Q. What is the least expensive way to get to continental Europe? Which airport is the least expensive to fly into?

 
A. One thing we've noticed is that it is often much cheaper ($500 less to cite a recent example) to fly into, say, Berlin on a given day than to, say, Frankfurt. So rather than having your heart set on arriving at a specific European airport, it’s wiser to look at every possible European destination from your home airport or nearby airports and fly there, and then take a bus, train, or discount European airline to your desired destination. Similarly, a fare from, say, Dallas to a given European city might be several hundred dollars more than from, say, Houston. So you could hop on a cheap Southwest flight between Dallas and Houston and save money. In general, partly due to lower airport fees and government taxes, Spanish airports such as Madrid are cheaper than London or Paris. Dublin and Shannon are also cheaper, although they don’t qualify as “continental” Europe. Istanbul and some Swiss cities have also been relatively cheaper lately.