Cheapest place in Europe to fly to NYC one way in August?

June 24, 2016 12:27 PM

I'm off to Europe for a three-week vacation from NYC and have bought just a one-way ticket for now because I found a good deal and don't know yet where I want to return from.

I land in Milan and then plan to drive and take trains. My itinerary will depend on the cheapest place I can fly back from. I am open to most destinations except Northern Europe. I'm thinking to visit some Italy and then drive across the Croatian coastline.

I would like to return on August 8th, but am okay with flying home up to 3 days earlier.

posted by Dragonness to Travel & Transportation around Toronto, ON (6 answers total)

The cheapest option would be London or Dublin.

If you don't want to travel via Northern Europe but want to depart from somewhere that is already on your itinerary, the answer is going to be Milan, Venice, or Rome. Or maybe you find a freak cheap flight out of Florence, Bologna, or Pisa that requires a transfer, probably in a city I've already listed. Vienna could also be an option.

I found an amazing deal last year from LAX-Bologna round trip on Turkish Airlines, with a long layover in Istanbul. No idea if that was a fluke, but if you're willing to have a layover somewhere it's worth looking.

I'm almost positive that no Croatian or Slovenian airport is going to give you what you want, but you never know. (See above about my freak deal out of Bologna of all places.)

Skyscanner.net is a great resource for what you're looking for.
posted by Sara C. at 12:33 PM on June 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

Check out WOW Air. They're a low cost carrier out of Iceland, and they occasionally have fares from Europe to the US east coast for $159*. They fly out of a bunch of cities (Frankfurt, Paris, London, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Stockholm, I think), with a layover in Reykjavik.

*As with all low cost carriers, there are associated fees.
posted by kevinbelt at 1:01 PM on June 24, 2016 [2 favorites]

Searching for Dubrovnik to NYC on Kayak, on 8/8, I right now see $537 on Turkish via Istanbul. You may not have to backtrack! But all other airlines cost a lot more - I'm guessing this won't last long.
posted by madcaptenor at 1:30 PM on June 24, 2016

I found a flight on XL(?) going back from Paris on 8/6 for ~$500 direct.
posted by sandmanwv at 1:51 PM on June 24, 2016

Sometimes flying into EWR instead of LGA or JFK will get you a much better price.
posted by cazoo at 4:20 PM on June 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

It's worth checking Icelandair and Aer Lingus as they do "budget" links across to NYC from Reykjavik and Dublin.
posted by littlepeeo at 7:48 PM on June 25, 2016