Thread: Free Flights for Europe?

I saw this article and thought it might be of interest. There are no flights to Russia but there are several Eastern European/Baltic options. I don't think it's an April Fool's joke -- despite the article date; some one was doing "free" flights a while back -- you had to pick up taxes and fees though. Anyway, here's the article (and no, I don't work for RyanAir):
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business ... /index.htm

Instead, they just make you pay a million dollars on airport fees, baggage handling blah blah blah.

Originally Posted by basurero

Instead, they just make you pay a million dollars on airport fees, baggage handling blah blah blah.

Right. I don't know how much that stuff costs, but assuming you are just going to, say, Oslo for the weekend, and therefore have a bit of baggage, I would expect it to be considerably less than flying BA or whatever. Really, though, that's how all the airlines are getting; one of the US airlines just announced they were jacking up the price of some coach seats that were at the front of coach, since they had more leg room. They've cancelled food for years and they have kept dropping baggage allowances. These guys may have taken it to the extreme, but they're hardly the only ones to tack on ten million different fees, etc...

Barmaley -

I fly Ryanair quite a lot (have my ticket for Milan booked in a couple of weeks ), and Basurero is right, "free" doesn't mean "free". But it's often a whole deal cheaper than onther carriers.

What comes on top of the "free" ticket:

- airport taxes: depends on the airport, usually around 30 € (one way)
- luggage: hand luggage (op to 10 kg) is free, anything over that you pay for (I think 3,5€ for the first 20 kg, any kilogram over that 8€/kg)
- transfer!!!!! Ryanair only uses small, inexpensive airports, which means they are usually well away from the cities - usually between 50 and 100 km. If there's a bus or a train between the airport and the city center, the cost is reasonable (but it's there!); if the flight is very late at night or very early in he morning (they use cheap take-off and landing slots too ), a taxi transfer will set you back $$$ and €€€
- handling fees and administration fees - about another 5-15€.
- food and drink on board. Of course, you can bring your own.... but you have to give it to 'm: they do a grrrrreat capuccino!!!


These days, it's always worth checking whether any of the large airlines doesn't have a "special offer" of some kind - you may get lucky and get a more comfy trip for the same price, or a little bit more.

If not, Ryanair (or one of the other cheap carriers) will be the cheapest anyway, extra costs or not.

Originally Posted by BabaYaga

These days, it's always worth checking whether any of the large airlines doesn't have a "special offer" of some kind - you may get lucky and get a more comfy trip for the same price, or a little bit more.

If not, Ryanair (or one of the other cheap carriers) will be the cheapest anyway, extra costs or not.

Good post. I think you're spot on the money!