transatlantic Hops: Zoom, Virgin Atlantic, Aer Lingus


Closely monitor Zoom, a Canadian CHECK low-cost transatlantic carrier. Zoom flies from several cities in Canada (Calgary, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg) and New York to London, Paris, and some other cities in the United Kingdom with very cheap fares. Not all of Zoom's flights are direct. Double-check the Zoom timetable to avoid any unhappy surprises.


Office favorite Virgin Atlantic, while not exactly a budget airline, regularly offers very affordable flights between the United States and London.


Aer Lingus has offered some of the most affordable transatlantic flights we've seen.


The Open Skies Agreement of 2007 will allow airlines to fly between the United States and Europe without bilateral national deals beginning in 2008. It will likely push fares down, and it will probably lead to the creation of a few hardcore, no-frills low-cost transatlantic airlines. In the spring of 2007, Michael O'Leary of Ryanair set tongues wagging by suggesting that Ryanair would be offering one-way jaunts between Europe and the United States for as little as US$12 by 2010.


Compare Rates


Utilize multiple booking sites before making a purchase. Compare Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocity, as well as discount sites like Priceline and Hotwire (see below.) also take a look at aggregator Web sites like Sidestep, Vayama, and Kayak. These sites will help you determine how to locate the cheapest fare possible.


And, while we're here, try searching these same rate comparison sites for different airports. For example, the entire staff had to take a trip to Berlin and, after researching roundtrip fares in and out of Schoenefeld airport, we found that flying into Berlin's Tegel airport, but out of Paris' Charles de Gaulle saved us more than $300 per ticket. Hey, we're flex. And, we always love a good excuse to get to Paris.


Incidental Routes


Keep your eyes open for "incidental" legs of massive multi-stop journeys. One example is Malaysia Airlines' cheap New York-Stockholm fares on planes that continue to Kuala Lumpur. Air India also features in season some great fares on New York-London routes on planes that continue to India.


Discount Airline Sites


Priceline and Hotwire in the US both offer discounted fares. Hotline generates routes with fare, layover, and duration information. The site will also suggest cheaper departure dates and cheaper departure and arrival airports, when applicable. Priceline provides a similar experience.


Charter Flights


Seats on charter flights can be some of the cheapest around. We've been long time fans of French charter airline Corsair, which delivered one of our members from California to Paris roundtrip in the middle of summer five or so years ago for about $500. Corsair doesn't currently fly to the United States, but they do fly to Montreal and Moncton in Canada, and they continue to offer low fares.


Travel Agencies


With the advent of the Internet and the proliferation of booking sites, travel agents have become less and less essential to average budget travelers. That said, travel agents can be very helpful. To give one example, good travel agents will be able to help you locate flights at their lowest listed fares. Travel agents can also be extremely useful for navigating extensive and complicated itineraries and journeys to places off the tourist track.


Air/Hotel Packages


Gate One Travel and Go-Today Travel both offer inexpensive air and hotel packages to Europe. The best of these packages cost around what you might pay for an air ticket alone.


Traveling as a Courier


Once upon a time, courier flights were a Cheapo's best friend, permitting last-minute ultra-cheap fares for flexible Cheapos. Typically, courier flights offer reduced fares in exchange for the courier's willingness to transport administrative materials. These days, courier flights are no longer quite as cheap as they once were. Most courier fares we've seen are priced at discounts of around 50 percent. Though no longer as cheap as they were, courier flights are nonetheless worth investigating, especially for people living in or near major transit airports.


Deal Digest Web Sites


Check deal digest sites like Travelzoo and Sherman's Travel to find deals, some of which are "last-minute." On Travelzoo, we once spied a promotional New York-Cologne roundtrip for under $200. While the majority of offers on these sites won't help you get to Europe on a dime, relevant deals do pop up from time to time.


Parting Shot


Prioritize flexibility, keep timing in mind, train an eye on trans-Atlantic fares, and explore the other options we've laid out here, and you'll be able to turn up far better deals than the average traveler. Go to it, Cheapos!