It is true that airlines are introducing all kinds of new fees and increasing fees on their existing services resulting in a ridiculously high final ticket prices. It’s true that they impose many restrictions on passenger while secretly hope that you don’t want to abide by these rules and will fork out more money to have more comfort and freedom. However, if you plan a trip to Europe and/or plan to stay for a while, it’s better you know now that you have landed into a a cheap-flight haven. With a little extra planning and use the tips I provide, you will soon find your footprints all over Europe.

Before I go on, let me ask you a question first. Do you prefer that the world caters to your every need and expectation and are willing to pay extra, not a little bit extra but a lot extra, for it? If yes, this article is not for you.

Tips

1. Flight low-cost otherwise you will pay at least double for flying with major carriers for the exact same routes. Some airlines have this ridiculously €1/£1 promotion, and yes I did get a ticket for €1 plus €5 more for credit card processing fee, final. I don’t understand when I read many complaints from people bashing low-cost airlines and even go so far as starting a witch-hunt like ‘thisairsuck’ or ‘suckthisair’. By offering us very low base fares, the airlines have to make money on some other means which resulting in those restrictions that people are complaining about. But when we are aware of the restrictions and other ‘hidden’ factors, we’ll be a more accepting and happier budget travelers.

2. Subscribe to promotion emails to know instantly the sale duration. Many of these sales are periodic, and if you miss one you can wait for another in a few weeks. Some are one-time things. I have missed out on a few cheap flights because I hesitated hoping the prices would go down again.

3. Plan vacation or mini trip after not before finding cheap flights. My friends keep asking me how I keep getting all these cheap flights to the same destinations they went or want to travel to. “I submitted my vacation request after I found a cheap flight.” I told them.

4. Book in advance at least 2 or 3 months especially for flights between a popular city and a non-hub destination. For example, London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Prague, etc.. are popular tourist cities while Sofia, Bourgas (Bulgaria), Pristina (Kosovo), Sarajevo (Bosnia) are not (non-hub). If you find a cheap fare to a non-popular destination, you might buy the ticket immediately. The prices will go up and not down.

5. Book close to the travel date. Yes I’m contradicting myself. You can still get almost the same cheap or cheaper fares buying tickets only 2, 3 weeks ahead. Keep in mind, this tends to happen to flights departing from/to major destinations (flight hubs) where there are frequent flights and operated by many competitors.

6. Buy point-to-point tickets if you can be flexible with time especially for flights to/from a non-hub destination. The price for flying direct with major airlines can be more than double, if not triple. This is my most common practice in recent years. Prague, though being a popular tourist destination, is not London or Brussels where low-cost carriers fly to almost everywhere in Europe. The prices for two tickets plus other expenses incurred while waiting for the next flight can be cheaper than a direct ticket. My current route is Prague to Brussels/Chaleroi to final destination.

7. Pack light and say no to check-in luggage unless you plan to go on a huge shopping spree at your destination. (I was once in Ireland and Italy during the Christmas sale season and wished I had paid for check-in luggage after all seeing all the clothes I bought.) The fee for check-in luggage can vary from carriers to carriers, €15 for Ryainair and €35 when paying at the spot. I’ve always traveled with “one” carry-on (backpack and luggage which are squeezed or pushed to fit in the hand-luggage-measure rack). The common limit is 55x40x20 cm and 10kg max (6 kg in some, no limit with easyJet). A 40, 45 liter backpack or a regular roll-on should not have any problem to fit if not over stuffed. Pay attention to the new horizontal measure-rack which used by more airlines. What easily fit in a vertical rack might not fit in a horizontal one because the vertical system allows the height to exceed the limit with no top cover. The horizontal system restricts the height to exact 55 cm.

8. Pack 1 carry-on. Here is the trick. You can bring as many as you wish, just make sure that they are all bound or packed as one and of course fits in the hand-luggage measure rack. Low-cost airlines (especially Ryanair), due to being anal about saving on operational cost, are getting stricter in enforcing their 1-free-carry-on policy. 3, 4 years ago, you can get away with a roll-on or a big package plus a handbag. At Brussel-Chaleroi, you can’t get into the luggage screening area if you have more than one item including your camera bag, make sure you have space in your luggage for it. I saw people with two very small bags being stopped while those with one bigger luggage let through. If you have to repack and exchange items with your travel companions, do it where the airline employees don’t see you. Some of them might enforce another policy on you “no carry other people’s items” and you’ll be screwed. You will either pay the extra fee for the second bag if they let you bringing it to the plane or return to the register desk. You don’t want the latter to happen to you when you have less than an hour before your departure and there are 10 long queues of people waiting for their turn.

