Flying within Europe - Vliegen binnen Europa

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Boarding with Ryanair, no reserved seats

Europe has a growing number of low cost airlines, the most established and largest easyJet and Ryanair are. These airlines have added a new dimension to air travel with their very affordable fares.

The European Open-Skies Treaty from 1992 made this possible because it allowed restrictions that national governments could impose in order to national pride to protect have expired. From that moment on, airlines based within Europe were allowed to fly to all European destinations within the EU without further government approval.

Ryanair was the first to hit the market and now there are many comparable airlines offering cheap flights across the continent. Sometimes the rate is only € 7.00 excluding taxes.

Airplane travel has a high CO₂ emissions.

Tickets and prices

Most discount airlines only sell their tickets through their own website or by telephone at their own office, not through a travel agency. Most also no longer issue physical tickets, but only a confirmation code. You simply go to the airport and at the counter you show your passport and possibly your confirmation number. Travel is often sold as a single ticket and you buy two tickets if you also want to go back. So there are no rules like your stay must include a Saturday night to qualify for this low rate, as is the case with many scheduled services.

The pricing structure is very extensive and rates are constantly changing based on supply and demand. Sometimes you have to book months in advance to find a dirt cheap rate, but sometimes you are lucky and you can find an obsolete flight just a few days before departure that you can fly for a bargain price. But you also pay the top prize with these airlines if you travel to during the school holidays Geneva want to fly to go skiing.

The following tips can increase your chances on a cheap ticket:

• Fly mid-week
• Fly early in the morning or late at night
• Fly in the low season (spring and fall)
• Make use of the special offers. These sometimes appear 3 to 5 weeks before departure, but this is not legal.
• Do not fly during school holidays
• Book no less than two weeks in advance

On the website of Cheap Flying[1] you can compare the flight tickets of more than 500 airlines.

Considerations

• Discount airlines are usually much stricter with their rates and rules. For example, where you can sometimes take a few kilos of extra luggage with a national airline, WizzAir charges € 6 for every kg too much. There are also airlines that allow you less than the usual 20 kg. And a few extra kilograms can double the price of your ticket. So check the conditions and your luggage carefully before departure.
• Be prepared that usually no food is served. Or that it can, at best, be purchased for a fee. Unfortunately, with the introduced rules for bringing liquids on board (max. 100 ml per bottle), bringing your own drinks has become practically impossible.
• Also, don't expect in-flight movies. So bring your own laptop, MP3 player, book or magazines.
• To reduce costs, many of the discounters use smaller airports that are sometimes further from the actual destination than the major airport. An example is the Paris Beauvais airport, which is about 90 km outside of Paris (the major Charles de Gaulle airport is only 20 km). This means that the follow-up route to Paris will be more expensive and will take longer (a taxi costs approximately € 130-150 one way and the bus takes 1.5 hours).
• In response to the discounters, the major airlines such as KLM and BA now often have cheap offers to the same destinations that are sometimes only 20% more expensive than the discounters. This can be worthwhile if it makes the journey to and from the airport faster and cheaper. And during school holidays, it is quite possible that the major airlines are even cheaper than the discounters.
• Many airlines including but not limited to easyJet, hlx.com, SkyEurope have sometimes adjusted their itineraries with less than a week to go before departure and the flight may be 10 hours earlier or later than originally booked. Usually you will then be offered the following options: accept the change, book another flight with any additional payment for a more expensive fare but without penalty for changing, or accept your money back. Please note that booking another ticket at such short notice is often a much more expensive affair. It is recommended to have a good non-airline cancellation insurance.
• Many discounters only offer "A to B" flights and do not sell connecting connections. So you can fly from A to C via B, but you will have to pick up your luggage in B and deliver it again for the next leg. This often means that the responsibility for making the connecting flight lies with the passenger and not with the airline, even if it concerns the same airline. This may oblige you to buy a new ticket for the next flight. But there are also those that will help you out. So check their rules carefully in advance.
• Contrary to popular opinion, most discount airlines have a good track record when it comes to safety.
• Also look carefully at the offers of the major companies. Especially when it comes to a return flight, there are many competing offers.

