Massive European sale...many airlines and many destinations

So I've been itching to get back to Europe since my first trip there earlier this year in March. However, tickets have been so expensive usually ranging in the $1,000-$1,400 range just for a round trip economy ticket from my home airport in Indianapolis (IND). But it appears there is a massive fare war going on between multiple airlines all across the US to Europe for dates in August 2016-March 2017 (excluding the holidays in December). Flights are going for a mere $600-$700 which is almost half the price they normally do but I'm not sure how long these fares are going to last.

My first experience booking award travel

As mentioned I am relatively new to the points and miles game and just booked my first award tickets to Germany last week so wanted to share my experience. I had already done a fair amount of paid travel over the past year to various places in the US such as Hawaii, New York, Boston, Washington DC, Miami, Las Vegas, and Maine but had yet to make the journey across the pond which has always been a goal of mine. We decided to set our sights on Germany as our destination of choice, mainly because my spouse had lived for 4 years there near the Vilseck area while he was stationed in the Army so knew the area well and had many acquaintances that still lived there.