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I passed the information along to a friend at the airline involved. He was nonplussed and checked with his internal pricing guru. "It's real," came the reply. "There was a fare war. But don't change anything. That fare is long gone."

Except it kinda, sorta wasn't. By the middle of April, another fare war over summer business-class fares erupted and prices plunged again. For a few days, some carriers sold round trips for as little as $1,999 between Los Angeles and Berlin, $2,050 between Denver and Vienna and $1,900 between Chicago and Stockholm.

Until a few years ago, sub-$2,000 business-class seats were a staple for carriers looking to fill premium cabins in summer, when frequent fliers tend to fly less frequently. Selling big chairs up front cheap to savvy leisure travelers made sense because carriers generated incremental revenue and freed up scarce coach seats to sell to other potential customers.

But as any traveler looking for a premium-class score across the pond this summer knows, the posted deals aren't that good. Business-class seats that sold for as little as $1,600 round trip from the Northeast at the turn of the decade are retailing for around $3,000 this summer. From Mid America, the South and the West Coast to Europe, where $2,000 round trip summer fares were once as plentiful as watermelons, prices up front have soared above $4,000.

Worse, the super-low-priced fare sales that we saw briefly in April are no longer sold with come-hither promotions on the airlines' respective websites. You have to get lucky, have a sharp-eyed travel agent or do deep-dive research using tools like ITA Matrix Search, which allows you to view fares on a route for an entire month.

There's logic behind the exploding cost of summer business-class fares. As airlines switched to lie-flat beds, they have less inventory to sell because the beds take up so much more room than the old reclining business-class seats. Major carriers also trimmed flights across the Atlantic, further cutting capacity.

Demand for the available business-class seats has skyrocketed, too. "We don't have to sell at the giveaway fares now," the pricing chief of one U.S. carriers told me recently. "Demand is there at about twice what we charged five years ago."

Then there's this: Some airlines are loathe to promote summer business class sales even on their own websites because their lawyers claim recent Transportation Department regulations are too picayune.

"Our legal team claims you must have at least 10 percent [of seats] available at the advertised price and you can't change fares or terms after the promotion starts," is how one airline marketing executive explained it to me. "Now we dump what we deem appropriate into the system and don't talk about it. Then we can pull inventory or change restrictions without repercussions. It makes the lawyers happy."

Of course, if it were any place but Europe in summer, the radical pricing swings and anal lawyers would be just another quirk of life on the road. But survey after survey says everyone continues to rate a European vacation as their dream holiday. Nothing seems to tamp down the demand, either.

Euro commanding nearly $1.40, the highest exchange rate since before 2008 global meltdown? What's a few extra bucks? The British pound off the deck and once again north of $1.70? The fantasies of Downton Abbey and Doc Martin can't wait. Tensions in Ukraine giving the continent a summer-of-1939 vibe? What's history when a nice plate of pasta or tapas await?

If you want to be in Europe this summer and you want to fly there in a premium class, allow me to point you in the direction of the best fares I've uncovered in recent days.

Scandinavia is the sweet spot
You know it's an odd summer when fares to high-cost Scandinavia represent the best bargain on the map. But SAS is selling business-class fares as low as $2,590 round trip from New York. If you want to step down to the premium-economy cabin, you can knock fares down as low as $1,629 round trip.

No Roman holiday
As airlines have "rationalized" transatlantic schedules in recent years, Rome has been one of the big losers. The reason? Profitable business-travel traffic tends to head to Milan, Italy's financial and industrial powerhouse. So you may find more lower-priced business-class seats into Northern Italy this year on Alitalia and other airlines. Expect to pay at least $3,000 round trip anywhere north of Rome, however. If you're interested in Southern Italy, try Meridiana, which operates summer service from New York. Using the aforementioned ITA Matrix, I found some $2,100 round-trip business-class seats into Naples in July.

Talking Turkey
Months of unrest has perhaps taken the sheen off a holiday in Istanbul, but it has been one of the "hot/trendy" destinations in recent years. If you're still game, Turkish Airlines is selling business class for as little as $2,891 round trip.

August in Paris
I recently explained why April in Paris was a lyrical lie. Musical balance requires me to note that Charles Aznavour also overrated August in Paris. Still, if France is your fantasy, Air France's summer business-class sale pegs seats from $3,046 round trip from New York and north of $4,000 from San Francisco or Los Angeles. An alternative: OpenSkies, British Airways' boutique carrier. Round trip fares in its extremely comfortable premium-economy class can be had below $1,8000 round trip.

Town without pity
London is not only the average American's most favored spot in Europe, it has traditionally been the most cost-effective place to find a summer business-class bargain. No more. Rising year-round demand and British air-travel taxes that increase based both on distance flown and class traveled had made London one of the priciest places to fly this summer. Virgin Atlantic's summer-fare structure starts at about $3,600 round trip from the East and nearly $4,500 from the West.

More green to the Emerald Isle
Ireland, another place that usually has been an up front bargain in summer, will also cost a lot more green this year. Aer Lingus has pegged business-class fares at around $2,900 round trip from the East and $4,400 from the West.

Mittel Europe and beyond
The Lufthansa Group, which includes Swiss International, Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines as well as the eponymous German carrier, probably has the most summer business-class fares between the United States and Europe. The group's carriers fly nonstop into six European cities and to dozens of other continental destinations. Its business-class prices start at $2,899 round trip into Germany and $2,871 into Switzerland. Lufthansa has also posted a sale in first class and prices start around $5,200. Another alternative: KLM, which flies nonstop into Amsterdam and throughout Europe. Its summer prices start at about $3,100 round trip.

A few practicalities
Although there are no U.S. carriers mentioned here because they have not posted separate prices, remember that Delta Air Lines is tied to Air France, KLM and Alitalia in the SkyTeam Alliance. United Airlines is partnered with SAS and Lufthansa and its subsidiaries in the Star Alliance. So Delta and United offer similar fares on their own flights into Europe. American Airlines and US Airways are in the Oneworld Alliance with British Airways and Iberia of Spain and none of those carriers have publicly mounted a summer sale. But you'll find that they are matching prices almost everywhere they compete. Also, be aware that most airlines consider this year's "summer season" to be June 29 to Sept. 4. And most summer premium-class fares this year require a 60-day advance purchase and a Saturday-night stay.