Barcelona - London

[Genia11]

Hi,

 

I am going on RCCL's Med cruise on September 10th departing from Barcelona. After the cruise, we are planning to fly back to London where we will check into a hotel by Heathrow prior to our flight back to Toronto the next day. My dilemma is our flight from Barcelona to London.

 

According to RCCL's website, we are debarking on September 17 at 8:30AM. I was checking Easyjet's website for pricing and found that they had a flight from Barcelona to Gatwick at 10:40AM (gates closing at 10:10) for 35.49 EUR. The next flight is almost double in price and leaves at 14:30. There is a flight to Luton at 10:55AM and one to Stansted at 11:10AM. Am I being unrealistic for wanting to try to catch the 10:40AM flight?

 

Also, given that my flight back home is from Heathrow, I have been looking for a cheap flight from Barcelona to Heathrow. So far, I have not found any cheap flights and BA and Iberia offer ridiculous on-way prices. If I were to buy a return ticket, but not use the return portion, would I get in trouble?

 

Thanks. Any advice is welcomed.

 

G

[greatam]

One word of advice. Don't plan on using EasyJet or RyanAir if you have normal cruise luggage-ie 3-4 suitcases weighing 50+ pounds. Your excess luggage charges will be more than 3-4 seats on the plane. Almost all of the intra-Europe carriers have rather strict weight restrictions, but EasyJet and RyanAir are the strictest.

http://www.easyjet.com/EN/Planning/baggage.html

http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/faqs.php?sect=bag&quest=baggageallowance

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bagchk/public/en_us

 

Who is your flight booked with from Heathrow? If you can work out the logistics, it would be the easiest to interline with the same carrier or one of their partners. Your luggage could be checked through to Canada and you would have the international luggage rules. Most carriers-2 checked bags-70pds each.

 

Otherwise, take the train to London. IF you are like most of us, your luggage could be a real problem in Europe.

[vivian02]

That Easy Jet fare is cheap but is it really worth stressing over. Why don't you go ahead and stay in Barcelona an extra day and enjoy the sights and a little sangria. You should be able to get a round trip ticket from Heathow into Barcelona at a decent price. Not only that but you won't have to hassle with the transportation cost from Lutton to Heathow. Hotels in Barcelona might be a little pricey but how often do you get to Barcelona? I hope this helps. Tim

[Globaliser]

Also, given that my flight back home is from Heathrow, I have been looking for a cheap flight from Barcelona to Heathrow. So far, I have not found any cheap flights and BA and Iberia offer ridiculous on-way prices. If I were to buy a return ticket, but not use the return portion, would I get in trouble?

Very probably not. But there is no absolute guarantee of it, and theoretically the airline could ask you for the difference between the fare you paid and the fare for the one-way trip. But if for some reason you missed the flight and the ticket was travel-or-bust (like many cheap tickets are in Europe), what was the point of you making any effort to use the return half, or indeed to tell the airline? And that was exactly what happened, wasn't it? ;)

 

If you decide to do this, make sure you know the difference between Iberia and British Airways, including their service standards on board. And make sure you know which airline is operating your flight, as all BA and IB flights between the UK and Spain carry both airlines' codes, and it's the operating carrier which will dictate the service levels provided.

[Genia11]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

 

If we do decide to take a later flight into London, does any one know if we can lock our luggage somewhere while we tour Barcelona?

[Globaliser]

If we do decide to take a later flight into London, does any one know if we can lock our luggage somewhere while we tour Barcelona?

If nowhere else, at the airport. But others have mentioned a shop on Las Ramblas (IIRC) that will do this - but nobody has yet posted details of which shop, as it's information given out on some ships.