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The Ultimate Guide to United Miles: Part 8 – All the Ways to Get to Europe!

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    United Airlines and its partner airlines such as Lufthansa fly many routes to Europe.  In general, the United.com award booking page displays many routes to and from Europe, but the website doesn’t always show all available flights. 

    If you know which routes are available to get you across the Atlantic, you can search specifically for flights which have award seats available and which may fit your schedule better.

    Remember, that you should search segment-by-segment starting with the long-haul segment over the Atlantic to get to Europe.  And then find awards to your destination within Europe and from your departure city.

    This post is a very detailed list of all the ways to get from the US to Europe.  Please comment if anything is left out!

    Emily & Daraius in London!

    The Ultimate Guide To United Miles Index

    United Miles to Europe

    When booking an award from the USA to Europe, there are 3 general steps to follow:

    The following list, partly compiled from data from Wandering Aramean, shows which airlines (which you can book with United miles) fly from North America to Europe.

    The list is organized by how many flights each airline flies between North America and Europe.  So airlines with lots of flights are at the top of the list!

    The Best Tip for Searching on United.com

    Don’t forget to change your search results to show you 50 flights (instead of the default) when you search on United.com

    Step 1 – Click On “Advanced Search”

    Click on “Advanced Search” at the bottom of the award search page.

    Step 2 – Change “Number of Flights to Display” To “50”

    Click on the drop-down box by the “Number of Flights to Display” and change it from the “Default” to “50“

    Step 2- Increase the Number of Flights to Display to 50

    You will see MANY more flight options this way!

    How To Use The Information In This Post

    You could rely on United.com to find you awards seats to Europe.  And United’s website is pretty good.  But it is unlikely to find every possible option on using United miles to Europe.

    If you’re really commited to finding award seats to Europe and don’t want to hire an award booking service, you could search for award seats on many of the routes below.

    The information below will help you find the long-distance flight to Europe.  Once you find the long-distance flight to Europe, you should start searching for flights to your final destination in Europe and then from your US departure city to the gateway (i.e. where the flight to Europe departs from the US).

    1.   United Airlines

    You can fly on United to Europe from many of its hubs around the USA.

    A.  Newark

    You can fly from Newark (EWR) to:

    All The Places You Can Fly On United From Newark

    B.  Washington, DC (IAD)

    You can fly from Washington, DC (IAD) to:

    United’s European Destinations From Washington DC (Dulles)

    C.  Chicago O’Hare

    You can fly from Chicago O’Hare (ORD) to:

    You Can Fly On United To Six Different Cities In Europe From Chicago O’Hare

    D.  Houston (IAH)

    You can fly from Houston (IAH) to:

    United Flies To Amsterdam, Frankfurt, And London From Houston

    E.  San Francisco (SFO)

    You can fly from San Francisco (SFO) to:

    From San Francisco You Can Fly On United To Frankfurt, London, Or Paris

    F.  Los Angeles (LAX)

    You can also fly from Los Angeles (LAX) to:

    United’s Only European Destination From Los Angeles Is London

    2.  Lufthansa

    Lufthansa is United Airlines’ main partner to Europe.  They have good availability in Economy & Business class.  However, First Class awards are only available within 14 days of departure, so you may need to be flexible if you want to fly Lufthansa First class!

    A.   Frankfurt (FRA)

    Lufthansa First Class can be worth waiting for because they have lie flat seats and a special First Class Terminal in Frankfurt.  You can visit the First Class Terminal only if you have a same-day Lufthansa First Class ticket.

    Massage Chairs In The Lufthansa First Class Terminal In Frankfurt

    You can fly to Frankfurt (FRA) from:

    Lufthansa Flies To Frankfurt From These Cities

    B.  Munich (MUC)

    You can also fly to Munich (MUC) from:

    You Can Fly On Lufthansa To Munich From These Cities

    C.  Dusseldorf (DUS)

    You can fly to Dusseldorf (DUS) from:

    You Can Fly On Lufthansa To Dusseldorf From Chicago, Miami, Newark, Or Toronto

    3.   US Airways

    US Airways is currently still part of the Star Alliance.  But they only have Economy and Business class availability.

