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Cheap Flights Within Europe: Don't Get FleecedJun 19 '01 (Updated Jun 21 '01) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line You don't have to pay a lot to travel within Europe. A little known fact about living and traveling within Europe: with the massive influx of inexpensive, internet-based travel and airline companies, it is often cheaper to fly within Europe to take the train or even to rent a car. Sounds ridiculous, I know. How can it be cheaper for me to hop on a one hour plane from England to Italy than to suffer through a 16 hour, overnight train ride with changes in two different countries? To be honest, I don't know how they do it, but here it is. They don't have incompetent pilots or water down their fuel. They just cut corners on certain non-essentials, like in-flight meals and save money by encouraging online booking (fewer sales employees). Here's the facts, jack: 1. My parents, visiting from the U.S., wanted to go to Italy to revisit the location of their previous sins, including the conception of my older brother (eeeeewwwww!). I bought them round trip airline tickets on a major, reputable airline (I think it was British Air or Air Italia) for less than £100 ($140 with the exchange rate at the time). What the heck am I so astounded about, you ask? Well, you're flying over a massive body of water and several intervening countries. If you traveled, say, from New York to Miami, I suspect your ticket would run you a wee bit more than $140. In any event, my ever-frugal parents looked in to train tickets, not believing that their itty bitty baby girl could get the best deal. Result: a traumatic, 16 hour train ride with a change in Paris would run them a grand total of £400 ($560). Who's the better bargain hunter now, Dad, huh??? 2. Our friends visited and we decided to take a long weekend (can six days technically be called a long weekend? I think so) to the Italian Riviera (which I highly recommend). I didn't even look into the train route. Regardless of the price, the forced inactivity would have driven my husband (read: ME) crazy before we even got to Paris. Luckily, I had been in London long enough to hear about various airline companies offering good deals and I found four round-trip tickets from London to Genoa for . . . drum roll please . . . £54 pounds per person. Yes, friends and neighbors, that's approximately $70 smackers (Ryanair, see below). Beat that, if you can! You can't even fly the miserable, unnecessary trip from Chicago to Milwaukee for $70. 3. Using one of the many great websites, I found round trip tickets from London to Bergen, Norway for £114 (approx. $150), Dublin for £98 ($135) and so on and so on and so on. OK, enough examples. Let me tell you how it's done. Travelocity.co.uk Pretty much the same as Travelocity.com in the United States, this offers some great fares for various dozens of different airlines. It's how we booked my parents to Milan and our recent trip to Amsterdam. The service is quick and painless, the price listed on the internet includes tax and all charges so there is no surprise, and you can usually take advantage of the e-ticket option, so you (1) can book at the last minute and (2) don't have to worry about having a UK address for ticket delivery. ALTERNATIVELY, you can book your ticket through Travelocity.com in the United States before you leave, because the prices are relatively close. Expedia.co.uk I know what you're thinking, Travelocity and Expedia, what does this chick think she's telling us that we don't already know? But I'm getting the easy and familiar over with up front. As above, this service is similar to its sister (or brother, I don't want any accusations of gender bias) service in the States, Expedia.com. I always check both Expecial.co.uk and Travelocity.co.uk, because although the prices are similar, they sometimes service different airlines and I have often chosen Expedia tickets for better time of the flights or cheaper fares. Again, the tickets can be e-ticketed or delivered, and the delivery is very quick. My only complaint is that they send you these little cardboard name tags for your luggage with every ticket you purchase, and consequently I have dozens floating around my tiny but deathly expensive London flat. Now, the real fun begins . . . parents with small children may want to ask them to leave the room . . . Ryanair.com This Irish airline, which reminds me of an Irish Southwest Airlines, is absolute insanity. I think the leprechaun must have gotten into the Guinness (sorry to all those Irish citizens I just slandered). It reminds me of those television commercials for used-car lots ("I'm Mad Charlie and everything must go, go GO!"). Round trip tickets all over Europe starting at £8! That's about $12 bucks, folks. And I might remind you that the cheapest round trip ticket on London's Underground costs about £3, a little more than half the price of a plane ticket. Am I the only one who thinks that's insane? Ok, the prices are listed without airport taxes, which are usually more than the price of the ticket. But this is the real deal. Now, for the pros and cons. Pros: It's extremely, inexplicably cheap. That's pretty much it (but sometimes, that's enough). And I guess this isn't a pro, because all airlines should automatically be safe, but the planes, while not brand-spankin' new, looked well cared for and in better-then-decent shape. I felt safer on Ryanair than when I flew on some charter flights to Jamaica. Cons: 1. No food service: Not that you would expect one with this price, but if you want a sandwich or drink (alcoholic or otherwise) you have to pay. That said, there is a very nice selection of snacks and the $5 spent on a sandwich and drink that saves $200 in airfare may be considered, by some, to be money well spent. 