Companies

easyJet

easyJet plane on departure

easyJet carried 30.3 million passengers in 2005, slightly smaller than Ryanair and the 7th largest airline in Europe. Fares are determined per one way. Their website allows you to book multiple flights at once. They even allow purchased tickets to be changed, possibly with additional costs, to a different date or even a different passenger name. There is no additional discount on purchasing an outward and return flight at the same time. Please note that if you have two connecting easyJet flights, you will always have to collect and check in your luggage yourself. Some advanced applications on their website can only be used if you have created an account on the site.

EasyJet has hubs at 3 airports in London (Gatwick, Stansted, Luton) but also in Geneva, Paris (CDG and Orly), Berlin, Dortmund, Liverpool, Bristol and several other airports, such as Amsterdam. They serve a total of 45 airports in Europe and Morocco with 180 routes.

The easyJet network is growing rapidly and all extensions can be found on their website. Their network is strongest in the United Kingdom. Unlike Ryanair, EasyJet often flies to the main airports of the major cities, such as Barcelona instead of Barcelona-Girona, in Spain.

Travel insurance is optional but is provided at time of booking.

Ticket prices range from €20 to €420, one way including taxes. EasyJet is very strict when it comes to baggage. Passengers are usually allowed to bring one piece of hand luggage and an 'accessory', such as a laptop or umbrella. Carry-on baggage must not exceed the permitted dimensions by an inch, even if it is only a wheel or handle that protrudes above the limit. A handbag counts as an extra piece of hand luggage, which must be paid for as such. If you want to take a handbag with you at all costs without paying extra, you have to put it in another suitcase.

You can buy food on EasyJet flights; however, hot meals are only available on longer flights. Alcoholic drinks bought at the airport are not allowed on the plane.

Ryanair

Ryanair plane

Ryanair[2] is Europe's largest budget airline with 72 million passengers in 2010. This makes them the 2nd in Europe and the 7th in the world. Prices are determined based on a one-way journey from A to B. If you want to change flights in one of the hubs, you have to book two tickets and collect and check in your luggage yourself. You can book the return flight at the same time as the outward flight, but there is no discount. Ryanair charges a credit card fee of €6 for each segment and per person. If you miss a flight due to a delay with another Ryanair flight you were on, you will not receive a refund and you will have to purchase a new ticket.

Ryanair has various additional rates, for example for suitcases. The costs for this range from € 15 in the low season to € 35 in the high season. Depending on the destination, you can take 15 or 20 kg with you, if you take more, the counter will also run per kg. Compare this well with most other airlines that let you take a suitcase with you for free.

Ryanair has a gigantic network in Europe, and are generally (but not always) the cheapest on routes where they compete with other carriers. They have hubs in Shannon, Dublin, Glasgow (Prestwick), Liverpool, London (Stansted & Luton), Brussels (Charleroi), Frankfurt (Hahn), Stockholm (Skavsta), Milan Bergamo, Rome, Barcelona and add one every month. They fly to 165 European destinations with more than 1100 routes.

To cut costs, they fly to the smaller airports that may be far from the city in question. So carefully consider whether any additional costs and time outweigh the cheap ticket price.

Ryanair maintains extremely low prices by enforcing standard passenger handling (flying only from A to B, without meals and with hand luggage only) and with extra fares for every extra service you need. If you need simple and cheap transport, Ryanair is a good option, if you have a lot of luggage and a big appetite, it can be more expensive than you hope.

Ryanair's carry-on baggage may weigh 10 kg and have a maximum size of 55 x 40 x 20 cm. Compared to other airlines, Ryanair is very strict when it comes to hand luggage, luggage is often checked for weight and dimensions.

To speed up the departure process, you can now only check in online via the website. You have to print your own boarding pass, if you forget it, it will cost you € 40 at the airport.

Tickets start at €10 for a one-way ticket including taxes. But check carefully what kind of extra rates Ryanair conjures up. This often costs you twice as much. On the website of Ryanair Tips you will find more information about these hidden costs.

