Halifax to Southern Europe (Flying Condor Airlines with Alaska Miles)

I’ve recently written about a neat opportunity to accumulate and use Alaska Airlines’ frequent flyer miles to fly non-stop to Frankfurt or Munich from Halifax, NS on Condor Airlines. You can read all about that here. Now I’d like to explore some more of the European destinations you can reach with 25,000 Alaska miles on Condor with one connection.

As mentioned previously, if you’re redeeming Alaska miles, you may only fly on one partner airline. That means, if you’re flying Condor to Germany, you can only connect to an onward flight operated by Condor.

Looking at Condor routes in Europe you’ll soon discover that the airline focuses on vacation destinations in southern Europe. Check the world map on Condor’s website to see the various options. I did notice, however, that a couple of the airports would not work on the Alaska site such as Toulon, France or Tivat, Montenegro. I’m not sure why that is, but perhaps it will change. I believe these are both new destinations for Condor.

Be aware that some of these flights will require an overnight in Frankfurt or Munich on the outbound or the inbound journey. If you want to spent more time in Germany you can also use the free stopover, even on a one-way booking, using the “multi-city” search.

Note that all fees are in USD and these results reflect current availability at the 25,000 mile level. I expect in coming weeks or months the rest of the schedule will also drop from 40,000 to 25,000 miles, at least for some dates, as it did last year. For this post I chose random dates at 25,000 miles.

Here are some sample trips…

Greece

My knowledge of Greek geography is relatively poor and I’ve never researched a trip to Greece. All I have in my brain are the remnants of Grade 10 History so I had to consult google maps and wikitravel to get a quick lesson. Researching this post was a nice learning experience.

Halifax – Kavala (KVA)
25,000 + $92
June 26
Kavala – Halifax
25,000 + $66
July 9

Halifax – Corfu (CFU)
25,000 + $85
July 3
Corfu – Halifax
25,000 + $63
July 11

Halifax – Zakynthos (ZTH)
25,000 + $92
June 26
Preveza/Lekfada – Halifax (PVK)
25,000 + $63
July 11

Halifax – Kalamata (KLX)
25,000 + $108
July 4
Kalamata – Halifax
25,000 + $55
July 17

Halifax – Kos (KGS)
25,000 + $103
July 2
Rhodes (RHO) – Halifax
25,000 + $66
July 16

Halifax – Chania (CHQ)
25,000 + $85
July 3
Heraklion – Halifax (HER)
25,000 + $61
July 13

Sometimes to find availability you’ll need to book 2 one-ways and use the multi-city option in at least one direction in order to make flights appear. At the moment, that’s how it looks with Croatia. You could spend a few nights in the Rhine Valley on the way home.

Croatia

Halifax – Split (SPU)
25,000 + $102
June 27

Dubrovnik (DBV) – Frankfurt 
July 5
Frankfurt – Halifax
July 9
25,000 + $159

Italy

It you’re interested in visiting the “toe” of “the boot” here’s an opportunity.

Halifax – Lamezia Termi (SUF)
25,000 + $108
June 27
Lamezia Termi – Halifax
25,000 + $61
July 10

Or what about Sardinia…

Halifax – Olbia (OLB)
25,000 + $85
June 26
Cagliari (CAG) – Halifax
25,000 + $77
July 8

Spain

Jerez de la Frontera looks interesting as a gateway to the Andalusia region.

Halifax – Jerez de la Frontera (XRY)
25,000 + $103
July 9
Jerez de la Frontera – Halifax
25,000 + $50
July 24

Halifax – Palma Mallorca (PMI)
25,000 + $85
July 3
Palma Mallorca – Halifax
25,000 + $59
July 11

Halifax – Ibiza (IBZ)
25,000
July 2 + $108
Ibiza – Halifax
25,000
July 11 + $58

Halifax – Las Palmas (LPA)
25,000 + $85
July 3
Tenerife (TFS) – Halifax
25,000 + $73
July 13

Late Summer and Fall

Right now availability August to October is at the 40,000 mile level but as I mentioned above, I expect it will drop. Personally, I would have a hard time visiting southern Europe smack in the middle of summer when I presume it’s hot as fire. The last Condor flight to Halifax is October 22nd so there is time to visit one of these destinations in the autumn if that’s your preference.

Only Have Enough Miles For One-Way?

It’s possible to get a reasonably priced one-way fare to or from Europe if you have some flexibility. WestJet one-ways are typically in a good price range. If you fly to London, for example, you can continue onward on a variety of low cost carriers that generally offer cheap fares within Europe. It’s a better value though if you can incorporate some time in that city as part of your trip. (The extra time between flights also serves as a safety net when using separate tickets where, unlike a proper connection, you won’t be protected on your onward flight if there’s a delay.) You can also fly Condor and connect to one of its partners when buying a regular paid ticket.

Finding good one-way fares on a mainline carrier like Air Canada can be a challenge and are more likely to appear on outbound journeys, in my experience. For example, you could fly June 17th Halifax to Nice via Montreal for $392 on Air Canada, see some of the southern coast of France and make your way by ferry to Corsica and Sardinia. Then fly back to Halifax on Condor with your Alaska miles.

If you have Aeroplan miles, you can of course use those for a one-way flight but you’ll need to pay close attention to the fees. Your best bet is to fly TAP Portugal, United, Turkish, Swiss, or Brussels Airlines to avoid the high carrier surcharges. Other good options include SAS Scandinavian Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines.

Final Thoughts

I like when a great deal, whether it be with points or money, leads me to think about new travel destinations. Several of these flight options have definitely achieved that. I was surprised to see what a large number of Greek airports are served by Condor along with many others in southern Europe. My examples above don’t include all of them.

It’s something to consider if you’re looking to sign-up for an Alaska Airlines MasterCard. Not only can you fly non-stop Halifax to Germany and hop a train, but also connect to a variety of interesting places by redeeming Alaska miles.