Cheap Fare Alert: Php22,000 ($461) Manila to Europe (Roundtrip)

I’m currently drafting a blog post on how to score low-cost flights from Manila to Europe and as I was searching in Skyscanner, Kayak, and websites of various airlines, I came across this sweet deal: Php22,000 for a roundtrip fare from Manila to Europe—Scandinavia, in particular—for travel on September 2016! I checked the dates September 5 to September 25, 2016. Based on experience, this is one of the most affordable fares you can snag going to Europe. The cheapest I’ve seen was this promo fare spotted by DJ Yabis of Dream Euro Trip early last year.

There are two airlines and flight routes involved in this but no need to worry as it’s not too complicated.

How It All Started: The Great #Europamore Trip

#Europamore, noun: 1. a word play between “Europa” and “Pa More,” a Filipino expression usually attached to a noun or verb to give further and greater emphasis. 2. by far, the greatest trip of Girl Chasing Sunshine’s life

I can’t absolutely pinpoint the exact moment when I decided that I will conquer Europe one day. I remember watching the films Eurotrip and Chasing Liberty in high school and I thought how thrilling would it be to ride a train around the continent. I remember stumbling upon travel blogs about France, Italy, Germany, Greece, and Sweden. I remember watching Letters to Juliet and promising myself that I would visit Verona someday. I remember seeing social media posts of colleagues on incentive trips around Prague and Bratislava and how exotic their trips felt like.  

I can’t certainly say why I wish to visit Europe but I knew what I wanted: I wanted to see the world. I wanted to experience Europe.

A Dream Come True: 12 Days in Europe

A dream come true—this pretty much sums up my whirlwind trip to Europe late last year. Never have I ever imagined that I would be able to take this trip in this lifetime, let alone in my early twenties, in my own capacity, and for the most part, all by myself.

Like most avid travelers, I’ve always wanted to go to Europe but the seemingly expensive cost of travelling around the continent, along with the difficulties in getting a Schengen visa, held me back. But thankfully, everything just perfectly fell into place this year and I found myself wandering and gallivanting around seven cities and six countries in Europe for 12 days.