If you’ve been inspired by Mr. Big on HBO(R)‘s “Sex and The City(R)”
whisking off to Paris to capture the heart of Carrie Bradshaw, or Matt
Lauer braving the cold in Moscow on “The Today Show,” there’s never been a
better time to seize the day and steal a great deal on European airfares.
Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t take a fortune to buy a last-minute
ticket to Europe these days, according to discount travel site
Hotwire.com. For example, Hotwire recently sold a last-minute ticket from
San Diego to Paris for $439 roundtrip, taxes and fees included. 

“It is incredibly cheap to fly to Europe right now, because it’s the
off-season and leisure air fares continue to hit record lows,” said Amy
Bohutinsky, consumer travel expert at Hotwire.com. “We’re seeing roundtrip
fares to cities all over Europe from $300-$400 leaving from the East
Coast, and $500-$600 from the West Coast. Cheap prices plus fewer people
make this a fabulous time to jet set across the Atlantic.”

Low prices to Europe should prevail until late March, when fares begin
creeping up again for Easter and early summer travel.

Below are examples of roundtrip airfares to European cities purchased on
Hotwire between February 5-17, 2004, for travel through March 30, 2004:

—Boston—Amsterdam $372—St. Louis—Frankfurt $419—San Diego—
Paris $439—San Antonio—London $447—Nashville—Warsaw $511—
San Francisco—Amsterdam $570—Lincoln, NE—Rome $683

Airfare purchases shown include all taxes and fees. Airfares may have
required advance purchase and/or Saturday night stay. All purchases are
nonchangeable and nonrefundable. Because prices change all the time,
Hotwire customers are encouraged to check prices for themselves. 

Hotwire.com is a leading discount travel site with consistently lower
prices on airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, cruises and vacation
packages. Launched in 2000, Hotwire negotiates deep discounts from its
travel suppliers to help sell their excess inventory. Hotwire is a wholly
owned business of IAC/InterActiveCorp . For more information, visit
http://www.hotwire.com/.
——-