Air travel w/in Europe

[tjljsc]

We're planning to fly to London from Malaga after our Med cruise. I'm finding a wide variety of airfares and some airlines I've never heard of.

 

I know there were quite a few low budget US airlines back in the 90s that had pretty terrible safety records and we avoided like the plague. Just want to make sure I don't put us on a 1-way trip that ends in the morgue instead of Gatwick!

 

So... are there any European budget airlines that I should avoid?

[cruiseluv]

Why don't you post the names of the airlines that do that route and see if anybody has comments?

 

For example, I know clickair, vueling and Ryanair are fine. the problems is that they are very restrictive with lugagge.

[FiggyWig]

In the UK and particularly out of Gatwick, the most commonly used budget airline is still Easyjet. Don't know when you're thinking of travelling, but I've just checked the website and they currently have fares Gatwick to Malaga for just £38 and thats MID AUGUST ! OK when you build in checked luggage etc then the price will of course increase - but still fairley cheap. There are others - Ryanair or BMI, but I work right by the Gatwick flightpath and see 100's of Easyjet going out all the time (and coming back :D !) - not heard any horror stories yet !!

[Hambagahle]

Easyjet is very good! Quite reliable, time-wise and though you pay for bags checked, the total is less than flying BA or Iberia. BA on the other hand, provides better cabin service than Easyjet, and their food/drinks, including wine etc, are free. On Easyjet you pay.

[Globaliser]

We're planning to fly to London from Malaga after our Med cruise. I'm finding a wide variety of airfares and some airlines I've never heard of.

...

So... are there any European budget airlines that I should avoid?

A quick search shows the following airlines flying Malaga -> London airports:-

• Aer Lingus to Gatwick
• British Airways to Gatwick and Heathrow
• easyJet to Gatwick, Luton and Stansted
• Monarch to Gatwick and Luton
• Ryanair to Stansted

First, none of these should cause you any real safety concerns. There are occasional grumbles about Ryanair, but there is nothing that needs to be taken seriously by the one-off passenger.

 

However, Ryanair is generally reckoned to be the least satisfactory of these on service level grounds. It's fine if it all goes right, but I know very few people who would choose to fly Ryanair over easyJet (let alone other airlines) if all other things were equal.

 

Ryanair's "extra" fees are horrendous, so you will want to watch very carefully how much you are paying in total.

 

But with any of these airlines, do not look only at the ticket price. That is not a sensible way to compare the cost of travelling with them. In particular, work out carefully how much it will cost to check bags with them (including, in the case of Ryanair, the separate fee for checking-in at the airport). Remember to make an allowance for the airlines that include complimentary refreshments. Also remember to factor in the cost of getting to your destination after you have arrived at whichever London airport that flight operates to.

 

When you have done all of that, you may even find that the airline that has the highest headline ticket price (often British Airways, of this lot) is actually cheaper overall than flying the airline that has the lowest headline ticket price (often Ryanair). And you might get a much better flying experience, too, on the flight that is cheaper overall when you have taken everything into account.

[tjljsc]

Thanks for all the info Globaliser! This is exactly the kind of info I was hoping to find. Aer Lingus seems to have the cheapest rate, as of now, once I add in a checked bag fee. Doesn't seem like there are any other fees with them to be concerned about.

[dbh62ark]

Thanks for all the info Globaliser! This is exactly the kind of info I was hoping to find. Aer Lingus seems to have the cheapest rate, as of now, once I add in a checked bag fee. Doesn't seem like there are any other fees with them to be concerned about.

A word to the wise--always check not only the fees to check a bag on airlines in Europe but the luggage weight limits. They are often lower than the limits for the U.S. with hefty charges for overages.

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

[bqkali]

I flew easyjet (but none of the others) and had a wonderful experience. Friendly, informative staff at the airport (CDG) when we had a delay and friendly staff on the flight itself as well. Comfortable plane but nothing special. Great prices too - I would definitely recommend them and would fly them again.

 

I am flying Clickair in a few days BCN-GRX and I am already not happy with their customer service. They moved our flight time from 6:45am to 4pm and despite numerous tries, they will not let us cancel and rebook with another airline or make any concessions due to the inconvience. We seriously considered just booking a second flight since the airfare itself was only about 50 euro including luggage fees, but in the end decided to make due and explore a bit more of Barcelona. I am hoping that our experience with Clickair on the day of our flight will be better than what we have experienced thus far.

[expat_n_ire]

We have flown Aer Lingus numerous times and have never had an issue with them, would not hesitate to use them at all. The OP is correct about hefty charges for overages. Aer Lingus allows 20kg (44 lbs) within Europe which is pretty generous.

[Ephraim]

Easyjet

Monarch

RyanAir

Aer Lingus

British Airways

Air Berlin

Brussels Airlines

 

All fly the route competitively. Be very careful with luggage limits, RyanAir in particular has very limited luggage limits. Ryanair allows just 15 kg of luggage (as many bags as you want, with a fee per bag, but the total weight limit is still 15 kg.... it's NOT per bag!) Hand luggage is limited to 10 kg on RyanAir as well... not just the size limit. The flights are cheap... they have to make up for the prices somehow.

