$266 Boston to Barcelona RT; $301 New York to Paris RT; $340 from West Coast

European low-cost carrier Level has expanded service to Boston — and to kick things off they have terrific prices next April, May, September, and October: from $266 round trip from Boston to Barcelona. That fare includes a standard carry-on and seat selection at online check-in. You can of course pay more to check a bag or select your seat at booking, but with the 2-4-2 configuration that Thrifty Traveler reports, there are actually enough decent seats that you might stand a chance of scoring one even if you wait until check-in. There are also solid prices between New York/Newark and Paris on Openskies and between Los Angeles / Oakland and Europe. Read on for some examples.

The Deal

• Nice flight deals between Boston, New York-Newark, Los Angeles, Oakland and Europe from $266 round trip
• A carry-on bag is included with Level

Example Dates & City Pairs

You can find these prices via Google Flights. Here are a few examples:

Boston-Barcelona: $266 RT

This fare is widely available next September and October (which is still a great time to visit Barcelona). It’s also available on select dates in April and May (with early June also available for ~$277). Click the image to go to Google Flights:

Just to show availability, here are September and October of next year:

New York to Paris: $301 RT

The city that never sleeps to the city of lights is on sale next fall (Sept/Oct) from $301 round trip. The majority of availability at that price is in October on Openskies:

You’ll book those flights (as separate tickets) through Iberia and they also come with a free carry-on and personal item. Reading the baggage policy, it wasn’t immediately clear to me whether or not they come with a free checked bag (it seemed so from my read-through, but I found that hard to believe at this price). At any rate, this is a good price for nonstop travel to Paris (though note that this flies into Orly, not CDG).

Los Angeles to Barcelona: $340 RT

Another amazing value is Los Angeles to Barcelona for just $340 round trip on Level. Again, this includes a carry-on and you can pick your seat at check-in (or pay more if you need those things in advance). If you’re traveling light, this is a great price for a long nonstop flight. There is availability in April, May, September, and October. Here are example dates in April:

Oakland to Barcelona: $346 RT

I’m seeing a lot less availability out of Oakland, but there are still limited dates in April and May to fly round trip nonstrop between Oakland and Barcelona for just $346.

Bottom line

Living on the east coast, I’ve long had difficulty justifying the use of miles to get to Europe (unless Tap Air Portugal returns with business class tickets for $408 one-way, in which case I’d be happy to use Ultimate Rewards points next time). Don’t get me wrong — I’d rather fly in comfort courtesy of my miles, but fares like $266 RT from Boston make me think that I can suck it up in the cheap seats for seven hours rather than parting with 100K+ miles. I’d be less excited about nearly 12 hours from Los Angeles — but goodness knows that before I started using points, I never imagined flying any way other than coach and survived to tell the tale of long-haul economy more than once. This sale won’t be for everyone, but for some the price will be right.

H/T: Thrifty Traveler Premium

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