Others

There are over 60 budget airlines in Europe, and this number is growing rapidly. Here are the names of some other larger carriers:

• Aer Lingus flies many routes to and from Ireland. Stunt prices of €1 on some routes make it very cheap to go to Ireland.
• Air Baltic has a wide range of flights on Riga. For example, it can be cheaper to fly to Kiev via Riga than directly.
• Blue 1 flies in Europe (mainly from Helsinki) and 8 other cities in Finland.
• Blue Air flies since September 2005 between Bucharest and Barcelona, ​​Maastricht, Lyon, Milan, Rome, and Madrid.
• BMI Baby, a bmi subsidiary, with bases in Teeside, Cardiff, Manchester and Nottingham East Midlands. Only flies within the UK.
• Brussels Airlines, the successor to SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express, flies from Brussels to destinations in Italy, Spain, Greece, Germany, Switzerland, the UK and other countries. With b.light, fares start at €49 for a one-way ticket. Brussels Airlines also has many destinations in Africa.
• Central Wings operates from Poland (Warsaw, Krakow, Katowice) to various destinations in Europe. It is a subsidiary of LOT Polish Airlines, the national carrier, and makes extensive use of LOT's fleet.
• Condor flies to the major airports in Germany (not one of those obscure fields) and sells tickets from €29 for a single ticket within Europe, making it a discounter. Complimentary drinks and food onboard Lufthansa catering.
• Corendon flies from Turkey to Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
• Eurowings serves a large network from the airports of Berlin, Cologne-Bonn, Hamburg, and Stuttgart. (from €20 all inclusive, one way, to all destinations.)
• FlyBe flies from the UK to many European destinations
• FlyMe Sweden (bankrupt)
• FlyGlobeSpan based in Scotland (Glasgow, Edinburgh) with cheap flights to all of Europe; but also to Canada and Florida.
• FlyNordic flies mainly from Stockholm through Scandinavia, but also to destinations on the continent.
• Iceland Express flies from London Stansted, Copenhagen & Frankfurt to Reykjavik.
• Lauda Air flies from Austria to many European destinations.
• jet2 flies from Belfast, Blackpool, Edinburgh, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester and Newcastle to destinations on the continent. The company won a consumer award in 2006 Review Centre.
• KLM flies from Amsterdam to many European destinations.
• Maersk Air Maersk is now part of Sterling airlines routes in Scandinavia.
• meridiana flies from Italy to European & domestic destinations.
• Monarch flies from various UK cities.
• Niki flies from Austria to various European destinations. Also gives free drinks and food and works with Ryanair.
• Norwegian flies from Norway.
• Onur Air serves a Turkish domestic network. In the Netherlands much discredited due to financial and security risks.
• silverjet cheap business class London to New York.
• Sky Europe flies from Bratislava, Budapest, Krakow, Prague, Vienna and Warsaw. Sales via the Internet and some travel agencies. (from €14 all-inclusive, one-way ticket.)
• smart wings flies from Prague.
• spanair from Spain to a few other European destinations. Part of SAS and member of Star Alliance.
• snowflake flies from Copenhagen and Stockholm. Snowflake is the discount version of SAS.
• Sterling Cimber low-fare airline, based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• Thomsonfly flies from many UK airports to destinations in Europe and North Africa.
• transavia (formerly BasiqAir), mainly flies from Amsterdam to many destinations. Transavia is a subsidiary of KLM.
• TUI Fly The former Hapag-Lloyd Express serves a large network from the airports of Berlin, Cologne-Bonn, Hamburg, and Stuttgart. (from €20 all-inclusive, one way, to all destinations.)
• Vueling from Barcelona (Spain) to all of Europe.
• wizzair is a Hungarian company that mainly operates from Poland and Hungary.
• Wind-Jet flies from Italy to European & domestic destinations.

Discount airline hubs

If you cannot find a direct flight with a budget airline, it is sometimes necessary to transfer at a hub of one of the airlines. Make sure you plan enough time for this because no money will be refunded if you miss the flight. Sometimes it can even be advisable to spend a night in the city where you have to transfer.

List of hubs

To narrow this list somewhat, the definition of a hub has been set at an airport serving more than 70 routes of the airline.

Additional information

If a plane is delayed by more than 2 hours, you enjoy certain rights (independent of the company). For example, under some circumstances you can get your plane ticket refunded or stay overnight in a hotel at the expense of the airline.

Not accepting offers from the airline does not deprive you of your rights (eg you can be offered a free flight, but if you do not accept it, you are entitled to a voucher). Ask for it at the counter of the airline you are flying with.

These rights are guaranteed by EU law.