Deal of the Week: Bargain Fares to Europe (2/15/2002)

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Diana: You're listening to The Savvy Traveler, and I'm Diana Nyad. It's time to welcome back our travel-expert-in-residence, Rudy Maxa, for his Deal of the Week. Rudy, the staff tells me this is an unusual one.

Rudy: It is very unusual for this time of the year, Diana. You know, sometimes you hear about $198 round-trip flights between New York and London in the dead of January, when people just don't travel much.

Diana: Those fares were offered last month, weren't they?

Rudy: They were. And guess what? People still aren't traveling much. International travel by Americans is in a real slump. As a result, for the first time we're seeing those unusually low fares into early spring -- through March 21st, in the case of Virgin Atlantic.

Diana: Wow, $99 each way?!

Rudy: Right, and not just from New York to London, but also from Boston. From my hometown of DC, it's only $15 more. From Miami, Orlando, LA and San Francisco, Virgin will charge you $149 each way, nonstop.

Diana: Those are amazing prices for March. Give me the details.

Rudy: Travel is good from now through March 21st with the cheapest fares applying to flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Virgin calls this its "Lovin' London" campaign, and it's meant to kick-start travel to, of course, London. Now remember, departure taxes and a security fee may add another $90 per round-trip ticket. There's a Saturday-night stay required, but get this -- there's no advance-purchase requirement.

Diana: Nice! Anyone copying Virgin Atlantic?

Rudy: Icelandair came out with some deals of its own. Buy your tickets by Tuesday - that's the 19th - and you can fly for about the same amount, though you'll make a stop in Reykjavik. You can fly out of Baltimore, Minneapolis, New York, Boston and Orlando. And for not much more, you can go to seven or eight other cities in Europe, as well as London. You have to leave by March 27th, but you don't have to return until April 7th or 15th, depending on where you're flying from.

Diana: Great deals. Where can we find more information?

Rudy: I'll post links and toll-free reservation numbers on our Web site. But the important detail is this: Act fast. There's a limited number of seats at these prices, and you can bet they'll be snatched up quick.

Diana: Thanks, Rudy.