All European travelers will be faced with soaring airfares and more connections.
Orlando Melborne International Airport by Aral Tasher
Many travelers heading to Europe this summer already know how expensive prices are in 2023. Soaring airfares are the norm.
Most travel agents I know are getting regular requests, even from usually do-it-yourself travelers seeking any “deal” with airfare.
The fact is, while prices started high, they’ve only been getting worse. For some clients hoping to leave San Francisco for Dublin in late June and home from Munich last week, the least expensive reasonable flights had soaring airfares close to $2,000 in coach.
I avoid selling “basic” or “light” fares because of too many class restrictions.
The high basic ticket prices, alas, are just the beginning. Personally, I avoid selling the “basic” or “light” fares because they can have restrictions on everything from seat assignments to baggage (cabin and checked) to changes for any reason.
With many airlines, even a standard fare, which usually allows a carry-on item and free checked bag and changes for a fare difference, does NOT include free seat assignments until check-in, at the airport, or online.
More airlines charge for assigned seats; high load factors mean long waits for re-accommodation.
This list of airlines that charge for seats doesn’t include just discount carriers. It includes Lufthansa, British Airways, Iberia, Aer LIngus, and Air France/KLM. (And while some carriers may give free seats to preferred travel agents, Lufthansa charges EVERYONE not booked in business class. They even charge for seat assignments at a discount mid-class.)
Another issue this summer: full flights leave very little margin for error, especially with regular strikes and slowdowns so far in 2023. This adds up to painful flights. While travel agents can and do help with schedule changes and missed connections, sometimes nothing works. One poor business class client missed a connection due to an over 2-hour Lufthansa internal German flight delay — where United didn’t hold the flight. The only business class option the next day was via Amsterdam, and the same thing happened. While he got two nights free at airport hotels (business class clients are treated better), he still ended up home 40 hours later than expected.
Pack patience, pay a bit more, and use a travel agent.
What to do? At this point, if you’ve booked flights, pack patience and contact info for your travel arranger or airline. Consider paying for seat assignments as at check-in; there may not be options available, and overwater flights are a long time to sit in a middle seat. Plus, keep a change of clothes in your carry-on.
If you haven’t booked flights, consider booking through a travel agency, or at least an online agency you know to have good customer service and a contact number.
Try to make plane reservations with free seat assignments and buy through a US airline.
Also, consider a carrier with at least the option of free seat assignments. United Airlines and Delta Air Lines seem to have the most available. (American Airlines gives free seats in theory. However, in my experience, often it’s a minimal number.) Try to ensure it’s a true flight operated by the carrier you chose, as many code-share flights may not allow advance seating.
There’s another reason to book with a US carrier, even if it has to be a codeshare. Most fares now allow changes, but the ticket must be reissued with the same carrier for a cancellation. If you book with a carrier with a global or at least strong US network, you have more chances of being able to use the ticket if you don’t travel.
Plus, in my experience, US carriers are more likely to have 800 numbers you can reach at all hours. Remember, if you’ve booked through a preferred agency, they have good help desks.
This summer is not a time to cut connections short.
Finally, if alternatives exist and nonstops are unavailable or too expensive, this is NOT the year to minimize travel time with a tight connection. Two hours at least is safer than the usual one-hour minimum connect time. Worst case, you get extra airport time for shopping, a snack, or reading. Best case, you don’t have a day or more cut off your trip.
And even so, if you HAVE to be somewhere for a wedding, tour, cruise, whatever, consider going a day ahead. Connections may mean painful flights. I had clients recently who allowed two and a half hours in Frankfurt for a trip to Nairobi. The plane was about an hour late into Frankfurt and, even so, might have made the connection. But a crowded gate situation and needing to wait on arrival meant they missed their connection. The only alternatives were the next day with ANOTHER connection arriving 8 hours later.
Of course, even during this summer, many people will experience comfortable, relatively stress-free travel to Europe. It’s just a good idea in 2023 not to bet on avoiding a painful flight.
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Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