    A.  Philadelphia (PHL)

    You can fly from Philadelphia (PHL) to:

    You Can Fly On US Airways To Many European Cities From Philadelphia

    B.  Charlotte (CLT)

    You can fly from Charlotte (CLT) to:

    US Airways Flies To 7 European Cities From Charlotte

    4.   Air Canada

    Air Canada has many flights to Europe, and has award availability in Economy & Business class.

    Air Canada is a Star Alliance partner, and many Star Alliance partners fly to Canada, in addition to the US.  So, you can fly to Canada and from there to Europe!

    A.  Toronto (YYZ)

    You can fly from Toronto (YYZ) to:

    You Can Fly From Toronto On Air Canada To 14 European Cities

    B.  Montreal (YUL)

    You can fly from Montreal (YUL) to:

    You Can Fly From Montreal On Air Canada to Europe

    C.  Calgary (YYC), Ottawa (YOW), and Vancouver (YVR)

    You can fly from Calgary (YYC), Ottawa (YOW), and Vancouver (YVR) to:

    D.  Edmonton (YEG), Halifax (YHZ), and St. John’s (YYT)

    You can fly from Edmonton (YEG), Halifax (YHZ), and St. John’s (YYT) to:

    5.   Swiss

    SWISS International Air Lines has decent availability in Economy & Business class.  However, it’s very hard to find First Class availability using United miles.

    A.  Zurich (ZRH)

    You can fly to Zurich (ZRH) from:

    SWISS Flies To Zurich From 8 Different Cities

    B.  Geneva (GVA)

    You can fly to Geneva (GVA) from:

    You Can Fly On SWISS To Geneva From Montreal, Newark, New York, Toronto, and Washington, DC

    6.  Turkish Airlines

    You can use United miles to book award seats in Economy & Business class on Turkish Airlines.

    You can fly to Istanbul (IST) from:

    Turkish Airlines Flies To Istanbul From These Cities

    You can find more award availability from Houston to Istanbul than the other cities.

    7.   SAS

    You can use your United miles to fly Economy and Business Class on Scandinavian Air Systems (SAS). Scandinavian Air Systems flies to a number of Nordic cities from several American cities.

    SAS Flies From These North American Cities

    A.  Copenhagen (CPH)

    You can fly to Copenhagen (CPH) from:

    B.  Stockholm (ARN)

    You can fly to Stockholm (ARN) from:

    C.  Oslo (OSL)

    You can fly to Oslo (OSL) from:

    8.  Aer Lingus

    Aer Lingus is not a part of Star Alliance, but is a United partner airline.  You can use your United miles to book flights on Aer Lingus.

    A.  Dublin (DUB)

    You can fly to Dublin (DUB) from:

    Aer Lingus Flies To Dublin From These Cities

    9.  Austrian Airlines

    You can use United miles to fly on Austrian Airlines in Economy and Business class to Vienna (VIE) from:

    You Can Fly On Austrian Airlines To Vienna (Wien) From Chicago, New York, Toronto, And Washington, DC

    10.  LOT Polish Airlines

    You can also use United miles to fly on LOT Polish Airlines in Economy and Business Class to Warsaw (WAW) from:

    LOT Polish Airlines Flies To Warsaw From These Cities

    11.  Brussels Airlines

    You can use United miles to fly in Economy and Business Class on Brussels Airlines to Brussels (BRU) from:

    You Can Fly From Washington DC and New York To Brussels On Brussels Airlines

    Note that currently Brussels Airlines award seats do NOT show up on United.com.  So use the ANA website to find award availability and then call United to book these seats.

    12.  TAP Air Portugal

    You can use United miles to fly on TAP Portugal to Lisbon (LIS) and Porto (OPO) from:

    TAP Portugal flies from both Miami and Newark to both Lisbon and Porto

    13.  Singapore Airlines

    You can use United miles to fly on Singapore Airlines on the following routes:

    Singapore Airlines Flies From New York-JFK to Frankfurt and Houston to Moscow

    14.  Air New Zealand

    You can use United miles to fly from Los Angeles to London-Heathrow on Air New Zealand.  But Business Class availability can be tough to find because they reduced the number of flights to London.

    Air New Zealand Flies From Los Angeles To London

    Bottom Line

    Using United miles to Europe is one of the best ways to fly from the US to Europe.  That’s because there are lots of flights on United and their partner airlines.

    And also because United doesn’t charge fuel surcharges for flights from the US to Europe.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)