Nonstop business class to Italy, Spain and more from just $1,050 one-way
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Generally, you'll spend considerably more on a one-way flight to Europe than you will a round-trip — that certainly isn't the case right now!
As reported on Flyertalk, several airlines are currently offering incredible fares on both one-way and round-trip flights between the East Coast and a handful of popular European destinations, including Barcelona (BCN), Madrid (MAD), Milan (MXP), Rome (FCO) and Vienna (VIE).
Booking a one-way trip gives you the flexibility to travel on to a different city or even a different continent before returning to the U.S. You can also use this sale as an opportunity to pay cash for the flight to Europe and redeem miles for the trip home.
Note that these fares are only available from airports in the New York City area, including JFK and Newark (EWR), though you could book a separate flight to New York and take advantage of this Europe fare sale from there.
Best of all, these fares are available on nonstop flights — you won't have to connect in a third country en-route to your destination, so you'll only have to worry about one country's travel requirements, not two.
Airline: American, Alitalia, Austrian, Delta, Iberia, United
Routes: From EWR and JFK to BCN, MAD, MXP, FCO, VIE
Cost: From $1,050 one-way
Dates: Travel between June 27 and Sept. 15, 2021
Pay With: The Platinum Card® from American Express (5x on airfare booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel ; earn 5x points on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year), Citi Prestige® Card (5x on airfare), Citi Premier® Card (see rates and fees), Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x on air travel), American Express® Gold Card (3x on airfare when booked directly with the airline) or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on travel)
The information for the Citi Prestige Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The lowest fares are on United Airlines from Newark to Barcelona. You'll fly on a Boeing 767-300ER — for now, your flight may show United's older 2-1-2 business class, but almost all of these planes have been retrofitted with the new Polaris seats up top, so you'll almost certainly travel in the airline's best biz seat.
After that, flights to Milan are priced the lowest — you can fly Alitalia, American, Delta or United for the same price, depending on the date.
Austrian's nonstop flights to Vienna are pricing a hair higher, just over the $1,100 mark. These flights can be booked via United as well, if you prefer.
Alitalia, American and United all have sub-$1,300 one-ways to Rome available, depending on the date, but it could be fun to save $200 on your flight and take the train from Milan, instead.
One-way flights to Madrid can be booked for under $1,400, but, personally, I'd lock in one of those sub-$1,100 fares to Barcelona and drive or fly to Madrid, since Barcelona is such an incredible city to visit.
One-way pricing may seem especially attractive, but it could still be worth considering a round-trip — in many cases, you'll fly to Europe and back to the U.S. for under $2,000 all-in.
Multi-city options are worth a look, too — for example, you can fly into Milan and back from Rome for roughly the cost of a round-trip.
Maximize your purchase
Don't forget to use a card that earns additional points on airfare purchases, such as The Platinum Card® from American Express (5x on flights booked directly with airlines or American Express Travel), Chase Sapphire Reserve, American Express® Gold Card, Citi Premier® Card, Citi Prestige Card (5x on airfare) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on all travel purchases). Check out this guide for more on maximizing airfare purchases.