Expatify

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Europe flights too expensive this summer? Mexico City is still very cheap

MexicoCityRegular readers who’ve been following this blog and others like it are all too aware that flights to Europe are insanely expensive this summer. Even flights from New York City to London are starting around $800 round-trip, when they are often around $300 round-trip in the off season. Flying from just about any other American city to any European city is likely to cost at least $1,000 per person round-trip, so what is your best alternative?

If you’ve read the title of this post you know the answer is Mexico City, which continues to have cheap flights from all over the United States. Won’t it be scorching hot in Mexico City in summer, you are probably asking? Well, it’s actually at a high elevation and the climate is far more moderate than you might expect.

Destination: Mexico City

Interestingly enough, the average high temperature in Mexico City in April and May is 80F, but during June it drops down to 76F, with July and August being around 74F. The rainy season does start in early June, but each summer month only averages around 6 inches of rain, and it tends to come down in tropical bursts. This means it tends to be easy to avoid and that most of the days are dry most of the time.

A misunderstood city by most who’ve not yet been there, Mexico City has a very modern urban center that provides excellent shopping, dining, and nightlife opportunities. Better still, 3-star hotels start at around US$40 per room, and 4-star hotels can start at as low as US$50 per room, though the better places with the best locations will cost at least a bit more than that. It’s every bit as exotic as Spain, and probably less than half the cost, with much cheaper flights as well.

Flights to Mexico City

At the moment you can fly nonstop from Los Angeles to Mexico City for $343 round-trip on United Airlines, or you can save about $20 with a stop in Guadalahara along the way on Volaris. Compare that with $1,100 and up from Los Angeles to London or Paris, and it sounds even more tempting.

From Chicago it’s even cheaper, with flights on US Airways for $298 round-trip including a plane change in Charlotte, North Carolina. Nonstop flights start at $498 round-trip, which is a big jump up, but still very cheap compared to going to Europe. The flight itself is only about 4 hours each way, which is another nice bonus. Bizarrely enough, a nonstop flight from Charlotte to Mexico City is $560 round-trip on the same dates.

If you are in the New York area you’ll find flights to Mexico City starting at $437 on US Airways with that same plane change in Charlotte, North Carolina. Delta Airlines offers nonstop flights for $498 round-trip between JFK and MEX, and the extra $62 might be worthwhile for the direct flight, which is only around 5 hours – still a bit shorter than to London.

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