Notiflyr flags a huge sale between the U.S. and Europe on Delta starting at $1500 roundtrip for travel throughout most of 2021 through end of schedule (early September next year). Fares range up to ~ $1700 when available. (Update: fares now pricing over $2200.)
Departures are available from just about anywhere you can name in the U.S. be it Albuquerque; Austin; Boston; Charleston; Charlotte; Chicago; Dallas; Kansas City; Los Angeles; New Orleans, etc. In other words just avoid Delta’s fortress hubs like Atlanta and Detroit, and the best fares may not be available from New York or Seattle, and you should find excellent deals.
Travel is available to just about anywhere Delta and its partners Air France and Air Europa can connect you, whether it’s Amsterdam; Athens; Barcelona; Berlin; Dubrovnik; Krakow; Cyprus; Naples; Rome; Paris; Warsaw or Zagreb. Fare basis is ZN3X86D1 or ZL3X86D2.
Without Delta status you’ll earn the most miles by far (about double what SkyMiles will give you) crediting flights to Virgin Atlantic, since SkyMiles is a revenue-based program and the fares here are cheap.
Meanwhile American Airlines is running a New York – Italy business class sale with $1900 roundtrip fares (Saturday night stay and a 7 day trip required).
With change fee waivers still in place, it’s a good time to make a bet on summer 2021 travel I think. Apologies for lack of screen shots, I’m posting this from my phone for speed. I do not expect these fares to last (though I wouldn’t be surprised to see them return again).
@ Gary — You should point out that, while changeable, these fares are NOT refundable. Two tickets for $3k-$4k is a lot of money to commit to travel when it is doubtful that Americans will even be able to travel to most of Europe in the next 8-9 months. Pre-COVID, we spent about $5k per month on airfare, but now I wouldn’t trust any airline with my $5,000. People should really think about this more as a$3k-$4k deposit for future travel rather than a fare deal.
That was short lived. As soon as you posted this I started searching and found nothing under $2500 from MCI.
It seems gone, however, I did see that American is still running their sale to Italy and Spain. Lots of good RT dates to Madrid and Barcelona next summer at about $1,900, including an AA 777 direct to BCN which would be pretty nice for the price.
Booking flights for next year to Europe at this point is pure lunacy. I’m pretty much writing off 2021 at this point. Regular travel will resume in 2022.