Fly Cheaply in Europe

When you’re traveling in Europe, you want to spend your money in your destination, not on getting there. Here are some tips for intra-European flying which will leave you with more money.

Don’t :

• Rely on your favorite booking site. This means you, Expedia user. Sites that search for the “cheapest” airlines fares don’t search all companies. This means that sites like Expedia or Priceline won’t necessarily show you the best prices over all airlines, just the best prices over the airlines they search. The difference between their lowest flights and the actual lowest flights available may be significant.
• Book a cheap flight without making sure you know what hidden fees might lurk in the shadows. A good example of this is Ryanair. They boast inexpensive flights to and from major European cities. However, they also charge a fortune for checked baggage — and are infamous for carry-on specifications that seem destined to trap travelers into having to gate check. Oftentimes, they don’t fly into the most central airports, which drives up subsequent transportation costs to your final destination.
• Book without reading the fine print. Many budget airlines charge through the nose to change flight dates or cancel, and most don’t offer connecting flights or take liability if you miss connections with other companies. If you have a tight budget or schedule, you will want to be careful to not accidentally end up paying more because of incidentals.

Do:

• Try different search sites that will include budget airlines. CheapoAir, Skyscanner and WhichAirline are all great options.
• Know your European budget airlines. Some examples are Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2 and Wizz Air.
• Go straight to the airline’s webpage. Look for sales, and look at the airports they fly into, especially if you’re going from one major city to another. Some budget airlines don’t fly into major cities, instead going to smaller cities where the lower airport taxes allow them to keep their prices down. Cheap airfare is worthless if you have to pay it twice over to get to your destination.
• Make sure you know what currencies you’re comparing. Some websites will give you prices in U.S. dollars, some in Euros and some in the currency of the country you’re selecting to fly from. If the website has an option for setting the money you want to see the prices in, make sure you set it to what’s easiest for you. Otherwise, make sure you’re converting all the prices back to a common currency. $120 is a lot cheaper than £120.