Travelers wishing to travel to Europe this summer are being hit from all sides with new higher airfares, new higher fuel surcharges and a much higher euro - the triple whammy of high-cost travel to Europe.
"It was inevitable," says Tom Parsons, CEO and Founder of Bestfares.com, an internet travel website that tracks airfare changes and travel industry trends. "With the cost of a barrel of crude oil staying comfortably north of $100, it was a sure thing that the airlines would have to bump up the cost of a ticket, even on their more profitable international routes," adds Parsons.
American Airlines and Northwest Airlines raised their international fuel surcharge to most European destinations by $20 roundtrip. The majority of destinations already had a $210 roundtrip fuel surcharge added to the base airfare. The exceptions are London (at $222 roundtrip) and destinations in Germany (at $170 roundtrip). This new increase will raise these current fuel surcharges by an additional $20 roundtrip.
American also raised their fuel surcharge by $20 roundtrip to select destinations in South America including Chile, Peru, Argentina and Brazil. Parsons expects other major international airlines to follow the $20 fuel surcharge increase initiated by Northwest and American.
Due to time zone differences, pricing factors, international codeshare relationships, and the locations of some international airlines we've often seen it take up to 48 hours for some airlines to decide whether to match a fuel surcharge increase. In past months we've seen both Delta and Air France raise fares and then pull back the increase. But with the major players like American Airlines and Northwest Airlines already onboard, we expect the others to follow suit.
"It really doesn't matter to the traveling public whether they increase the price of the actual airfare, or add it on to fuel surcharges, which in some cases already exceed the price of the airfare itself. At the end of the day, the result is the same, your wallet is a little bit lighter."
"Travelers to Europe this spring have actually seen some new airfare sales for April and May, the real sky-high airfares to Europe are during the June, July and August travel period, where airfares are almost double the current spring sale airfares," says Parsons.
"Even for international travel, the savvy travel customer will want to consider using alternate airports for both their departure and destination city. Travelers should also shop early and be as flexible as possible. The airlines have years of data telling them what our travel habits are... if you can 'break the mold' there will still be travel deals out there. Otherwise you might need to break that piggy bank, have a garage sale, or tap into the kids' college fund if you're planning a visit to Europe during the high priced summer travel season," advises Parsons.
