While we love flying in business class across the ocean, if you’re traveling with a family or have inflexible dates, there’s a good chance you’ll wind up booking in award tickets in economy. Luckily, there are lots of seats in economy. So on most flights you should have a much easier time finding availability for your whole group. Here are five economy sweet spots to Europe!

 

Virgin Atlantic to London – From 6,000 Points

If you’re looking to get to Europe for the fewest number of points, it’s hard to beat Virgin Atlantic’s economy class deals to London. You can fly from several East Coast cities for as few as 6,000 points plus about $110 in taxes and fees. If you’re in the western part of the U.S., you can even fly from Los Angeles, Seattle, or San Francisco for as little as 9,000 points plus about $110 in taxes and fees. (Virgin Atlantic also flies out of Las Vegas, but searches show that that route is usually more expensive.) 

When flying back from London to the U.S. in economy, the points price is the same, but you’ll typically find taxes and fees around $300. So if you’re visiting multiple countries in Europe, you can save by starting your journey in the United Kingdom and then flying home out of a different country with lower departure taxes. 

 

 

 

Air France/KLM Flying Blue to Amsterdam and Paris – From 19,000 Points 

If Paris or Amsterdam is on your European wish list, Air France/KLM Flying Blue is an ideal option to fly from the U.S. to these cities for about 25,000 points (or fewer) in economy. 

You can save even more on these tickets depending on the timing of your trip—and who is coming along for the journey—a by taking advantage of monthly promo awards and/or discount on children’s tickets. 

Flying Blue offers monthly discounted award flights that they typically announce around the first of each month. These promotions are points discounts offered on specific routes in different classes of service bookable each month. So if your route is on this list, you can save some points.

For example, in March 2026, Flying Blue offered promo rewards that would take the economy price down to 18,750 miles between Europe and: 

• Orlando
• Seattle
• Detroit
• Chicago
• Portland, Oregon
• San Diego
• Las Vegas 

Another reason we love Flying Blue for family travel is that they offer a 25% points discount on tickets for children ages 2 to 11, when booked with an adult’s ticket. 

If you’re traveling with younger children on a promo award, these two deals stack! For example, I searched for one adult and one child from San Diego to Amsterdam, and this itinerary would cost only 32,812 plus $205 in taxes and fees. That’s a great deal for such a long flight! 

 

 

 

Iberia Airlines to Madrid – From 16,000 Points 

From churros to flamenco dancing, Spain is an exciting destination for families. And you can get there for only 16,000 points per person flying from the U.S. to Madrid on Iberia Airlines.

Iberia flies to Madrid directly from: 

• Boston 
• Chicago 
• Dallas-Fort Worth 
• Los Angeles
• Miami
• Newark 
• New York
• Orlando 
• San Franisco 
• San Juan
• Washington, D.C.

These flights don’t always operate every day (and some are seasonal), so you’ll want to check your dates. 

 

 

Emirates to Athens or Milan – From 17,500 Points 

If you’re based on the East Coast, you can fly to Athens or Milan on Emirates—a high-end airline that’s known for its service, even in economy. These routes can cost as little as 17,500 Emirates Skywards miles plus about $123 in taxes and fees in economy. 

Unfortunately, most points currencies no longer transfer to Emirates 1:1. So if you wanted to book an economy ticket from New York to Milan, you’d need to transfer 22,000 points from American Express® or Citi. As of April 2026, Bilt points were still transferring to Emirates at a 1:1 ratio. So if you have Bilt points, that would be the ideal option for this flight.

 

 

American to Prague – From 21,000 Points 

If you’re looking to visit one of Jess’s favorite cities, Prague, your American Airlines miles can now get you there. American launched seasonal, non-stop routes from Philadelphia to Prague in 2026. This fall, I found dates on this route for as few as 21,000 AA miles plus $5.60 in taxes. 

While AA miles have been traditionally harder to earn, Citi ThankYou® Points now transfer to American, which gives you more points options.  

If you have Avios, you can also potentially book this route, though it’ll cost more in points and taxes. I found availability via British Airways Avios for this flight for 28,500 Avios plus $303 in taxes and fees. While that’s a higher cost, if you have more Avios than American miles, if there’s an Avios transfer bonus, or if you want to save your American Airlines miles for other trips, this might make sense. 

 

 

 

Stretch Your Points Further with Transfer Bonuses 

You can save even more on all these bookings if you’re able to take advantage of transfer bonuses when they happen. Transfer bonuses are simply extra miles that a bank or airline give you when you transfer your points to that airline’s program from a specific bank’s points currency. Transfer bonuses typically range from about 20% to 40%, and in rare cases, they can be 100%. 

While I typically save my Chase Ultimate Rewards® for Hyatt, I took advantage of a 40% transfer bonus this past February from Chase to Virgin Atlantic to top off my account for a redemption to London. 

Transfer bonuses are a great way to stretch your points if the timing happens to line up with being ready to book your flights. We almost never recommend speculatively transferring your points without a specific trip you’re ready to book. Airlines devalue their miles, often with little or no notice, so your points will always be the most valuable when they are flexible. 

 

Bottom Line

While flying in economy may be a bit less comfortable and luxurious, it can be a great way to save points and travel with a larger group.

 

Related Posts

Sweet-Spot Award Redemptions to Europe

Great Ways to Use Your Citi ThankYou® Points to Travel

Podcast 117. How to Book Family Flights to Europe Using Points and Miles