The Big Apple Switcheroo
Fly to New York City on a cheap no-frills airline or low-cost carrier, and from there you can get airfare to Europe much more cheaply
• No-frills airlines
• How they work
• How to find them
• How to book them
• N. America to Europe
• Intercontinental LCCs
• Big Ben Switcheroo
• Big Apple Switcheroo
• Airport resources
Don't assume a regular airfare on a major airline is your ticket to the biggest savings. If you fly, say, JetBlue or Southwest into New York City on your own, you can often land a much cheaper Transatlantic fare from there.
Even though I live in NYC, I feel your pain. By "your" I mean the rest of America, and by "pain" I mean that sinking feeling you get, right in the pit of your wallet, when it comes to searching in vain for a cheap fare to Europe if your point of departure happens to be deep in the heartlands of America.
I've done a stint in the Midwest (Missouri), and even when I lived in Philly, finding the cheapest airfare to Europe was a problem. Sad truth is, those who don't happen to live in New York, Boston, Chicago, Miami, or Los Angeles often get stiffed, because those cities are the major US gateways from which most low prices and sale fares to Europe orginate. The "add-on" fares from other US cities can often run into hundreds of dollars, turning that great $170 round-trip rate to London into a $600 stinker.
I'm here to help.
While this tactic won't work every time, before you go ahead and plump big bucks for an add-on fare from your home airport, first look into trying to make your own way to the Big Apple—or whatever gateway from which the lowest -price ticket leaves—then continuing on using that lowest fare. (This is a variant on my patented Big Ben Switcheroo tactic, in which you score cheap tickets to London, then use no-frills airlines to continue on from there.)
This is where the no-frills / low-cost airlines like Southwest and jetBlue come in. They can often get you between any two cities they serve for around $198 round-trip or less. The catch is that "any two cities they serve" bit, because by definition most of these feisty little low-cost carriers don't have nearly the massive route networks of the Big Boys.
But just because jetBlue, Southwest, and friends usually offer the best domestic rates, don't write off the other, major airlines.
Be sure you check out the price of a round-trip flight from your hometown to NYC with the major search engines and the meta-search sites before you commit. You never know when US Airways or Delta might happen to undersell Southwest on a given day or routing. Rare, but it happens. Do your homework; it can save you hundreds in the end.
Which Way to JFK?
Be careful to note which airports are involved in any Big Apple Switcheroo. Most transatlantic flights out of the NYC area leave from JFK (in southern Queens) or Newark (which is actually across the river in New Jersey). Many domestic flights into NYC land at LaGuardia (in northern Queens). Southwest Airlines infamously lands at itty-bitty Islip (a.k.a. Long Island MacArthur Airport), an hour's drive east of the city on Long Island. It will do you little good to fly into Islip and find it'll cost you a $100 cab ride and two hours or so to get to Newark Airport, the one from which that great Alitalia fare to Rome leaves.
However, now that Southwest and fellow no-friller ATA are codesharing, you might be able to finagle a landing at New York's LaGuardia airport if your ticket happens to route you through Phoenix or Chicago Midway (where you would connect from a Southwest plane to an ATA one—ATA has a gate at LaGuardia).
Sadly, there is no decent public transportation between NYC airports save by taxi. The official rates (in 2005; call 212-NYC-TAXI or 212-227-6186 for updates) are:
- Between LaGuardia and JFK: $24–$29
- Between LaGuardia and Newark: $78–$82
- Between JFK and Newark: $84–$90
Private car service from Islip to JFK or LaGuardia costs $70 (to Manhattan it's $100—or take a $5 shuttle to the nearest LIRR train station and ride in with the commuters). Call 631-589-3500 for info or bookings.
Islip to Newark? Fuggitaboutit!
This article was last updated in November 2007. All information was accurate at the time.
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