Top-Tier European Destinations

With autumn kicking in, many of the travelers are looking forward to quick escapes across seas. And with Europe's popularity for tourists each year, European destinations with great availability for travel in the fall and beyond are actually splendid for the season.

A lot of tourists find award flights to London almost every day of the year on all three alliances. With that, they might not be the best option due to the increase of approximately $170 in UK taxes placed on most award tickets leaving London for the US. Excluding those fees and surcharges, a traveler can book a one-way economy ticket for 30,000 United miles; 20,000 Avios from New York on American; 30,000 SkyMiles from most US destinations; or 20,000 AA miles during the ordinary days. But the best known way to visit London on award tickets is to fly from the US with Delta SkyMiles or United miles.

One can also use Avios or American miles to fly to another European destination with very low charges, as well as return to the States from your second European destination without having the UK taxes. For Avios, consider the British Airways Visa Signature Card, which awards 50,000 miles after you spend $2,000 in the first three months. For Delta, consider the Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express, which awards 30,000 miles after spending $1,000 within the first three months. However, the easiest way to earn United miles is to transfer points instantly from Ultimate Rewards, earned with a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

Tourists also want to fly to Frankfurt from Charlotte and Philadelphia, thanks to legacy US Airways routes, which happen to have great availability in economy class. When travelling to Frakfurt, consider the United MileagePlus Explorer Card, which gives 30,000 bonus miles after $1,000 in spending in the first three. Meanwhile, for award flights on American or United, the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard is a good choice since it's offering an increased sign-up bonus of 75,000 miles after spending $7,500 in the first three months.

Home to Air France and a destination for all main carriers, Paris has plenty of award ticket choices for its guests. Since a guest can redeem Delta SkyMiles for Air France flights, the Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express could be worth a try since it's offering a sign-up bonus of 30,000 miles after you spend $1,000 in the first three months.

The Citi / AAdvantage Executive World MasterCard currently also has a sign-up bonus of 75,000 miles after you spend $7,500 in the first three months that could award a round-trip flight to Paris in economy class, or a one-way award in business. For United, a traveler can try Chase Sapphire Preferred. After availing the sign-up bonus, one can get a 40,000 Ultimate Rewards points that you can transfer to United and redeem for a one-way economy ticket.

In the meantime, the news gets even better for European travel as travelers look at intra-European availability, pricing and convenience. Once on the continent, there are so many options for free flights would really just need to find a transatlantic segment. And if an award ticket isn't available at the moment, there are also several low-cost carriers for less than $100.