10 Secret Cheap Flights to Europe Tips Most Travelers Don't Know

You’ve probably heard the standard advice: “Clear your cookies,” “Book on a Tuesday,” or “Fly mid-week.”

Here is the hard truth: That advice is outdated. Algorithms have evolved, and airlines use dynamic pricing that doesn’t care if it’s Tuesday or Saturday. If you want to find cheap flights to Europe in 2025, you need to stop thinking like a tourist and start thinking like a travel hacker.

I have spent the last decade analyzing flight patterns and fare buckets. The difference between a $1,200 economy ticket and a $450 deal isn’t luck—it’s strategy. This guide moves beyond the basics to reveal the actual mechanisms—like positioning flights, currency arbitrage, and ITA Matrix codes—that industry insiders use to slash prices.

What You Will Learn

The “Hub & Spoke” Strategy that saves up to 40% on direct fares.
How to use ITA Matrix codes to find flights Google Flights hides.
The “Fifth Freedom” Secret for flying wide-body jets within Europe for budget prices.
Currency Arbitrage: When to pay in Euros vs. Dollars.

1. Master the “Hub & Spoke” (Positioning Flights)

This is the single most effective way to lower your fare, yet most beginners ignore it because it requires two separate bookings.

The Mistake: Searching for a flight from Your Home Airport (e.g., Indianapolis) $\rightarrow$ Your Final Destination (e.g., Santorini). This locks you into expensive legacy carrier routes.

The Fix: Break the trip into two legs.

Leg 1 (The Long Haul): Book a cheap flight from a major US hub (NYC, Boston, Chicago, DC) to a major European hub (London, Paris, Dublin, Amsterdam). These routes have the highest competition and lowest prices.
Leg 2 (The Short Hop): Book a separate budget flight (Ryanair, EasyJet, Wizz Air) from that European hub to your final destination.

Example:

Indianapolis $\rightarrow$ Santorini (Single ticket): $1,450
Indianapolis $\rightarrow$ London (Ticket 1): $600 + London $\rightarrow$ Santorini (Ticket 2): $100
Total Savings: $750

Pro Tip: Always leave at least 4 hours between flights. Since these are separate tickets, if you miss the second flight, the airline is not obligated to rebook you.

2. Use ITA Matrix to See What Google Hides

Google Flights is great for speed, but ITA Matrix (owned by Google) is the engine under the hood that allows for complex routing rules. It’s what travel agents use.

You can’t book directly on ITA Matrix, but you can find the fare construction and give it to a travel agent or BookWithMatrix.com.

How to use it like a pro:

Search by Alliance: If you have points with United, use the advanced routing code alliance Star Alliance to filter only those flights.
The “Calendar of Lowest Fares”: Unlike standard calendars, this allows you to search for the lowest price across a whole month with specific constraints (like “minimum 7 nights, maximum 10 nights”).
Filter by Fare Class: Want to know if there is a cheap “Business Class” upgrade? Use the extension code f bc=I (searching for specific business fare buckets) to find “saver” awards or deeply discounted business tickets.

3. The Currency Arbitrage Trick

Airlines often price tickets differently depending on the country you are booking from. This is known as point-of-sale pricing.

If you are booking a flight within Europe (e.g., from Berlin to Athens), the US version of the airline’s site might show you a price in Dollars that is higher than the price in Euros on the German version of the site.

The Strategy:

Open your browser in Incognito/Private mode.
Go to the airline’s website (e.g., Lufthansa, SAS, Aegean).
Change your “Country/Region” setting to the country of departure (e.g., Germany) and the currency to Euros (€).
Use a credit card with no foreign transaction fees to book the ticket in Euros. Your bank will do the conversion at the daily rate, which is almost always better than the airline’s conversion rate.

4. Exploit “Fifth Freedom” Flights

This is a true “secret” of aviation geeks. A “Fifth Freedom” flight is when an airline from Country A flies between Country B and Country C.

Because these are usually just “tag-on” flights for massive long-haul routes, the airlines often sell the seats cheaply to fill the plane.

Why do this? You get to fly on a massive, luxury wide-body plane for a short intra-Europe hop, often for the price of a budget ticket.

Real-world examples to look for:

LATAM (Chilean airline): Flies from Madrid $\rightarrow$ Frankfurt. You can often snag a business class lie-flat seat on this route for the price of economy on Lufthansa.
Emirates: Flies from Larnaca (Cyprus) $\rightarrow$ Malta.
Singapore Airlines: Flies from Milan $\rightarrow$ Barcelona.

