If you wing to Europe in May, fares look OK. But - ouch! - they\'re soaring for summer.
June, July and August fares are always higher but will be pricier than last summer because of interest in European vacations, costlier fuel and airlines\' need to recoup revenue after 2½ years of disappointing trans-Atlantic travel.
Airfares are running about 9% higher than last summer for Western Europe, even higher for Eastern Europe, says Travelocity editor-at-large Amy Ziff.
\"There\'s a lot of pent-up demand\" for Europe, says Jon Douglas, senior editor of SmarterLiving. com.
Last spring and summer, the war in Iraq chilled overseas travel. But March trans-Atlantic passenger traffic on eight major carriers was up 17.3% over last year, signaling a rebound.
The continuing conflict in Iraq and recent Madrid train bombing haven\'t deterred Americans from crossing the ocean, says Neil Martin, a travel marketing expert whose monthly Trans-Atlantic newsletter tracks travel trends. He says June\'s 60th anniversary of the D-Day Normandy landing and the August Olympics in Greece also are luring tourists.
Summer bargains are disappearing
Lowest trans-Atlantic round-trip fares on major carriers, as of April 12:
Route - May - June
New York-London - $309 - $529
Chicago-Paris - $459 - $842
L.A.-Frankfurt - $583 - $935
Right now, airlines are filling summer seats to Europe with fares in the $600-and-up range, and they aren\'t running big summer sales, as they are in domestic markets.
Searching for a fare on a specific summer date can mean sticker shock. On US Airways\' Web site Wednesday, a May Washington, D.C.-Paris round trip started at $524; lowest June fare: $1,085. US Airways had more sales last year to create demand, says spokeswoman Amy Kudwa; this year, the demand is already there.
Martin projects that up to 6.25 million U.S. visitors will descend on Europe from May through September, up from 5.5 million last year. A record 6.7 million Americans visited during that period in 2000.
Typical summer fares were $600 and up then, and they\'re back at those levels.