Finnair has lowered fares for travel to Europe and Asia. Sale fares vary by route:

Berlin, Budapest, Chongqing, Milan, Moscow, Nagoya, Rome, Stockholm, Warsaw, from May 22 – June 22 and again from September 24– December 15

Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Oslo, Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius and Yekaterinburg from September 24 – December 15

Tel Aviv from June 7– June 22 and again from September 24 – November 10

Antalya from May 22 – June 22 and September 24 – October 26

Xi’an from June 14 – June  22 and September 24 – October 26

Beijing from May 22 - June 22

All tickets must be booked by June 11.

Fares include:

New York to Budapest $617 round-trip, including all taxes

New York to Copenhagen $619 round-trip, including all taxes

New York to Gothenburg $619 round-trip, including all taxes

New York to Helsinki $699 round-trip, including all taxes

New York to Milan $700 round-trip, including all taxes

New York to Nagoya $997 round-trip, including all taxes

New York to Oslo $619 round-trip, including all taxes

New York to Paris $795 round-trip, including all taxes

New York to Riga $599 round-trip, including all taxes

New York to Rome $597 round-trip, including all taxes

New York to Tallinn $599 round-trip, including all taxes

New York to Tel Aviv $652 round-trip, including all taxes

New York to Warsaw $619 round-trip, including all taxes

Helsinki image via Shutterstock

For you early birds determined to wait out those peak summer prices, Air Berlin has lowered fares for late summer/fall/winter travel to Europe. You'll find some especially good deals to Poland out of Chicago and New York. Sale fares are valid from August 16 through December 13, and again from January 13 through March 29.

All tickets must be booked by June 4.

Fares include:

New York to Warsaw $716 round-trip, including all taxes

New York to Krakow $716 round-trip, including all taxes

Chicago to Krakow $743 round-trip, including all taxes

Chicago to Copenhagen $786 round-trip, including all taxes

Chicago to Berlin $849 round-trip, nonstop, including all taxes

Chicago to Warsaw $750 round-trip, including all taxes

Chicago to Zurich $835 round-trip, including all taxes

Los Angeles to Dusseldorf $955 round-trip, nonstop, including all taxes

Los Angeles to Vienna $845 round-trip, including all taxes

Los Angeles to Zurich $831 round-trip, including all taxes

Los Angeles to Barcelona $959 round-trip, including all taxes

Image via Shutterstock

I don’t play video games, and probably I never will now that I’ve landed an Airbus A380 at airports all over the world in a flight simulator. Because really, what video game could ever compare with manning the joystick in a multi-million dollar sim?

I knew that my first flight “sim” experience would be exciting, which is why I flew all the way to London’s Heathrow Airport and the British Airways training center, but it wasn’t prepared for how thrilling it would be. BA will be launching its A380 service between Los Angeles and London and London and Hong Kong later this year, and I was one of the lucky few to grab a slot for a couple of hours in their new A380 sims.

For those of you who have never taken the controls of a sim, these sophisticated machines are enclosed cockpits resting on moveable mechanical legs that, as the name implies, simulate flight and are used for flight crew training purposes. The controls, video displays, seats and other features are identical to a real cockpit, and the windows are actually video screens that can be programmed to show airport terminals, taxiways, runways, topographical features, and weather conditions. The sim pods tilt, lurch and even rumble to recreate real-life take off and flight conditions, and speakers broadcast sounds (jet and wind noise, landing gear and flap movement, even the sound and movement of the tires bumping along the taxiway.).

Under the guidance of an experienced BA captain, I took my sheepskin-upholstered seat and got a tour of the controls. At my left hand was a joystick; at my right the four levers that controlled the mighty jet’s engines; at my feet, pedals used to slow down or brake the plane on the ground. Other controls worked the flaps and landing gear and switched the auto pilot off and on. I was surprised to see that this plane has no “steering wheel.” The joystick controls all directional movement on the ground.

