European Budget Airlines

[artnbarb]

We plan to take several short (one way) flights within Europe next summer: Dublin-Leeds, London-Innsbruck (or Salzburg), maybe more, depending on car rental costs/availability. Are there any carriers to avoid? Here in the states I would strongly advise against flying Allegiant due to their record (we live near an airport served only by Allegiant, and read the horror stories every week).

It seems that every budget/regional airline has confusing, lengthy procedures regarding boarding passes, check-in and luggage. Wading through that information is daunting enough, but I want to make sure to avoid any airlines with questionable safety records. Thanks in advance.

 

[Ian Sutton]

Ryanair and EasyJet are the largest of the budget operations. Both no frills, with Easyjet historically being the least obnoxious, though Ryanair have improved from their old position of being openly vindictive to passengers.

None of the budget airlines have a questionable safety record.

Make yourselves aware of the charging structures e.g. pay extra for seat reservations in advance, certain seats, hold bags etc., limitations on cabin bags and whatever you do, don't put delicate items in the overhead lockers as bags are rather shoved in. We tend to take rucksacks, and these can be safely stored under the seat in front. On board refreshments are charged for and typically overpriced rubbish catering to a captive audience. Not dangerous per se, but Ryanair planes do tend to quite hard landings with the odd 'bounce'. You get used to it.

If you can get a regular carrier (BA, KLM, etc.) for ~ £30-40 extra all in, then I'd lean towards the extra civility of the experience, but have flown Ryanair plenty of times. Where they tend to win, is in flights between less obvious airports.

Dublin to Leeds may well only be a Ryanair route, though maybe Aer Lingus do it as well?

In terms of London airports, Stansted is a distance from Central London, as is Gatwick, but both well served by train (from Liverpool St and Victoria respectively), plus coach. Heathrow a little closer, with fast trains from Paddington, or slower Piccadilly line tube. I've not been via London City, but some friends speak very highly of the experience of flying from Southend airport (a similar distance to Gatwick/Stansted), it being a smaller and thus less stressful airport.

Assuming you're flying Ryanair from Dublin, there is a 10-15 min walk from clearing security to their gates, though there was a good little juice bar as you arrive at the gates ~ 3 years ago, that I used to frequent when passing through.

 

[artnbarb]

Thank you. Safety was my primary concern, and if all are equal, I may just have to take what I can get. Service seems to be limited, and for the Ireland-England flight Dublin seems to offer more possibilities than Shannon.

For the England-Austria leg we'll be driving to the airport from Sussex, so Gatwick is my #1 choice, followed by Heathrow. I'll also have to drop off a rental car, but the cost should be about the same regardless of which London airport I return it to.

Because we'll be travelling for 4+ months, our luggage will more more than 'normal' for us. We have to pack for warm weather as well as cool (maybe even cold!) weather, and rain. For this reason I would almost prefer a 'regular' carrier so I don't have to figure out all the add-ons for luggage and weight.

 

[Andrew]

It looks like Aer Lingus flies Dublin-Leeds on a propeller plane, and there's a notable difference between the Saver fare, which doesn't include a checked bag, and the Plus fare, which does.

 

[artnbarb]

It looks like Aer Lingus flies Dublin-Leeds on a propeller plane, and there's a notable difference between the Saver fare, which doesn't include a checked bag, and the Plus fare, which does.

I saw that! It looks like with the Plus fare you're allowed a checked bag, PLUS the possibility to buy another bag? I hope I'm not confusing this with another budget airline - I've been looking at a lot of different sites today!

 

[Roz]

One thing we learned years ago when we had booked a flight in Italy on EasyJet: When the flight was cancelled at the last minute with no explanation (while we were waiting in the airport to board), we were then on our own. EasyJet was not going to help us rebook another flight. They did eventually issue us a refund, but we had to struggle for that and it was way after the fact. If we had booked on a major carrier, I think we would have been given at least some help in finding another flight. We ended up getting a flight several hours later on Alitalia, which was more inconvenient and cost quite a bit of money, but at that point we were pretty desperate.

After that we gave up on budget airlines. You can save money if you're not unlucky, but we decided the potential headaches were not worth the savings.

 

[Cameron]

I've found (so far) using British Airways or Air France for short flights in Europe is competitively priced, considering the lack of extra fees as are imposed by the bargain companies.

 

[Ian Sutton]

I've found (so far) using British Airways or Air France for short flights in Europe is competitively priced, considering the lack of extra fees as are imposed by the bargain companies.

Yes, we've found the same with BA, though timing can be important as they do change over time.

 

[Andrew]

I saw that! It looks like with the Plus fare you're allowed a checked bag, PLUS the possibility to buy another bag? I hope I'm not confusing this with another budget airline - I've been looking at a lot of different sites today!

Yes, on Aer Lingus see the bottom of https://www.aerlingus.com/travel-in...checked-baggage/#/tab-0-flights-within-europe

 

[Reporter]

The spectacular popularity of "budget" airlines in Europe has forced the traditional carriers to compete by adopting similar economies of service, to keep the ticket prices low. All operations now spell out very clearly their procedures. The only complications with a big outfit like EasyJet come when passengers don't read or don't follow the rules (which is why EasyJet boarding gates often feature travellers trying to stuff their one bag with their extras, not realizing the "one-bag" rule means one, not one plus purse plus computer. )
There is one significant policy to keep in mind, however. Most of the budget carriers do not connect flights with other airlines or, often, their own flights. If you miss the connection from one Ryanair flight to another, you have to buy another flight ticket, even if it's the carrier's fault.
Safety? Which airline do you know tends to drop airplanes? The safety record for all of them is a remarkable achievement.

 

[Gerry&Joy]

I have found this website: http://www.flylc.com/directall-en.asp - to be very helpful in determining which airlines fly from one European city to another. After you do that, you can go to the airline site and check schedules and fares for all low cost airlines that fly that route.