[Globaliser]

Air Berlin

Brussels Airlines

It is worth noting that these two airlines do not fly Malaga -> London. You can book connecting itineraries, but you will have to connect in Duesseldorf or Brussels respectively.

 

The other airlines (ie those that I listed above) all fly non-stop. Frankly, with that much choice, one would need a very good reason to choose to fly a connecting itinerary.

[AmoMondo]

A word to the wise--always check not only the fees to check a bag on airlines in Europe but the luggage weight limits. They are often lower than the limits for the U.S. with hefty charges for overages.

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

 

Donna is spot on here. Some are as low as 15kg, BA tends to be the cheapest if you have a lot of luggage as they charge a flat fee for an extra bag (at 23kg) rather than per kilo. For example I paid £32 for an extra bag from genoa to Gatwick and then on to Edinburgh. BMI charges about £6 or £8 per kilo as do some others. So as donna says calcualte what the actual baggae cost is likely to be based on what weight you will have. Also check the carry on allowance too. Some are very restrictive and only allow one piece and imnpose a weight as well as dimensions limit. BA on the other hand only has the dimension limit (set by airport security) and it can be any weight as long as you can carry it. they also allow a bag and another peice e.g. handbag.

(Honest i don't work for BA but do tend to travel with them when I've a lot of luggage and only ise the budgets when I'm going on short trips and travelling light)

[Wakkyj]

I might avoid some of the Russian airlines (none are on your list) but otherwise the rest have good safety records.

[new salt]

I live in Eastern Spain and have used all the airlines mentioned, I am also a retired professional pilot. There are no safety concerns with any of the companies mentioned but I would view Ryanair as your airline of last resort; their customer support is a disgrace and they are almost a permanent fixture in the consumer protection world to the extent that one major newspaper recently ran an article ''Twenty reasons not to fly with Ryanair'', all valid.

[MERLOTCHAMPAGNE]

Does anyone have an input on Air One? We are flying it from Venice to Rome to connect with our United flight back to the States. Supposedly they have a baggage agreement with United.... I'm trying to find out what that means as well... will they honor United's baggage allowances on their domestic flight?

[Globaliser]

Are you doing this connection on one ticket or two?

 

A baggage interline agreement strictly speaking is an enabler for baggage transfer from one airline to the other at a connection point, but it does not oblige the airlines to transfer the bags if you hold two separate tickets (as that is technically not a connection). If you have bought a separate ticket for the Venice to Rome flight, then you are relying on Air One's discretion as to whether they will through-check the bag at all, and also whether they will honour the trans-Atlantic baggage allowance on their flight too.

[MERLOTCHAMPAGNE]

Unfortunately they don't have a partnership with Air One so we had to book it separately. No other option from Venice if we wanted to use UA ff miles - wouldn't allow us to US Air from Venice to PHL even though they partner with them...

[AmoMondo]

There are some planned strikes in April and may affesting Air One. (Someone has posted a seperate thread about it)

[agabbymama]

I was told if you book your own ticket within Europe (it's considered a Domestic flight) regardless of the fact that you are flying another airline from the US to Europe. And the fees of that local airline is what will prevail.

 

I did Air Tahiti Nui from Los Angeles to Paris in Oct '08, and we were allowed 2 checked bags of 50 lbs each, and 1 carry-on of 22 lbs.

 

For my flight on Air France (booked separately, even though they are partnered) we were allowed 1 checked bag of 44 lbs, and 1 carry on of 26 lbs from Paris to Rome.

 

So we had to keep our luggage at the 1 checked bag at 44 lbs and 1 carry-on of 26 lbs for a 3 week vacation/cruise.

 

So be very careful before you book!

[sebritish]

We are flying British Air NON STOP from Venice to Heathrow London just over a 2hour flight....some of the others were 10, 11 hours or more with stop overs, so it is a no brainer which to choose.

[tjljsc]

Does anyone know what kind of planes Aer Lingus flies on this route? Hubby is paranoid about being on a puddle jumper (me too!). :)

[Globaliser]

We are flying British Air NON STOP from Venice to Heathrow London just over a 2hour flight....some of the others were 10, 11 hours or more with stop overs, so it is a no brainer which to choose.

I can't imagine anyone choosing a 10+ hour itinerary just to get from Venice to London! It would be madness.

Does anyone know what kind of planes Aer Lingus flies on this route?

Airbus A320.

[MERLOTCHAMPAGNE]

There are some planned strikes in April and may affesting Air One. (Someone has posted a seperate thread about it)

 

I haven't seen this thread..... can you direct me to it? Fortunately we won't be flying AirOne until Nov but I'd still like to read the comments regarding it and hopefully someone has some advice on how to work with them on the luggage. Thanks...

[AmoMondo]

I haven't seen this thread..... can you direct me to it? Fortunately we won't be flying AirOne until Nov but I'd still like to read the comments regarding it and hopefully someone has some advice on how to work with them on the luggage. Thanks...

It's called "May strikes in Italy. I've copied the link below - hope it works

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=971284

[MERLOTCHAMPAGNE]

AmoMondo,

 

Thanks for the link....