Digging deep for bargains to Europe

If travelers ruled the world, getting to Europe this summer would be much cheaper, and the price of airline tickets would decrease as the departure date for a flight approached, like bread marked down as it gets older, though it’s still plenty good for toast.

Unfortunately, the reverse is true. With the high season underway, tickets from the U.S. to Europe are unusually costly and scarce this summer, partly driven by demand. Colorado-based airline consolidator CheapTickets reported that 25% more travelers were heading to Europe this summer than last.

Amy Ziff, editor at large for Internet agency Travelocity, said fares to Europe were, on average, $50 to $100 higher than last summer.

Airline capacity is down by almost a third from last summer, also accounting for higher ticket prices, said Nora Brossard, a spokeswoman for the European Travel Commission, which has its headquarters in Brussels.

“They are tightening up, taking advantage of the demand for Europe to make some money and try to compensate for astronomical fuel bills,” she said. “Thus, available cheap seats were all sold out ages ago.

“Airlines can also get higher fares from Europeans coming here with strong euros to spend, and American travelers are competing with them on their return flights.”

Yield management is also partly responsible for the problem. The practice, pioneered in the early 1980s by American Airlines, employs sophisticated economic forecasting to predict demand for airline seats. The result: a multitiered price structure in which discounted tickets are sold in advance, subject to restrictions. As the departure date for a flight approaches, fares escalate -- sometimes outlandishly -- on the theory that last-minute business travelers will pay top dollar for tickets.

These days, businesspeople are getting stingier and the airlines are deep in red ink. As a result, yield management’s grip is beginning to loosen as airlines such as Delta simplify their pricing and strip away restrictions.

But leisure travelers who are unable to plan trips months in advance but also can’t afford four-digit fares continue to lose out. Their dilemma was brought home to me last month when I tried to find a convenient, reasonably priced way for my niece Sarah, who lives in L.A., to visit me in Paris in early July.

I went online and checked Internet travel agencies such as Expedia and Travelocity, consolidators such as CheapTickets and aggregator travel search engines such as SideStep and Mobissimo. The least expensive L.A.-to-Paris round-trip fare was $1,267 (on Continental, with a connection in Houston). In the nonstop category -- which is scarce from L.A. to Paris -- the cheapest round trip was $1,794 (on Delta).

I found an $862 round-trip ticket from New York to Dublin (on Aer Lingus), which sounded appealing until I added on the price of getting her from L.A. to New York and from Dublin to Paris.

The search was frustrating, but it reminded me of the strategies savvy travelers use to snag a ticket in a dry season if they’re not using a travel agent:

Be flexible about travel dates and times. Look for flights in the middle of the day and on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, when demand is lowest. Check a range of departure and return dates to find stray bargains.

Don’t restrict yourself to nonstop flights. They can be pricier than those requiring connections.

If you can’t find a good fare to your chosen destination, look for deals to alternate airports. Then use a budget carrier to travel onward.

John DiScala, founder of the travel website www.johnnyjet.com, says he’s been hearing that budget travelers to Europe are favoring airports in Ireland and England (especially London) served by airlines offering relatively attractive transatlantic fares, such as British Airways and Aer Lingus. From there, cheap short hops to other European cities are readily available on Ryanair, EasyJet and BMI, among others.

Don’t give up. After checking with the big three -- Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity -- continue on. Try consolidators and aggregators, which often price a wider range of budget ticket sources.

Be inventive and follow leads. When I learned that Gate 1 Travel, which specializes in budget package trips to Europe, buys discounted seats on the Los Angeles-to-Paris leg of Air Tahiti Nui’s scheduled flights from French Polynesia to France, I called the airline. I didn’t want the package but thought I might be able to snag a plane ticket from Air Tahiti Nui directly. Nothing suitable was available this time, but who knows about the next?

Check out charters. Sometimes it pays to go in person to government tourist bureaus and small, local travel agencies, where you can find paper fliers for low-cost charter flights.

Look at air-and-hotel packages from tour companies such as Gate 1 and Maupintour, with set departure and return dates. (Customers can sometimes extend a trip, leaving them free to travel on their own before catching the package flight home.) Because tour companies book seats in bulk and in advance, they can put together deals that are often as low as air alone.

I tried everything to find a ticket to Paris for my niece in July. Then I gave up, though I was sure there was a reasonable fare out there somewhere, if only I had the time, energy and good karma to find it. I hope bargain hunters still set on Europe this summer have better luck. Meanwhile, my niece is getting a check for graduation.

*

Susan Spano also writes “Postcards From Paris,” which can be read at latimes.com/susanspano.