2. Inconvenient airports: Ryanair flies out of London Stanstead airport, which is relatively far out of the city. If you are flying for business, for example, it does not make sense to hoof it out to Stanstead for a cheap flight, especially when an evil corporate conglomerate (or its law firm equivalent) is footing the bill. When looking at Ryanair, I mentally weight the inconvenience of the tube trip to the train station and the trip on the Stanstead Express out to the airport, thus adding 50 minutes or so to my journey against the saving in price. Remember, however, that you may have to make that same calculation in your city of destination. 3. Delays: On my only Ryanair flight, we did not have much of a delay. About 20 minutes outbound, and 10 minutes inbound. But there is a hugecatch. One of the ways that Ryanair is so inexpensive is that they have a deal with the airports that they will leave within a certain time window. Therefore, they generally load you on and ship you out with little or no delay. However, (and this is a big however) if, because of weather or other act of God your flight is delayed beyond the window, nothing will get you off the ground until the powers that be at the airport decide you will. Sometimes, they will reroute you to even more inconvenient airports and although they provide for your return journey to London, it can sometimes be a major hassle. 4. Traveling with the masses: Since I am a member of the masses, I really can't complain about this one until I reach Bill-Gates-like wealth. Don't hold your breath, folks. 5. Limited destinations: Ryanair only flies to a limited number of cities, so it only really works . . . when it works, if that makes any sense. 6. No Refund/No Change tickets: Usually, these are use 'em or lose 'em tickets, although sometimes they're changeable. Not a problem, though, if you are on a European vacation and time is on your side. Easyjet.com Otherwise knows as the big, tacky orange airplane, Easyjet.com is, like Ryanair, its own airline that saves money by having most booking done online. They bill themselves as the Web's Favorite Airline, and I won't bicker. They certainly do a brisk business. With a fleet of garishly painted orange airplanes (I fear when the birds must think when this solid tangerine colored monstrosity flies near). Again, they cut corners on in-flight food, but safety is not much of a concern (knock on wood). Pros: Again, it is relatively inexpensive. However, this is usually not as good a deal as Ryanair, and sometimes, if you factor in the price of getting to London Luton Airport (or the non-primary airport of your city of choice), it may make sense to fly a "real" airline. Cons: 1. No food service: Same as with Ryanair. But, I ask you, is the tough as nails beef stroganoff with congealing sauce on sticky noodles you would otherwise get on a short flight (or worse, the ham sandwich in a bag) really worth the extra cost of airfare.. 2. Inconvenient airports: Easyjet flies out of London Luton airport, which is even more inconvenient than Stanstead. Public transportation to Luton is not as convenient, so this may be a deal breaker, as it often is for me. Depending on how cost conscious you are, this may be for you. Again, remember to check the destination airport to make sure it is not too far from the city. 3. Delays: See above. 4. Limited destinations: Like Ryanair, Easyjet only flies to a limited number of cities. lastminute.com This is just what it sounds like, great fares on last minute tickets in Europe. First and foremost, this is a dump-all for airlines trying to get rid of unsold tickets. But there's more, look behind door number three. They do Eurostar tickets (the high-speed train between London, Paris, Brussels and Lille and Calais, France), they do massively reduced hotel bookings, and they do vacations (airfare and a week or a weekend in, say, Barcelona at a 4 star hotel). Last minute means they often have great deals on the coming weekend, a great deal when you realize on Thursday afternoon that you don't have work all weekend. But they also have more long term bookings. However (there's always one of those, isn't there), there are a couple of catches. You go when they say you go. There will be flights on a certain day at a certain time and that's all she wrote, the fat lady's blaring away, etc. There is little or no flexibility of time. These are cheap tickets for a reason. If the dates and times work for you, great; if not, talk to the hand, because the man don't wanna hear it. Another little "quirk" is that . . . ahem . . . you don't actually book with a particular airline. Strange, I know. Lastminute.com has a list of airlines that are included on their website, and they are all reputable airlines (Lufthansa, British Air etc. and some lesser known airlines as well). But you don't know when you book what airline you are on. You know the time, you know the date, you know the airport. But the airline, nope, that's on a need to know basis. Now, against my better judgment and my legal training, I have rolled the dice and everything turned out fine with me on a British Air flight to Amsterdam, but this is definitely a situation of "let the buyer beware." I have not booked their vacations, but you do get to know the name of your hotel and some of the prices, especially off-season, are spectacular. Last warning on this one: a painfully slow server, but worth the time to navigate. ebookers.com, lastminutetravel.com and airplanet.com A moment of honesty, folks. I haven't used these ones, because the websites are badly organized, slow, and p*ssed me off so much. Since there are so many other useful sites out there, I generally give them a pass. However, as it was recommended to me as one of the many European cheapie-sites out there, I am passing it on to you without any further comment. I wish everyone luck and hope that this will be useful to some. Keep in mind that European flights are all short, usually around one to one and a half hours, so it may be worth it to forego the luxury of a lavish flight experience. Business class is worth it on over-the-ocean type flights, but I can skip the small bottle of hand lotion if I can have twice as many "European Vacations" by saving on flights. Have fun!  |
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