After watching a typical take off and landing performed by my instructor, it was my turn. Where would I like to go? Tokyo? Manhattan? Hong Kong? I released the brakes, and we were “towed” out to the taxi way. It was now my job to slowly position the aircraft for take off. After giving the engines a bit of thrust I placed my left hand on the joystick, which is used to steer the plane while on the ground, and was surprised at how sensitive it was. Only minute movements are necessary, and had this been an actual take off someone on the ground would have assumed I was inebriated as I swerved back and forth.  The simulator’s speakers broadcast engine noises and the simulator pod rumbled a bit as we passed over “imperfections” in the taxiway. Once at the head of the runway, I applied the brakes and then placed my right hand on the four throttle levers, pushing them forward in unison. And away we flew.  As we ascended, the simulator tilted and banked. (In fact, the motion was so real that after a few such take offs one member of our party became a bit airsick.)

Outside the “windows” we could see a computer-generated view of greater London. The computer was programmed for a bright sunny day, but with a quick adjustment the “weather” could be switched to turbulent, cloudy, or rainy. And yes, simulated windshield wipers switched on when the rain started “pelting” our craft.

In minutes, we were descending into Hong Kong, my first port of call. I didn’t crash the plane, thankfully, but it was exactly a smooth landing. I was more successful upon subsequent landings at New York’s JFK and LAX.

One thing I learned was that there’s no such thing as a completely automated take off or landing, even when using the autopilot. Planes do not actually take off and land by themselves, much less position themselves for take off, or bring themselves to the gate.

Does this all sound like fun? That doesn’t begin to describe it. I was giddy, as in joyfully elated. The two hours passed in a flash and all too soon we were back on the ground, literally and figuratively, in London. I’d do it again and again, given the chance.

The British Airways Flight Training website describes the airline’s flight simulator experiences as “the thrill of a lifetime” and that’s no exaggeration. Currently, simulator flights are available in Boeing 737-400, Boeing 757-200, and Boeing 767-300 aircraft (training on the Airbus A380 and other models in the fleet may become available in the future). A one-hour “flight” costs £399 (about $465) or £1197 (about $1800) for a three-hour flight. Gift certificates are available as well. I can’t think of a better present for anyone who ever dreamed of being a pilot. Or for the video game geek on your holiday shopping list. Or for anyone, for that matter.

Fly from DC to Johannesburg for $802 round-trip, including all taxes, on KLM/Air France. We found seats available for travel departing Washington on February 2, and returning from Johannesburg on February 9, as seen below.

Other dates available for travel next winter, from January through March, with fares ranging from $802 to $807. For booking info, see our Fare Details.

Similarly low fares departing from other US citites too, including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

Here's the latest batch of weekly Flight Deals from Alaska Airlines. Travel dates vary by route, so check our fare details for more info. Seats are limited and may not be available on all flights or all days. Some markets may not operate daily service.

Fares include:

Seattle to Las Vegas $184 round-trip, nonstop, including all taxes

Anchorage to Honolulu $580 round-trip, nonstop, including all taxes

Portland to Las Vegas $276 round-trip, nonstop, including all taxes

San Diego to Seattle $238 round-trip, nonstop, including all taxes

Alaska Airlines image via Shutterstock

Fly from New York to Houston for $210 round-trip, nonstop, including all taxes, on JetBlue.

This fare is valid for travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, through June 27. No minimum stay required.

For booking info, see our Fare Details.

Fly from DC to Budapest for $664 round-trip, including all taxes, on Delta.

We found seats departing Washington DC on March 5, and returning from Budapest on March 11. Other dates also available for travel as early as November, and again January through March.

For booking info, see our Fare Details. And for a complete list of current finds to Budapest, visit our BUD fare page.

For years now, profitable foreign-based airlines have offered newer, more luxurious aircraft than their poorer U.S.-based competitors. British Airways has had sophisticated entertainment systems in all classes and lie flat seats in their premium cabins for years now. But if you flew on American, Delta, or United, it was probably in an aging 757 or 767, maybe with one of those 1980’s-era T.V. monitors hanging from the ceiling. Lie flat seats? Good luck.

