Ryanair and Easyjet continue to offer fantastic deals for hopping around Europe, but make sure to pay careful attention  to the details while booking or it will cost, sometimes a lot more.  Remember the golden rule of budget carriers: nothing is free.

Here are five issues to be aware of when flying on budget carriers, specifically Easyjet and Ryanair, that will help you avoid paying extra when you don’t need to.

Issue number 1:  Research where the airport is and how much time and money it will take to get there.

Budget airlines have been great for a lot of lesser known airports which generally do not have the same convenience in terms of transportation.  For the traveler this means more travel time and fewer options for reaching the airport.   Sometimes these airports take longer to reach than the flight takes to reach your final destination.

In Paris there is an hour difference in travel time between Orly, the Easyjet hub, which is a 30 min bus ride and Beauvais, the Ryanair hub, which takes about 1.5 hours to reach.  The cost of transport via OrlyBus to Orly is €6.50 while the ticket to Beauvais is €13.00.  Another issue to consider is that transport service between Paris and Beauvais is basically limited to bus service while Orly can be also be reached by Paris’s RER .  A cab to Beauvais runs greater than €120 but only ~€20 to Orly.

Comparison table between Paris Beuvais and Orly airports

Issue number 2:  Baggage is a revenue opportunity for the airline.

This is not an issue if you can pack less than 25lbs (10kg) into a carry-on, but after a purchase or two this does become something to consider.  Keep in mind that there will be a charge for exceeding allotted weight.  Don’t take it personally and get angry because this charge means revenue for the airline and the ticket agent must charge.  If you think you might need more bags then book them online because it will be less expensive.  A confusing term that Easyjet uses, for people from the US anyway, is “Hold Baggage”, which means “Checked Baggage” and not to be confused with “Carry-on.”  When booking on Easyjet remember that it is NOT necessary to  claim any baggage if you only have a carry-on. While Easyjet might use some confusing wording they are more flexible (’within reason’ is their term) about the carry-on weight while Ryanair will check to see and if it is over 10kg to charge the difference.

Issue number 3: Be prepared for the extra charges, there will be some.

Ryanair charges for not checking in online even if your citizenship does not allow you to.  Easyjet tacks on a fee for using credit cards.  So no matter what the ticket that advertised itself for €10 may turn out to have easily doubled and there is nothing to be done about it.  When booking with Ryanair, if  not an EU citizen, than you must prompt the “Airport Check-in” in the drop-down box which will add €5 to the ticket.  If you decide to tempt fate then you can claim to be an EU citizen but airport check-in will be necessary which assumes the risk of either having your ticket canceled (rare but possible) or more likely having to pay a €10 “change fee.”  This fee is refundable if you take the time to send in the refund and fill out the rudimentary yet annoying paperwork.  Another consideration is that just because you were not charged for something in one place does not mean that you will not get stuck with the same charge at another airport, especially if you are flying through Dublin, Ryanair’s home base.  On my last flight through Dublin all five of my traveling party got hit with extra baggage and check-in fees even though none of us were charged upon departure.  I feel that it is a safe bet to expect Dublin to be letter of the law, so if you are flying there and are not jazzed about using Ryanair then try Aerlingus, sometimes they compete with very similar rates.

Table comparison between Ryanair and Easyjet for extra costs

Issue number 4: Customer service

Calling customer service is not free so make sure to be careful while reserving.  Booking tickets on the wrong date (i.e. make sure the month is correct) is more common than you might think and changing the ticket many times is not cost effective.  Easyjet charges about  €0.15 per minute while Ryanair has different rates depending on the country ranging from €0.15 and maxing out at €0.87.  This includes the time you are on hold no matter how long.

Issue 5: Be prepared to be cramped and for a free-for-all.

Seats on Ryanair and Easyjet do not recline, which is good for the person behind you, because taking away this function allows for extra few rows and thus more capacity per flight. These budget airlines usually fill their flights to 90% or more capacity, so don’t expect your row or even the seat next to you to be empty.

The free-for-all occurs because there is no assigned seating which can create an uncomfortable bottleneck of passengers shoving themselves onto the plane.  This does not happen as much when there is a bridge but I have seen it get pretty intense when passengers are bused to the plane.  One strategy that can be used when being bused is to position yourself closer to the door so you are among the first off the bus and then onto the plane.

Finally, as with all travel these days just be prepared for the something unexpected and try to have a good attitude about it.  After all, if you are getting to take one of these flights chances are that you are going to a fantastic place and will hopefully experience new and exciting things and the flight is just bringing you there.  By preparing for your trip with these five issue in mind I am sure the process will be much smoother and enjoyable.

Happy Travels,

Chris

Hello Travelers,

For those arriving in Paris this coming week-end (Sept 12-13) a certain added buzz might be noticed along with a few more logistical challenges because Pope Benedict XVI will be in town before going to Lourdes for the 150 year anniversary of the visions of the Virgin Mary.  Furthermore, it will be impossible to miss the more than 9,000 police and other security officers that the Interior Ministry announced will be on duty for the Pontiff’s visit.  For those arriving in Rome this weekend this means that there will not be a Papal Blessing in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday September 14, 2008.

