These kinds of sales normally don’t come around until August, and this year I wasn’t sure we’d see them at all, but United has announced some really low fares for travel to Europe starting October 25 and going through March 25, 2009, excluding Christmas, of course.

Here is some of the fine print:

• Purchase by July 8, 2008
• Depart between October 27 - December 11, 2008, or December 25 - March 25, 2009 for the best deal
• Sale fares for travel between September 1 - October 26, 2008 or December 12 - December 24, 2008 are slightly higher
• Travel is valid on Monday-Thursday
• A Saturday night minimum stay is required and a maximum stay of 30 days is permitted

And here are some of the round trip sample fares:

• New York City to London - $488
• New York City to Frankfurt - $422
• Chicago to Vienna - $492
• Los Angeles to Moscow - $796
• Washington DC to Frankfurt - $442

The above fares exclude a few of the usual surcharges we’ve come to expect lately, but the good news is they are around half the price you’d expect to pay for travel in August, so now is a good time to book a cheap autumn trip. Check out the offer here.