Travel To Europe For Less!
European Woes Equal Serious Travel Deals
With crazy expensive airfares and an exchange rate that makes every American's bank account cringe, the past several years have meant that taking a European vacation has become a distant dream for most of us cost conscious travelers. And while traveling to Western Europe is never your cheapest vacation option, we have some Fab & Fru tips on how to find some truly unbelievable deals. It turns out you CAN turn your once unattainable dream into an affordable trip of a life time!
Countries in Crisis Want You to Visit
As Greece works hard to meet the necessary requirements to receive additional bail out money from the European Union this summer, the struggling economies of Spain, Portugal, Greece and Ireland are further adding to the European Debt Crisis as a whole. And while, this is not great news for the world economy, it does mean that you can find SIGNIFICANT savings when traveling to these countries in economic crisis. They want you to come. In fact, they NEED you to come - so now is the time to explore your options!
Whether you want to lie on the white sands of Santorini, feast on the finest tapas in Barcelona, sip Port in Lisbon, or road trip through the Irish countryside, now is the time to find the spectacular deals you've been waiting for!
Book Your Trip to Europe After Labor Day
Although you may be able to find a last minute surprise summer deal, the experts at Travelocity say that traveling anywhere in European becomes MUCH more affordable after Labor Day. And you will get the absolute best deals on airfares in January and February! This also includes using miles to book your tickets . --The key to using miles is book your flights way in advance to ensure availability. I booked my February trip to Berlin last November, and it only cost me 50,000 miles round trip!
Fly During the Week
Try to arrange to fly during the week. Airfare is much much cheaper if you leave for your trip on a weekday rather than flying out Friday night - just in time for the weekend!
Create Your Own Package Deal
If you are serious about saving, create your own package deal or find a package that has already been negotiated by a travel agent. By booking your flights, hotels and ground transportation at the same time using a travel site or travel agent, you WILL save hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Again, these countries are dying for your business. They will do whatever they can to lure you there so you will spend money and help fuel their economy!
Check out this incredible $1,300 all inclusive deal to Ireland!
Tools & Deals to Plan Your Trip
Exchange Rate Calculator: Check up-to-the-minute Dollar to Euro exchange rates at xe.com
Sceptre Self Guided Tours: Sceptretours.com has some incredible independent trips already packaged together. Check out this all inclusive deal for 7 Nights in Ireland for $1,300!
Gate1 Travel Guided Tours: Gate1travel.com has fantastic travel packages, with the option for guided tours - plus you can pick and chose your own vacation features.
Kayak.com: Kayak has the most options to help you find the cheapest flights and put together your own package. We were able to find a 2 week package to Athens for $1350!
Take Off!
The bottom line? Don't let the current conversion rate of $1.4369 to 1 Euro get you down! With a little prep work and some help from Fab & Fru, you may actually be able to fulfill your fantasy of eating Mediterranean food - IN the Mediterranean - sooner than you think!