According to the official agenda published by the Vatican Press office there will be a few opportunities to see the Pope in person during his Parisian visit.  Click through for the details on how catch the Pope and for critical logistical information that you should if you are visiting Paris on 12, 13 September 2008.

1. The Pope will be arriving at Notre Dame de Paris at around 7:15 pm after making a visit to Collège des Bernardins also in the Latin Quarter; he will be in the neighborhood from around 5:00pm  At 8:30 His Holiness is scheduled to greet the crowd outside Notre Dame for a brief address in Italian and French.  This audience will be limited to those already invited which is why Paris will set up 15 large screens along the Left Bank Quais.
2. The Pope will preside over a High Mass at the Esplande des Invalides which is about a ten to fifteen minute walk from the Eiffel Tower on a regular day.

Important logistical things to know and prepare for:

September 12, 2008:  Notre Dame / Left Bank Visit-

• Between approximately 6:45 and 7:00 pm the Pope will be traveling in the Popemobile to Notre Dame de Paris. 
• The following Metro Stops will be closed from 2:00 pm (14:00):  Cité, Saint-Michel, Saint-Michel – Notre-Dame et Cluny – La Sorbonne.
• Use these stops instead:  Odéon, Maubert-Mutualité, Jussieu, Pont-Marie, Châtelet.
• At Midnight there will be a “Procession of Light” at midnight from Notre-Dame cathedral to the Invalides.  The procession can be joined at any time.
• If you are planning on visiting Notre Dame on Friday 12 then make it your early stop as access will be limited after 2:00 pm.
• As mentioned there will be no access into Notre Dame Square but to the left is a map of where the 15 large screen monitors will be set up.  The green also approximates the rout the Pope will be following in his Popemobile.

September 13, 2008:  High Mass with the Pope on the Esplanade of Invalides-

• Between 150,000 and 200,000 people are expected so be prepared for a crowd
• The High Mass is at 10:00 am
• No ticket or inscription is necessary.  The Mass is free admission.
• Arrive before 8:30 am, I recommend shooting for about 8:00 am.
• The metro and RER will be working as usual but the “Invalides”, “Pont de l’Alma”, “Varenne”, and “La Tour-Maubourg” stops will be closed.  Instead use the closes stops.
• For security reasons luggage and large bags, knives, glass bottles, gas containers, large flags, banners, signs or notices and animals will not be allowed on the Esplanade.  Remember to leave that Swiss Army knife at the hotel.

Check www.papeaparis.org for further information at to check if the schedule has changed.

Happy Travels,

Chris

Ryanair has announced that there will be no more bookings for their flights via other websites. Actually, there seems to be some question as to if they will honor tickets booked through any site other than their own, so if you have booked on ebookers.ie, Rumbo, eDreams, Atrapolo or any other 3rd party site you might want to take a look at your reservations to see if they are still valid. According to the Marketing manager with ebookers.ie Steve Rice the reason for this move is that Ryanair wants to send more people through their website so they can push more non-flight travel products such as hotel bookings and car rentals.

Update October 3, 2008: On October 1, 2008 Spain’s Mercantile Court No 1 sided with Rumbo.com and has banned Ryanair from canceling tickets booked through the Spanish website.

Happy Travels

In a high-level meeting just after midnight early morning April 2 Berlin transportation leaders (BVG) and public worker’s union Verdi agreed to talk in a long-running wage dispute and agreed there would be no strikes during this round of negotiation.

BVG, which employs some 12,000 workers, announced the cancellation immediately. Service is expected to be uninterrupted on April 2, 2008.

The reason for the strike is worker compensation- the Ver.di labor union is asking for a 12% bump in salaries for their members who work for Berlin’s public transportation system (BVG). The main inconvenience seems to be to commuters, tourists and of course workers. Why? Because financially, Berlin is saving about €500,000 ($750,000) per day for what it normally subsidizes the BVG while the BVG, according to Berlin daily newspaper Die Tageszeitung, the revenue loss of €1,300,000 ($1,900,000) is offset by savings on salary, electricity and fuel. Let’s hope they can resolve this issue so the workers can get back to work and Berlin can start to shine as the fantastic city that it is.

In the meantime here is what you need to know to get around strike land Berlin:

Arriving to Berlin via air has been affected but is not crippled.

• Airport Berlin-Tegel: There is a replacement bus service between Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) and the airport.

• Airport Berlin-Schönefeld: Use the AirportExpress or S-Bahn.

Getting around:

• The BVG replaced some of its most important routes with around 130 buses operated by a private company.

• Take a walking tour. It’s no secret that we love walking tours as a way to see a city and Berlin has some of the best we have taken. The Insider Tour comes highly recommended. They offer a number of tours including Berlins Original Pub Crawl.

