?s about Ryanair, Easyjet, etc. in Europe?

[mlbcruiser]

There are a bunch of discount airlines in Europe these days. I THINK the most stable are supposed to be Ryanair and Easyjet. Esp. Ryanair. Anyone know of any others? We are cruising out of Civitaveccia (port for Rome) but want to spend a wk. in Spain first and will be driving to several different cities such as Sevilla and Granada. Our FF program won't allow us to have open jaw tickets so we will probably have to BUY a ticket to fly from Spain to Rome RT or vice versa. I know that Ryanair flies from Sevilla to Malpensa (Milan). Does anyone know of any other discounted airlines that operate between Spain and Italy? (We do not care to fly in or out of Barcelona as we've been there before a couple of times and won't be in that region of Spain.) Also, I know luggage requirements are lots more strict re: weight (less allowed) than on major American carriers, but don't know if you can pay extra if you go over or what? Any help along these lines or info. on these airlines or others w/good prices between the 2 countries would help.

[greatam]

SpanAir, a division of SAS (Lufthansa, etc) flies out of most cities in Spain. Most flights fly through Barcelona or Madrid and lots of them fly through Munich or Frankfort as well.

 

British Airways also flies from a lot of cities in Spain. Their flights connect in Madrid, into London, and on to final destination. BA is generally VERY price competitive in Europe. And they fly to the MAJOR airports, not someplace out of the way.

 

Iberia is the Spanish carrier. They are usually pretty expensive.

 

You are the second person who has posted that their FF program does not allow open jaw tickets. What type of FF program is this?

 

About the luggage. AFAIK, RyanAir and EasyJet charge something like $8.00 per kilo for overweight luggage. Even if you are willing to pay such an outrageous amount, they have upper limits on luggage (I think 50 pounds). You may want to ship excess luggage via UPS, DHL, FedEx, or the post office to Rome. The Post Office does an EXCELLENT job into and out of Europe.

[Globaliser]

Good resources for researching low-fare airlines in Europe:-

SkyScanner

Openjet

whichbudget

 

Don't forget that even a major airline's tickets are much cheaper if you are buying a round-trip ticket that includes a Saturday night stay and you can be a bit flexible with times. Many carriers don't even require Saturday night stays any more.

 

You can certainly take more baggage on the low-fare airlines if you're prepared to pay.

 

easyJet's maximum per person, including paid-for excess baggage, is 50 kg per person (= 110 lbs). The first 20 kg is free, excess is at £4.00/€6.50 per kg. No single piece may exceed 32 kg (= 70 lbs) for health and safety reasons.

 

Ryanair's free baggage allowance is 15 kg per person (= 33 lbs). Excess is charged at £4.50/€7 per kg. However, they do not state an overall maximum permitted. They have the same single piece health and safety limit.

[dog]

I was a bit leary about using easyJet but was extremely pleased with our flight. We booked easyJet online about 10 months prior to the flight. Paid 15,99 euro for flight and 15,00 euro for taxes each. Nice France to Paris France.

It was not a full flight so they did not check everyone's baggage requirements as carefully as I have heard. There were a few empty seats on our flight as well so hand luggage wasn't measured or weighed.

I know someone who used this airline from Pisa to Paris and had to repack her carryon luggage at check in, left her valuables in checked luggage and that was stolen.

My experience was quite good for the money I paid. It was on time, efficient and we had plenty of room in the seats for a short flight.

[kelmac]

German wings is excellent as well. Ryan air uses some really old aircraft, where EasyJet uses new equipment. German wings and EasyJet would be my first two choices.

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[Globaliser]

Ryan air uses some really old aircraft, where EasyJet uses new equipment.

I'm sorry but this is simply not a true comparison.

 

As of January 2005, Ryanair had 9 737-200s and 1 737-400 in service. These are all being phased out and may have left the fleet by now. The other 73 aircraft (as of that date) are 737-800s, the oldest of which dates back to 1999.

 

OTOH, much of easyJet's 737 fleet is of late 1980's/early 1990's vintage and AFAIK there are no imminent plans to retire them as yet. However, easyJet also has a large number of 319s which are coming into the fleet in a steady stream, as are Ryanair's 737s.

 

I'm no fan of Ryanair but it is important that the record is set straight here.

[kelmac]

I'm sorry but this is simply not a true comparison.

 

As of January 2005, Ryanair had 9 737-200s and 1 737-400 in service. These are all being phased out and may have left the fleet by now. The other 73 aircraft (as of that date) are 737-800s, the oldest of which dates back to 1999.

 

OTOH, much of easyJet's 737 fleet is of late 1980's/early 1990's vintage and AFAIK there are no imminent plans to retire them as yet. However, easyJet also has a large number of 319s which are coming into the fleet in a steady stream, as are Ryanair's 737s.

 

I'm no fan of Ryanair but it is important that the record is set straight here.

 

Thanks Globaliser for the update!:)

 

The last flight I took on Ryanair was a 737-200; right out of the 1970s. It was the only time I felt uneasy about the "condition" of an aircraft. Good to hear about their upgrades! It's nice to have some low cost options when flying in the UK and Europe.

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[Desert Cruisers]

We flew EasyJet last year from Copenhagen to London-Stansted. Reservations quickly made online at very good price. No problem with luggage - we made sure that our bags were below the limit. The boarding process was like a cattle call - just like Southwest, no assigned seats. Our flight was full but service was prompt. All beverages (inc. tea and coffee) as well as snacks must be purchased. Baggage arrived promptly at Stansted.:)