The Strange Case of the Tranatlantic Airline That Doesn’t Seem to Want Your Business

I haven’t written much about XL Airways of France, because the difficulty of booking aboard it seems to outweigh the savings it offers. And yet a great many Americans have discovered its awesome airfares and somehow managed to snare a cut-rate seat.

What sort of savings do they offer? Well recently, persistent US bargain hunters have been able to fly round trip between Miami and Paris -- a just-inaugurated new itinerary of XL Airways -- for about $664 per person, and in summer, no less. That’s at least $400 cheaper than you would pay to any other carrier.

They found the remarkable bargain by looking for a round-trip on the aggressive CheapoAir.com or on the equally hard-striving Momondo.com.

Now why is it so difficult for us Yanks to fly on XL? It’s apparently because the officials of XL Airways believe they can fill its flights solely with residents of France. In the European travel media, XL Airways is frequently featured. And in the few years that XL has been flying the Atlantic, Parisians have filled almost of all of its seats.

But try hard and persevere by finding a travel agent who knows the phone number of XL, and you’ll enjoy big savings of between $200 and $400 per person -- a discount that can add up to big bucks for, say, a family or group of four. Tell them to look at Momondo.com or at CheapOAir.com, and you’ll frequently snare a seat on an airline whose services are just as good as any other trans-Atlantic carrier but at a sharp discount in price. The powers that be at XL Airways just don’t think it’s necessary to expend much effort in attracting U.S. business.