9. Opt out of extra, non-necessary services to avoid additional fees. Do you really want to board the plane a few minutes before everybody else and pay an extra 8 euro for a priority boarding pass? Are you that bad at time management that you need an SMS reminder for another 1 euro more? Search and buy travel insurance elsewhere for a fraction of the cost. As for cancellation fee, I’ll be honest. I have lost 3 flights due to airline’s bankruptcy plus a two more where I have to cancel due to work. But it shouldn’t happen very often. In the case that the airlines cancel the flights, they will put you on another or return the money. Many budget airlines display final fares (excluding the €5-8 payment fee). Please check for a list of extra fees from Wizzair

10. Avoid payment/card-processing fee: This fee is the most difficult to avoid for most travelers. Airlines charge €5 or more for payment with credit cards. Wizzair lowers it down to €2.5 via direct banking, available only in Europe. You can avoid the payment fee if you have the card eligible for free transaction chosen by the airlines. Different airlines have different picks, usually Visa Electron, Prepaid Mastercard, etc. Most of the time, I pay these fees because I’m either ineligible to apply for these cards, or it is too much hassle to get them, precisely what the airlines have in mind.

11. Use a voucher if the airline offers this option but check for the terms. I successfully used vouchers many times with Sky Europe before it was bankrupted. For example, if a flight is €30, I’ll use my €50 voucher to pay for a €30 flight and have €20 remaining which I can then use for a next flight. I can combine vouchers for a single flight. If any airline give you this option, and you will fly often with them, take it. Do NOT buy Ryanair vouchers. They are almost useless. First of all, you pay a fee for buying the voucher. Second, you can only use it one. And of course you can’t combine vouchers. I made a mistake because I didn’t read the terms. I used a €100 to pay for two roundtrip tickets which cost €20 and learned after I have lost the remaining of my voucher.

Low-cost/budget air carriers

Home base: Home city/country of the airlines. That means there are more flights and destinations to/from this city/country.
– BmiBaby: Home base UK. Fly to Czech, Denmark, France, Greece, Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland.
– Click4Sky: Home base (Prague, Czech). Low-cost child of Czech National Airlines, CSA.
– Clickair: Home base (Barcelona, Spain). Fly to Czech Rep., France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland.
– EasyJet: Home base (London, UK). Fly to Czech, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, and many more.
– FlyBaboo: Home base (Geneva, Switzerland). Fly to Czech Rep., France, Italy, Spain.
– Germanwings: Home base (Cologne/Bonn, Germany). Fly to Austria, Czech Republic, England, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey.
– Jet2.com: Home base (Manchester). Fly too. (Note: Base fares are very cheap, but the final price usually include tax which can be 10 time the base fare plus 6.5 euro online check in, €16 airport checkin. €30 for a rt ticket one back check in. €22 rt meal. €6 fuel-supplement. Credit card 287 czk, debit card 170.49. Electron free. Paypal 220 czk. Autoaticaly included Preminum meal before hitting to payment page, so pay attention and say “no thanks” Credit card payment is. Evetually this isn’t a cheap low cost airline anymore
– Jet4you: Home base (Spain). Fly to cities in Northern Africa.
– Jetairfly: Home base (Brussels, Belgium). Fly to many destinations in Central America and Caribbeans.
– Ryanair: Home base (Dublin, Ireland). Other bases (Brussels-Charleroi, Belgium, Frankfurt-Hahn, Germany). Fly to many destinations.
– Smartwings: Home base (Prague, Czech). Fly to Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, UAE.

Search engines

- Whichbudget.com: Not an airline but a website where you can check for available airlines (low-cost included) between your destinations. I like the interface because I don’t have to choose both destinations. Usually I choose a destination and check to see airlines from and to this city.
– Skyscanner.net: Not an airline but a website which displays fares for a one year period between two destinations. From here you can filter out the months for cheapest fares.