But finally, the remaining legacy U.S. airlines are stepping up their game to compete with foreign-based carriers. And it can’t come too soon. We have suffered long enough with those embarrassing, elderly planes. Now that they’ve merged and capacity-cut they’re buying new planes, refurbishing older models from top to bottom, and adding amenities that used to be found only on British Airways, Singapore, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa and other aviation icons.

While we wait for the 787’s to fly again, you can experience this new world of air travel on American Airlines’ new Boeing 777-300ER, and on some of United’s refurbished Boeing 757-200’s flying between New York and Los Angeles or San Francisco, which have been retrofitted with fully lie-flat beds in the front cabin.

Delta, too, has reconfigured many of its trans-continental 767’s and 757’s with lie-flat business class seats and in-seat video in economy class, but again, these aren’t new planes, just new interiors.

Oddly, it’s beleaguered American Airlines, still in bankruptcy court, that is actually adding completely new planes. American is also taking delivery of new Airbus A321 models (first deliveries in November) to replace those aging 767’s on transcontinental routes, with fully lie-flat seats in business and first, part of 460 new planes the airline has on order. Economy class cabins will have in-seat touch-screen monitors.

But the really cool ride is on the 777-300ER, which currently flies or will fly soon from New York and Dallas to London, New York and Dallas to Sao Paulo, and Los Angeles to London.  And lest you think that the goodies are confined to business and first class only, a ride on AA’s 777-300ER (for extended range) will dispel that quickly. All cabins have new in flight entertainment and WiFi. But not just any entertainment or WiFi. The programming is amazingly extensive and hip (I spent my entire flight flipping channels and watching new releases and Hollywood classics), and the WiFi works domestically as well as internationally.

I flew in business class from New York to London and back, a route that I normally fly on British Airways. How did AA compare to its OneWorld alliance partner?

Food: better on AA. This was a surprise. In addition to meals served at seat, the crew lays out a buffet of delightful edibles (sandwiches, canapés, puddings, fruit) in the walk-up kitchen in business class.

Cabin décor: AA. Not that BA is shabby, far from it, but the lighting, colors, fabrics and other design elements are just a bit more pleasing on AA. The cabin has touches of wood that makes it look a bit like a cabin cruiser, plus red and blue mood lighting.

Cabin service: about the same.

Business class seats: a toss up. AA wins for no climbing over your neighbor (full aisle access for all seats), but the AA seats are not quite as cushy as BA’s recently upgraded Club World seats (IMHO).

Premium class lounges: hands down, BA.

In flight entertainment: AA blows all other airlines away (I know, sounds hard to believe), even before you add the Bose noise-cancelling headphones and the international Internet. It’s not just the quantity of selections, it’s the quality. Lots of clever, unexpected choices in both audio and video.

But watch out, U.S. airlines. Don’t think for a minute that the foreign competition will be resting on its laurels. We hear that Singapore Airlines has some new cabin enhancements up its corporate sleeve, and we doubt that British Airways will stand still either when it introduces Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 service later this year.

Fly from Detroit to Portland for $157 round-trip, including all taxes, on United.

We found seats leaving Detroit on September 17, and returning from Portland on September 24. Other dates available for travel beginning in late August through March. Valid 7 days a week. No minimum stay.

For booking info, see our Fare Details.

If you're feeling a tad put off by peak season fares to Europe, SAS has a little sale for those willing to wait it out until late summer/fall. Travel is valid on weekdays, from August 14 through October 26. Add an extra $70 for weekend travel.

Other carriers may be matching along some routes. Tickets must be booked by May 28.

Fares include:

Newark to Copenhagen $828 round-trip, nonstop, including all taxes

San Francisco to Copenhagen $909 round-trip, including all taxes

San Francisco to Helsinki $915 round-trip, including all taxes

Chicago to Copenhagen $878 round-trip, including all taxes

For a complete listing, visit our fare pages for Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Helsinki.

Copenhagen image via Shutterstock