Traveling to Europe from the United States for about $100 has been possible for a while now, but the Icelandic ultra-low-cost airline WOW Air just keeps on taking things to new extremes. Recently added to their list of possibilities: $69 flights from San Francisco or Los Angeles to the other side of the Northern Atlantic. Options are very limited, but they’re actually there!
Possibilities were still there on Jan. 11, 2017.
To be able to end up in Europe for just $69 —yes, it’s a one-way ticket— you will have to fly between January 15 and April 5, 2017. Other than having to depart from Los Angeles or San Francisco, you are also limited to arriving in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Edinburgh or Bristol.
What’s the catch? There are of course several of them. For example, you can’t get back to the United States for $69. The cheapest tickets we found were $129. That’s still ridiculously low, of course.
WOW Air’s offer limits you to destinations like Edinburgh. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Image courtesy of @ivytravelspot.
Fares are also added for anything other than your seat, like extra leg space, food, drinks or checked baggage. But maybe the 22 pound limit for (free) carry-on luggage will be enough for you? There’s also the inevitable 2-3 hour layover in Iceland’s capital, but that just might be a welcome leg stretching stop.
Will 2017 be the year cheap airplane tickets finally become the norm? After all, Norwegian Airlines CEO Bjørn Kjos already announced back in 2015 that it would introduce $69 tickets to Europe in 2017. WOW Air eventually beat them to it, but the competition is certainly something to look forward to.
WOW Air CEO Skúli Mogensen was just a little quicker than his Norwegian Air colleague Bjørn Kjos.