Sausage or Guinness? For MSP travelers, European options await this summer
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The Frankfurt riverfront. Photo: Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images
Twin Cities travelers this summer will have more choices than ever for flying directly to European cities.
Why it matters: European vacations are fantastic, and all this new competition means sweet deals. Plus, the new routes are great for Twin Cities-based businesses with clients and operations across the pond.
Driving the news: German airline Lufthansa's first-ever flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to Frankfurt goes wheels up on Tuesday afternoon.
State of play: This summer there will be 14% more seats on planes flying from MSP Airport to Europe than the all-time high in 2019, according to the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which owns and operates MSP.
- "It's definitely the summer of Europe," MAC CEO Brian Ryks said in a news release.
Catch up fast: After the pandemic severely curtailed travel, dominant MSP carrier Delta Air Lines is basically back to its normal transatlantic schedule, flying direct to London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Reykjavik.
- The Atlanta-based airline added direct service to Dublin last month, where it's going head-to-head with Aer Lingus, the Irish airline that resumed flying from MSP to Dublin in April.
- Condor (Frankfurt), KLM (Amsterdam), Air France (Paris), and Icelandair (Reykjavik) also fly direct from MSP.
What they're saying: Thrifty Traveler editor Kyle Potter last week was seeing direct flights to Europe in the peak of summer — July and August — for $500 to $600, "which is unbelievable."
What's ahead: Potter thinks this summer could just be the beginning as more airlines look to grow by expanding to more cities. He's keeping a close eye on Lufthansa's new flight to see if it can prove to others that you can compete with Delta at MSP.
- "If they can make that work, and I have no doubt that they can, I think that sends a signal to other airlines," he said.
Be smart: Potter offered a few other tips for European travelers.
- Be flexible with your dates and use Google Flights to find the cheapest days on a color-coded calendar.
- Sometimes adding another city to the end of an itinerary actually makes it cheaper, so check to see if adding a city lowers the airfare.
- The highest prices for flights and hotels are in July and the first half of August. If you can go after that, prices get substantially cheaper.