European LCC's are great

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

The low cost carriers in Europe absolutely blow away those on this side of the pond. I recently scored a ticket from Frankfurt, Germany to Gdansk, Poland (or Danzig to those of us of Prussian blood) for less than $20 US on Ryan Air. The airfare was one eurocent, and with taxes and fees it came to 16.45 euros. This even beats some of the very low fares I have gotten on Easy Jet and SkyEurope in the past.

[wombat Member Find all posts View Profile Close wombat]

I second that. Flew on Wizz Air last year from Rome to Budapest for about 45 euros all in, including tax. Was a little apprehensive a first given its unconventional name (W!zz with the exclamation mark!) and low price, but it turned out absolutely great -- comfortable with no delays. Only weird thing is the colour scheme -- pinkish purple all over, from the exterior of the plane to the seats to the uniforms. Lots of routes from Budapest.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

I haven't flown Wizz Air yet, nor Germanwings nor Air Berlin, but they all seem to offer a decent product at a very reasonable cost, along with Easy Jet, Ryan Air, and Sky Europe.. And they make Southwest and Jet Blue look expensive in comparision.

[SteveH Member Find all posts View Profile Close SteveH]

Even some of the conventional carriers are getting competitive. We bought two tickets on British Airways Citiexpress from Edinburgh to Paris direct for $210 US. The fare was a little more than Ryan air but I had read a few forum posts regarding passengers being left stranded because of fog-cancelled flights. I didn't want to risk this possibility out of Edinburgh.
Steve

[nicklinneh Member Find all posts View Profile Close nicklinneh]

ditto on Ryan Air. Note that you might have to flexible about time-of-day or airport even to get the lowest rates. (We flew from Linz, Austria to London and took train from Salzburg to Linz -close by.) Be aware that if you are even one pound overweight, you are going to pay a lot (spouses can't average their bags together). The other thing is getting there on time. When they say they shut the counter down 45 min. before the flight, they mean just that. Other than that, it's really great for a family trying to travel cheaply.
--Ken
p.s. Here's a funny one. If you have a leg in a cast and you can't bend your knee, you have to buy THREE seats, 1 for you and 2 for your leg.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

Even some of the conventional carriers are getting competitive. We bought two tickets on British Airways Citiexpress from Edinburgh to Paris direct for $210 US. The fare was a little more than Ryan air but I had read a few forum posts regarding passengers being left stranded because of fog-cancelled flights. I didn't want to risk this possibility out of Edinburgh.
Steve

I just flew Ryanair and they had an ad in their magazine with the most recent percentages for ontime flights in Europe, and they had the highest percentage of ontime flights on the continent. Generally the LCC's tended to outperform the majors. I suspec that having a point to point system is part of the reason. Unlike a hub and spoke system, one late flight does not necessarily delay others as flights are not held for connecting passengers.