Cheap European Airfare

[SoonerDog]

If any of you are planning an extended stay in Europe after or before a cruise, there are some awesome deals on airfare with several discount lines. All are basically on a par with Southwest as far as equipment and such. Fares can be as low as 99 pence plus taxes (around $25 one way) Here are the most notable....

 

EasyJet.com

Ryanair.com

Flyglobespan.com

Germanwings.com

BMIbaby.com

Thomsonfly.com

 

The cheapest fares are generally from Tues to Thurs, with those around the weekend being higher. The earlier you book, the better the deal....

 

Also, check out some of the deals on rail. FirstScotrail.com, for example, offers online specials on its Caledonian Sleeper service between London Euston and Edinburgh Waverly with fares as low as 29 BPS (around $55). This gets you a private room with two bunks and coffee in the morning. The trains usually depart around midnite and arrive the next morning, making the most of your travel time and saving the cost of a hotel room.

[SheilaNC]

To add to the list. Flying out of Barcelona on Vueling airlines is very inexpensive and the email and Internet service from them has beent terrific. We're flying BCN to Mallorca and back next month. Hopefully I'll feel the same after flying with them. They now fly from BCN to Venice which is a real plus for those sailing out of one port and into another.

[phillipahain]

WORD OF WARNING ..........check the luggage weight and size restrictions on the "bargain airlines " often they are very very low and certainly will not accomodate typical USA cruisers luggage without a hefty excess baggage charge

[CGTNORMANDIE]

PHILLI is correct. You can only take one suitcase and a carry-on...not good for cruising. I have forgotten the weight but I think it does not exceed 44 lbs for the 1 suitcase. You would have to buy 2 tickets for 1 person to take your luggage along on Easyjet.

[SoonerDog]

...about the luggage restrictions. They are fairly stringent. However, if you are returning to the same city for a departure to the States, you can always leave the big stuff in a locker at the main train station and collect it when you return. Also, many hotels will store your luggage for free or for a nominal fee.

 

Guess I didin't consider the luggage issue, as I am a very light packer whether for a cruise or a month on land.

[DrKoob]

We flew RyanAir from Glasgow to Paris for only $15 once. We thought we had the best deal in the world. Then we got to the airport (we were not on a cruise and we had one bag each with us--backpack type Eagle Creek 26" bags) and our luggage overcharge was $46 EACH! (A lot of that was due to the difference between the pound and the dollar--Thanks a lot GB!)

 

And on top of that once aboard, the entire trip (65 minutes) was a sales pitch. You could buy everything from high end perfume to watches and jewelry. It was hilarious. They even had a catalog of items you could pick from and it would be waiting for you when you picked up your luggage. The catalog cost $1.00 if you wanted to take it off the plane.

 

And keep in mind that most of these airlines fly from distant airports. To fly from London to Glasgow we had to go to Stanstead airport (a good distance outside London) via train (taxi would have been an arm and a leg) and then we arrived at Prestwick airport (a great distance outside Glasgow).

 

Paris flights go into Beauvis (sic) which is a 1 hour bus ride from downtown. All of this transportation costs so sometimes it is cheaper to fly direct with a major carrier. Check it out first.

[muffin]

Thx Soonerdog..I knew of a couple of these, but will check out the rest too. Thanks for sharing the "insider" information.

Spengle... what does BCN stand for? I can't find an airline with those initials.

Can any USA members give us a similar list of charter flights to hawaii from seatlle?? Thanks. What a huge amount of data we collectively have for each other!!