Airfares from the U.S. to foreign destinations have remained stubbornly high, thanks in part to taxes and airport fees among other factors. But Airfarewatchdog has noticed a few really good fares here and there, and especially for winter travel fares have been softening a bit.

Turkish Airlines has a great sale from Chicago right now for travel to many of its international destinations. This sale officially ends on November 15, but you'll want to grab seats as quickly as you can because some dates will sell out before then. Travel is between Jan. 10 and Mar. 10, 2012 to Istanbul at an amazing $505 round-trip and until Mar. 31 for other destinations.

Here is a sampling of the deals, all round-trip including tax:

Chicago to Amman, Jordan $702 round-trip including taxes

Chicago to Athens, Greece $702 round-trip including taxes

Chicago to Beirut, Lebanon $702 round-trip including taxes

Chicago to Cairo, Egypt $702 round-trip including taxes

Chicago to Dubai, UAE $699 round-trip including taxes

Chicago to Istanbul, Turkey $505 round-trip including taxes

Chicago to Tel Aviv, Israel $699 round-trip including taxes

More fares from Chicago

British Airways has announced it's annual winter sale, this time simply titled Europe on Sale, with some really good prices to a wide array of destinations in Europe. Cities include London (of course), Amsterdam, Athens, Frankfurt, Milan, Prague, Paris, and Rome from many popular US gateways.

Travel from January 11 - April 12, 2011 from US gateways. For the lowest advertised rates, you must travel Monday - Wednesday, a $30 weekend travel surcharge makes Thursday - Sunday travel a bit more expensive.  Purchase before January 11, 2011. Other requirements include: 7-day advance purchase, minimum stay Saturday night, maximum stay 11 months.

We found the best deals to be in April from New York, JFK to Rome or Milan, when code-shared American Airlines non-stop flights resume for the spring season.

Sample fares include:

New York (JFK) to London (LHR) $594 RT, non-stop,  including all taxes

Los Angeles (LAX) to London (LHR) $707 RT, non-stop,  including all taxes

Seattle (SEA) to London (LHR) $707 RT, non-stop,  including all taxes

New York (JFK) to Rome (FCO) $477 RT, non-stop,  including all taxes

Philadelphia (PHL) to Rome (FCO) $648 RT, including all taxes

New York (JFK) to Milan (MXP) $477 RT, non-stop,  including all taxes

Phoenix (PHX) to Milan (MXP) $773 RT, including all taxes

Newark (EWR) to Prague (PRG) $655 RT, including all taxes

Denver (DEN) to Prague (PRG) $780 RT, including all taxes

Philadelphia (PHL) to Amsterdam (AMS) $667 RT, including all taxes

San Francisco (SFO) to Amsterdam (AMS) $792 RT, including all taxes

For you savvy travelers, make sure to take advantage of British Airways' free stop-over in London policy, spend a couple extra days in Londontown on your way to your final destination in Europe. Book this using the multi-city option and increase your layover in London for a few extra days instead of hours for the same fare price.

Traveling to Europe in the summer can burn a whole in your pocket; so why not head over there this winter.  Although not as good as some recent (and very brief) fares we've seen to Europe, United has dropped prices on certain routes for travel through April 12, 2011.  Travel to Europe Sunday through Thursday and return from Europe Monday through Thursday (to/from London is valid Mon-Wed only).  Other days of the week may be higher.  A Saturday night minimum stay is required as well as a maximum stay of 30 days.  Tickets require a 7-day advance purchase and must be booked by Jan. 10, 2011.

Sample fares include:

Chicago to Brussels $675 round trip non-stop tax included

Chicago to Munich $733 round trip non-stop tax included

Washington D.C. to Brussels $675 round trip non-stop tax included

Washington D.C. to Frankfurt $728 round trip non-stop tax included

Washington D.C. to Geneva $664 round trip non-stop tax included

Washington D.C. to Rome $665 round trip non-stop tax included

Washington D.C. to Zurich $685 round trip non-stop tax included

Fly from Los Angeles to Paris for $805 round-trip, incl. all taxes, as part of the current fall/winter specials from Air Tahiti Nui. This fare is valid for travel from October 29 through December 13, and again from December 25 through March 31. Higher sale fares ($887, $937 round-trip, before taxes) are available for early fall travel through October 28, and again from December 14 through December 24.

If reservations are made at least 100 days before departure, tickets must be issued at least 93 days before departure. If reservations are made between at least 14 days before departure, tickets must be issued no later than 7 days after the reservation or 14 days before departure, whichever is earlier.

