Air France Sale! Europe and More for Sept & Oct (why does flying to Paris cost more than through Paris?)

Air France has some special offers for airfare to Europe in September and October that you can book at www.airfrance.com/us. Departures are from September 10th through October 28th, and tickets must be purchased by August 17th. Minimum stay is one Saturday night, maximum is one month.

A couple of years ago we flew on Air France to Geneva which connected through Paris. We were surprised that it cost a bit less for a ticket to Paris + Geneva than it would for a ticket just to Paris as a final destination.

That's the deal again, and in some cases the difference in price is quite significant. For example, Philadelphia to Paris costs $402 each direction, but Philadelphia to Paris and on to Madrid is just $218 each way!!! Weird... They take off almost half the cost and fly you further! Philadelphia to Athens is $299 each way, or Philly-Moscow $387, both connecting through Paris.

These fares include fuel surcharges but there are still government fees of about $110 per round-trip. Still, Philadelphia-Madrid for about $550 in early fall? Not too bad. And if you want to create a really great tour of some other European cities, you can go to http://www.flylc.com/ and check out all the discount airlines that fly out from Madrid. There are a lot of cities from which you can choose.

If you need to just go to Paris you might be tempted to buy the further ticket and pay less, but I don't think you can (years ago people would do this and be able to, but no more). First off, on the way there your bags would be checked to the final destination, and secondly, I believe if you didn't take the second flight they would cancel your return ticket.

But if you want to go to a city besides Paris (and there are many great cities on their list such as Venice, Prague, Moscow, Milan, Cairo...), this may be an airfare sale to look into! Departures are available from many different U.S. cities (I just used Philly as an example).

Even though the sale is for purchases till 8/17, I'd book early before seats get snatched up.

Webfares available from: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington D.C.

Available to: Athens, Barcelona, Budapest, Cairo, Dubai, Florence, Kiev, Istanbul, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Prague, Rome, Tel Aviv, Venice, Warsaw

So this might be a grand opportunity to visit Europe for a great price before the weather's too cold but after the height of the tourist season! Let yourself daydream where you'd like to visit...

p.s. Have you answered the travel poll question yet? (in the left column)