Fares to Europe for late 2010?

Q. Fares to Europe for late 2010 are driving me crazy! They keep going up, up, and up. Is September still considered "peak summer?" I thought it was a shoulder season. Also, is October a less busy time to go to Amsterdam, London, Paris, and Rome?

A. Late fall, 2010? Whoa there! It's probably a bit early to start looking for next fall. We'd sit tight for now and just keep on looking. There will be sales, and you may even score a better fare if you're flexible with what European city you're willing to fly into initially. For example, this past year, Amsterdam, London and Paris didn't have that many amazing sales. But we were pretty wowed by the sale fares we saw to cities like Frankfurt, Dublin, Rome, Zurich, Geneva, Madrid and Barcelona. And from those cities, you can always book a cheap flight on Ryanair or any other Euro budget carrier to your preferred destination.