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Air Travel
Air Travel
Getting to Europe
When looking for a ticket to Europe, make sure you check out the student oriented travel agents like STA, Travel CUTS or Council Travel,-also make sure you check the ads in the major newspapers plus student newspapers and the free/alternative press such as the Village Voice, the Montreal Mirror and San Francisco Bay Guardian. Since this will be one of the more expensive parts of your budget, shop around to get a good deal and bear the following points in mind.
- Return tickets are almost always going to be cheaper, More importantly they are a good defence against immigration officials who want to be assured that you are going to leave the country. Don't fly into the UK (especially Heathrow or Gatwick airports) without a return ticket. If you are going to be working or studying in Europe (and therefore spending a year or longer) you'll probably want to get a one-way ticket and then take advantage of the cheap tickets out of London to come home. If you are going to fly in with a one-way ticket, choose an airport or country where the immigration officials aren't so uptight. If I'm flying in with a one-way ticket I always get a flight to Amsterdam. If you're flying in with a one-way ticket you may want to buy a train, bus or plane ticket out of the country, just in case the immigration officials ask. Generally immigration officials like to see a plane ticket because it makes you look like you've got more money - make sure you get a ticket from an airline that lets you make changes to the ticket without giving you any problems.
- If you are a student or aged under 26, always let the travel agent know and ask them for a cheaper 'youth/student' fare.
- If you are flying from Australia or New Zealand, ask about stopovers. Most flights make at least one stopover. A week in Indonesia, Singapore or Thailand is a good start to your trip and if you're going to be looking for a job you can pick up a cheap tailor-made suit in Bangkok for next to nothing. If you're flying from North America you can sometimes get a stopover in Iceland.
- Buy your ticket with a credit card. You can often double your frequent flyer points and its also a bit of insurance against unscupulous travel agents who demand cash up-front. If you feel that the travel agent is a bit dodgy, but you can't resist the deal he's offering you, pay by credit card, then immediately call the airline and confirm that the ticket is OK. If there is a problem with the ticket, call the credit card company to cancel the charge, then call the police (or a consumer protection group) to make sure that other travellers don't get ripped off.
- If you're flight arrives at 1am and you don't have accommodation booked, make sure it is arriving at a nice airport with comfy sofas and 24-hour services. This is no-problem with airports like Amsterdam Schipol and London Heathrow, however some smaller airports like London Luton may not be open all-night which is a hassle when public transport has stopped for the night and taxis are the only alternative.
Air Travel within Europe
Recent deregulation within the European Union came into effect several years ago that has set the ball in motion for lower European airfares. With new low fares, flying can be cheaper than taking the bus.
Airlines such as London Luton based easyJet, Brussels based Virgin Express, Irish carrier Ryanair are behind the move to force the established carriers into a competitive marketplace. Secondary airports such as London's Luton Airport, Rome's Ciampino and Frankfurt Hahn have experienced record growth as new airlines secure landing slots.
Like any competitive deregulated industry it is the consumer who wins. The bureaucratic state-owned monopolies now have to come into line with the more resonable prices and higher quality service being offered by the new private operators. Established companies have matched the prices offered by the new operators and on the popular routes the air traveller is spoilt by choice.
It is possible to fly for less than the price of the return bus fare on popular short-haul routes from London to Ireland, Scotland, Belgium and the Netherlands. On longer European flights there isn't really much difference in price between the bus, train or plane. If you're going from London to Barcelona, Munich, Rome or Athens you would be crazy not to fly.
With many of the new cut-price airlines, the low advertised price applies to only a fraction of the seats, when the bargain seats are sold then the price goes up. However if you are prepared to book well in advance then there are plenty of bargains.
Although this new breed of airline is renowned for cutting costs, safety is never compromised. Even if the airlines wanted to cut corners, they couldn't get past the strict regulations which govern the aviation industry in the European Union. Of course, flights in the former Soviet Union are a bit more exciting.
The new airlines save money by not serving meals and cutting the commission paid to the travel agent. Ryanair has been boycotted by many travel agents and easyJet has made itself even less popular by cutting out the agents altogether. However the savvy traveller won't be cutting out the travel agent just yet, since established airlines such as Aer Lingus, BMI and even British Airways have countered the competition by dropping their prices as well.
Cheap0 (website www.cheap0.com) and SkyScanner (website www.skyscanner.net) are two excellent online resources for bugdet European air travel. Either of these websites is an excellent place to go to find out which airlines fly a particular route. Once you know which airlines fly the route you're interested in you should check the prices and book your flight on the airlines' own website. When checking the prices make sure that the prices quoted are inclusive of tax as some airlines quote very cheap prices exclusive of tax that work out a lot more expensive once additional charges have been added.