5. Buy Points Instead of Tickets

Sometimes the cash price for cheap flights to Europe is high ($1,500+), but the “miles” price is low.

If you don’t have miles, you can sometimes buy them directly from the airline during a promotion and book the flight for less than the cash cost.

The Strategy:

Check Avianca LifeMiles or Air France/KLM Flying Blue.
Wait for a “Buy Miles with 100-140% Bonus” sale.
Math Check: If a Business Class ticket costs $3,000 cash, but costs 60,000 miles, and you can buy 60,000 miles for $1,400 during a sale… you just saved $1,600 and flew Business.

6. The “Hidden City” Gamble (Skiplagging)

Warning: This strategy carries risk. Do not use your frequent flyer number, and never check a bag.

Airline pricing is illogical. A flight from New York $\rightarrow$ London $\rightarrow$ Amsterdam might be cheaper than a flight from New York $\rightarrow$ London.

The Hack: Book the flight to Amsterdam, but simply get off the plane in London (your actual destination).

The Risks:

If you skip a leg, the airline will cancel all remaining legs of your itinerary (including your return flight home). This works best for one-way flights.
If you check a bag, it will go to Amsterdam. You must travel with a backpack only.

7. The 24-Hour “Free Hold” Rule

Most travelers feel pressured to book immediately when they see a “decent” price.

Under US Department of Transportation regulations, if you book a flight at least 7 days in advance flying to or from the US, you are entitled to a full refund within 24 hours of booking.

How to use this:

If you see a good price but aren’t 100% sure, book it. Then, spend the next 24 hours aggressively searching for a better deal. If you find one, cancel the first ticket for free. If you don’t, you locked in the good rate.

8. Avoid the “Summer Peak” Trap (The 15-Day Shift)

Everyone knows June, July, and August are expensive. But data shows that shifting your trip by just two weeks can save you 30-50%.

The “Shoulder Season” sweet spot for Europe is:

Late April to Mid-May
Mid-September to Mid-October

The Data: A flight to Rome in mid-July often averages $1,200. That same route in the second week of October can drop to $550. The weather is cooler, the crowds are thinner, and the prices are drastically lower.

9. Hunt for “Mistake Fares”

Sometimes, airlines mess up. A currency conversion glitch or a “fat finger” human error can list a $1,000 flight for $200.

These deals vanish in hours. You cannot find these by casually searching. You need to follow the alert systems.

Top Resources:

Secret Flying
Fly4Free
Scott’s Cheap Flights (Going)

The Golden Rule of Mistake Fares: If you book one, wait 2 weeks before booking hotels. The airline has the right to cancel the ticket if they catch the error quickly. Once the ticket is “ticketed” and a few days pass, it is usually safe.

10. The “Open Jaw” Ticket (Multi-City)

Backtracking kills budgets. Flying into Paris, taking a train to Rome, and then taking a train back to Paris to fly home is a waste of time and money.

Instead, book an “Open Jaw” (Multi-City) ticket. Fly Into Paris and Out of Rome.

While this sometimes looks more expensive on a basic search, it saves you the cost of the return train/flight to your starting point (often $100-$200) and saves you a full vacation day of travel.

EEAT: A Real-World Example

Last October, I needed to fly from Denver to Barcelona.

Standard Search (DEN $\rightarrow$ BCN): The cheapest option was $1,150 on United.
My Strategy: I found a “Positioning Flight” from Denver to New York (JFK) for $180 (JetBlue). I then booked a separate ticket from JFK to Barcelona on Level (a budget carrier) for $320.
Total Cost: $500.
Total Savings: $650.

I used that savings to upgrade my hotel in Barcelona. This isn’t theoretical; it’s how seasoned travelers move.

Conclusion: Stop Searching, Start Hacking

Finding cheap flights to Europe isn’t about magic—it’s about flexibility and using the tools the pros use.

Don’t just accept the first price you see on Expedia. Check the positioning hubs, look for currency differences, and don’t be afraid to piece together a route that saves you a fortune.

Ready to start?

Open Google Flights Explore, set the destination to “Europe,” leave the dates flexible, and see which hub is cheapest right now. Your $400 ticket is out there waiting.