• Take a bike tour
  • Fat Tire Bike Tours
  • The Insider Tour
• Rent-a-bike
  • Fat Tire Bike Tours. They set aside a number of bicycles for people who have taken their tours, but they also rent to people who have not taken their tour.
  • Berlin on Bike also offers guided tours and has set aside 200 bikes for rental.
  • Call-a-Bike. Run by the Deutsche Bahn and located at just about every major junction of the city. Simply register on the Internet at www.callabike.de or call the service hot line at 07000 5225522*, to speak with a customer agent to immediately receive a customer number. Once registered your credit card is debited €5 which is deducted in full from your next Call-a-Bike invoice.

If you decide to rent a bike and are worried about getting around the city you might want to check out BBBike, which has a handy little mapizer? that can be used to help you plot your rout strategy. The application is OK and is dependent on your knowing a lot about Berlin and where you are going and from where, but imagine the possibilities of when they are able to sink this application with a GPS phone. It will be awesome.

Happy Travels

In a time when airlines are taking a beating about everything from timeliness to kicking scantily clad co-eds of their planes, we have decided not to jump on the bandwagon and start railing against Skybus.  iKangaroo really hopes that Skybus can deliver on their promises and will flourish.  Nevertheless, we sympathize with the travelers who had their flight to Seattle canceled and had to cancel their ski trip, that sucks. 

To insure a positive budget airline experience consider these tips:

• Airines are in business to make money, so if they are charging $10 per ticket they have to generate revenue from somewhere.  Southwest does it by using off-the-beaten-path airports, quick turn-around time and other cost cutting efficiencies. Plus Southwest has a great fuel hedge strategy which has allowed them to keep their fuel costs below what other airlines pay.  JetBlue has cut overhead costs by homesoucing some its customer service function.  In addition to cost cutting strategies, budget airlines look for other revenue sources.  These sources can be creative such as Ryanair’s selling advertising on their food trys and Skybus’s charging $500,000 yearly to make their aircraft into a flying billboard; I wonder what Ladybird Johnson would think of that?  Mostly these revenue sources are created by charging travelers for everything.  A couple examples are Spirit charging for ice water and Ryan Air charging for customer service.  The best way to defend against these charges is to know that they exist.  Moreover, don’t expect to be able to sweet talk yourself out of these charges because the airline is counting on that cash and has already considered it as a part of their potential earnings.
• Airlines use less frequented airports to keep ticket prices down.  As a general rule these airports are more inconvenient to reach and offer fewer services, so research the airport before booking your ticket.  As Elizabeth explains in the post about her flight experience from Rome to Paris, landing at the Paris-Beauvais cost her and an extra 8 hours in travel time compared to Charles de Gaulle and Orly. For instance, Skybus’s airport in “Boston” is 50 miles outside of Boston which practically insures the necessity of renting a car or getting someone to spend 4 hours to pick you up and drop you off.  Remember to take these costs into account when assessing your options.
• Of course, we understand that none of this does any good if the flight is cancelled so hopefully Skybus will plan well enough make their new routs profitable.  We are especially looking forward to the New Orleans / Biloxi and Florida routs.

So, when booking your ticket from a budget airline be sure to research the potentially added costs, calibrate your expectations accordingly- remember that convenience is generally more expensive- and have a great time.  Budget airlines are a great option, and when used properly they can save money for more important things like food and nightlife.  And again, Skybus, we wish you the best and hope to hear a lot of great reviews in the future!

Happy Travels!

Where to buy: 

• www.skyroll.com 
• Men’s Warehouse
• S&K Menswear

Additional research:

• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzoePV4jUlk
• Skyroll.com has video and in depth information about each product

Why not???  Isn’t that what we all think when we find a super cheap inter-European air ticket? That’s certainly what I thought when I booked my 120 euro round trip ticket from Rome, Italy to Paris-Beauvais, France.

Okay, so here’s the question: would I still have booked my ticket had I known that the Beauvais airport is as far from Paris as Trenton, New Jersey is from New York City? The Paris Beauvais airport is approximately 55 miles / 88 km from the city center, i.e. it’s an approximately 2 hour ride! Add some bumper-to-bumper Parisian traffic (20 minutes), add in a long line to buy a bus ticket (20 minutes), add in the wait for the bus (20 minutes), and then add the Metro ride to your hotel from the bus stop (20-40 minutes).

All in all: almost 4 hours of airport travel! Mind you, the plane ride from Rome was little less than 2 hours long, so the airport travel is twice as long as the flight.

And then…just imagine what happens if you oversleep, or you accidentally “underestimate” the traffic time, or the Metro time, or the shuttle bus time, and you miss your flight. Then what happens? Ryan Air might only send out 2 flights per day (and they will shamelessly charge you €75 to change your ticket). There is no way you can feasibly take a bus back into Paris, and there are no other airlines in Beauvais that fly to your destination. Granted all of this, you might end up spending two days in an airport with 1 gift shop, 1 restaurant, and 2 bathrooms.

What do I suggest? Make the investment! Fly to Orly or Charles de Gaulle. That extra 50-€75 will save you your sanity and approximately 8 hours in travel time.

Happy Travels,

Elizabeth