Los Angeles to Paris, France $805 round-trip, nonstop, incl. all taxes

Also for winter travel, if Paris isn't your thing:

Los Angeles to Papeete, Tahiti for $993 round-trip, nonstop, incl. all taxes

Been holding out for those shoulder season fares to Europe? Right, well, about those. Things aren't looking so good. At least not yet anyway. There's a good chance we'll see fares drop further as we approach fall, but who can say? Psychics we are not.

In the meantime, the current sale from Aer Lingus offers some of the lowest fall fares to European destinations. This sale is valid for travel from October 1-31. Fares include:

Boston to Amsterdam $724 round-trip, incl. all taxes

Boston to Birmingham $775 round-trip, incl. all taxes

Boston to Brussels $735 round-trip, incl. all taxes

Boston to Paris $731 round-trip, incl. all taxes

Boston to Edinburgh $796 round-trip, incl. all taxes

Boston to Glasgow $792 round-trip, incl. all taxes

New York to Amsterdam $704 round-trip, incl. all taxes

New York to Birmingham $760 round-trip, incl. all taxes

New York to Brussels $709 round-trip, incl. all taxes

New York to Paris $711 round-trip, incl. all taxes

New York to Dusseldorf $699 round-trip, incl. all taxes

New York to Edinburgh $769 round-trip, incl. all taxes

New York to Frankfurt $714 round-trip, incl. all taxes

New York to Glasgow $772 round-trip, incl. all taxes

New York to Manchester $763 round-trip, incl. all taxes

Chicago to Brussels $785 round-trip, incl. all taxes

Save on late summer/early fall travel to Europe with the current sale from Iceland Express. Fares are valid for travel from September 1 through October, with some seats available in peak summer, July and August.

Seats are limited and may not be available on all dates. Sale lasts from July 2nd "until it's all sold out." Stopovers in Iceland permitted. Fares include:

Newark to Copenhagen, Denmark $399 round-trip, incl. all taxes

Newark to London, England $399 round-trip, incl. all taxes

Newark to Luxembourg City, Luxembourg $399 round-trip, incl. all taxes

Fly on the cheap to select cities in Europe this fall/winter with the current sale from Aer Lingus. Travel dates will vary by route, though most are from November 1 through December 31.

Seats are limited, and these fares could go at any time:

Boston to Dublin, Ireland $571 round-trip, incl. all taxes

Boston to Brussels, Belgium $625 round-trip, incl. all taxes

New York to Shannon, Ireland $503 round-trip, incl. all taxes

New York to Milan, Italy $580 round-trip, incl. all taxes

New York to Warsaw, Poland $632 round-trip, incl. all taxes

Orlando to London, England $764 round-trip, incl. all taxes

Chicago to Amsterdam, Netherlands $695 round-trip, incl. all taxes

Chicago to Dublin, Ireland $629 round-trip, incl. all taxes

Volcano schmolcano! Visit Reykjavik, Iceland this fall and see Eyjafjallajökull for yourself. Icelandair has some great nonstop fares for as little as $545 round-trip, nonstop, including all taxes!

Fares are valid for travel from September through December, and include:

Boston to Reykjavik, Iceland $556 round-trip, nonstop, incl. all taxes

Halifax to Reykjavik, Iceland $545 round-trip, nonstop, incl. all taxes

Minneapolis to Reykjavik, Iceland $556 round-trip, nonstop, incl. all taxes

New York to Reykjavik, Iceland $556 round-trip, nonstop, incl. all taxes

Orlando to Reykjavik, Iceland $633 round-trip, nonstop, incl. all taxes

Seattle to Reykjavik, Iceland $594 round-trip, nonstop, incl. all taxes

Toronto to Reykjavik, Iceland $556 round-trip, nonstop, incl. all taxes

Anyone willing to trade turkey for tapas this Thanksgiving? If so, we've spotted some puh-retty major fares for travel to Spain. New York to Barcelona for $270 round-trip, incl. all taxes? Ahem:

And we've found similarly low fares ($270-$411 range) throughout winter, on travel to Barcelona, as well as Zurich. Boston departures available too.

The all business class carrier OpenSkies has a buy-one-get-one-free offer on its Washington D.C.-Paris route. Also, by using coupon code IADMAY10 you’ll get an additional 20% off. This combined offer is valid only for May travel. We have found biz seats as low as $1200 per person. (See below).  The biz beds can be had for ~$1900 per person. You must follow this link in order to book. Remember to enter the coupon code. This deal is good for travel as soon as this weekend, and is about on par (or maybe even less) than what you might pay for a last minute economy class ticket

The fare below is for 2 people, traveling May 9-May13th: