Q. I am stationed in Germany and my family is in Virginia. They (4 adults) make two trips a year to visit me (summer and winter) but the airfare is a killer. They can fly from Norfolk, Richmond, Newport News, Washington DC, or Raleigh. Many options for destination airport: Frankfurt, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, or even Paris.
Summer travel dates are very flexible - Mid July to late August. Any help for an old soldier trying to keep the team together?
A. While summer fares to Europe from Virginia and North Carolina might be a tad high, we've recently seen sales from New York to Dusseldorf and Berlin for as low as $650 rt w/tax, which is pretty amazing stuff for summer. If they can take a bus or train into New York (it's cheap) that would be the best solution. They might have luck with Air Berlin, which often has pretty good sales, or Priceline's Name Your Own Price feature (doesn't work with all international travel, but it does for flights to Germany). And of course, sign up for alerts at Airfarewatchdog, and we'll be more than happy to give you a shout the next time we spot a good deal.
