United Airlines and Lufthansa have a couple of fare sales on tickets to Europe going on right now – one is a “farewell to Spring” sale, and the other is a “Summer in Europe” sale. Either way, they could save you a bit of cash as you’re planning your European trip – cash that you’ll need to save if you want to afford anything that comes with a euro price tag.

Reports are that both of these deals are kind of hard to pin down, so if you have trouble actually finding airfare prices like the samples listed – even from the United website – don’t take it personally. It’s not you, it’s them.

Farewell to Spring
This deal isn’t restricted to any specific U.S. or European airports, so it’s a bit more flexible. It does require that the trip originate in the United States, however, and here are the other things to know about this particular deal:

• Tickets must be purchased by June 8, 2008.
• Travel must begin by June 15, 2008
• Monday-Thursday travel dates are included in this deal (other travel dates will require that you pay an additional surcharge).
• The trip can be no longer than 30 days, and requires a Saturday-night stay.
• Additional taxes and fees are not included in the prices quoted.

Sample fares on this sale include Pittsburgh-London for $459 RT, San Francisco-Amsterdam for $536 RT, Los Angeles-Rome for $584 RT, Tampa-Budapest for $546 RT, and Boston-Madrid for $476 RT. Read the deal details before you book.

Summer in Europe Calendar Sale
With this particular sale, you’ve got seven options for destination airports in Europe – Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Munich, Paris, Rome, and Zurich. The United/Lufthansa deal page for this sale has a calendar on it, and you’re limited to the dates indicated on the calendar for when you can take advantage of the sale prices. What’s more, you’re also limited by what direction is indicated on those dates. For instance, on some dates you’re only allowed an Eastbound flight, and on others you’re only allowed a Westbound flight. So overall, this deal is a bit less on the flexible side than the first one mentioned, but it’s definitely worth investigating to see if it’ll work for your trip.

Some things to know about this sale are:

• Tickets must be purchased by June 11, 2008.
• Tickets must be purchased at least 7 days in advance of trip.
• Travel is valid only on the dates illustrated on each city’s calendar page (click on the different city names at the top of this page to access the different calendars).
• Trip must be at least 5 nights, and no longer than 90 days.
• Additional taxes and fees are not included in the prices quoted.

Some of the fares listed for this sale are Phoenix-Amsterdam for $419 RT, Cleveland-Frankfurt for $378 RT, Seattle-London for $430 RT, Las Vegas-Munich for $408 RT, New York-Paris for $382 RT, Portland-Rome for $516 RT, and Denver-Zurich for $447 RT. Be sure to read all the deal details before you book.