My bf and i are going to Europe for a month and i just went on both the ryanair and eurail websites and believe that ryanair is much more affordable with flights starting from $14.95 (EU) one way each (and go up to around $30) and EUrail is about $500+ for a month%26#39;s pass.
i%26#39;m very inexperienced with buying tickets and reserching for best deals. i%26#39;ve done my best and am still not sure whether i%26#39;m doing it right.
My question to those reading is : What is your experience with flying in Europe? What do you recommend, because we have a tight shoestring budget!!!!!. we%26#39;re even couchsurfing in most countries to save some money and staying with relatives!!!
since we%26#39;re in Europe for a full month, we don%26#39;t mind staning in line at the airport for 2 or more hours to board the plane because nonetheless the plane always is faster anyways than the train, so we won%26#39;t be missing too much.. are we?
any advice will help!
thanx!!
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The only way to get the good deals on Ryanair is to book them in advance which limits your flexiblity. Their prices are usually posted in British pounds as well so be sure to convert it to Canadian. If you should happen to miss your flight you will be out your money and a new ticket will be very expensive. (This just happened to us). Watch the taxes on those airfares, there is a charge for checked luggage and extremly tight restrictions on carryon size and weight....it all adds up.
A Eurail pass is going to give you a lot more flexibility if you want to just take things day by day. Traveling by train in Europe is great and is easy. Good luck!
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You will find that because the train is so fast, some routes are no longer served by plane. This is particularly true of Paris/Brussels,
Ryanair fares do not go up to $30 - they got up to about £300 one way. This is especially true if there is a problem with a flight (or getting to a flight) and you have to rebook at short notice.
Also, be careful about assuming that planes are faster than trains - for instance, if you travel London-Paris you will have to leave your hotel at least 3 hours before the flight to be sure of getting to the airport, checking in, and getting through security. This is about the same time it takes by eurostar to get to London - the centre, not an airport.
Also be aware that with Ryanair %26quot;Rome%26quot; might mean a field with no facilities and no transport about 60 miles from the eternal city.........
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Wizard%26#39;s caution about where flights end up is worth repeating - if you have to pay for additional transport to get to the airport from which you are leaving adn then into the city you are trying to reach, then you have to include that in your total cost (whereas trains do go from one city center to another).
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%26gt;%26gt;%26gt;nonetheless the plane always is faster anyways than the train, %26lt;%26lt;%26lt;
This above all else demonstrates just how clueless you are. Seriously do more research to get a sense of reality, your $1000 budget is completely unrealistic, I spend that on a 3 day holiday not a 3 week one, learn that $ is not the symbol for money or the euro and generally wise up.
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I reckon this would be a worthwhile experiment, actually...........
Couch surfing certainly reduced your costs, because it often comes with meals attached, assuming you can reciprocate.
Travelling town to town is the killer though. I used to travel very cheaply on Eurail - buy a 15 day pass, sleep on the train. You have to keep your wits about you at all times, and you have to have a break every couple of days. You also find yourself criss-crossing the continent because youre looking for routes that give you 7 - 8 hours sleep. You will probably see more of Scandinavia than you expected travelling this way. Mmy best was leaving Munich at 10.00pm, arrive Copenhamgen 6.00am, leave Copenhagen midnight, arrive Munich at 09.00. This gave me two days in Munich and one in copenhagen without paying for any accomodation.
I imagine a lot of posters started their travel this way.
Go for it - but assume you will be needing to phone your parents for more cash at one stage (thats what they%26#39;re for!)
My last cheapo trip (done when I was almost 40, and not THAT long ago) was around the world in 6 weeks, only paying for 5 nights accomodation on the way. In repayment all I needed to do was be charming and buy a few really good meals.
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Im nearing the end of my holiday and need a break from my travels so I got onto a computer and calculated my travels with Eurail - I have a 90 day global pass and of the 18 countries that are on the global pass, I think I will visit at least 13-14 of them. This Eurail pass cost me about 1500 Euro! I also have to travel in first class because I am over 26, not that I am complaining!
Anyway, using the internet, and looking at the tickets that I have and the journeys that I have done, I have worked out that if I had done these journeys without the Eurail pass, it would have cost me about 1800 Euro more than with the Eurail pass. Of course, these fares that I have calculated are full price fares and not cheap tickets that you may be able to get cheaply if you book early.
If you have the time, map out your destinations and look at the relevant rail and cheap flights and make a comparison of them. Remember you have to get to the airport too and the time beforehand and mentioned earlier. Also, on most international rail journeys and the major domestic rail lines such as the TGV, you HAVE to make a reservation. These cost in the region of 3-5 Euro. On night trains you can pay for a couchette bed but that costs about 20 Euro compared to nothing for a seat. Most of the time I paid for a couchette bed because it costs the same amount more or less that a hostel.
Safe travels.
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check out the price of tix from point to point, on the trains, if you have an idea of the route you%26#39;re going to take. In my experience, the rail passes are not always the cheapest. If you%26#39;re travelling short distances you can easily buy tix at the stations and just get on board - unless you%26#39;re planning long journeys between countries, in which case I%26#39;d suggest you buy tix early as possible.
Ryan air, Easy jet - etc....NO refunds or transfers unless you pay a sizeable charge for changes - which usually works out more than the original ticket....also they%26#39;re merciless if you arrive late at the airport - just bad luck, buy another ticket. (My recent changes to itinerary have cost me about A$600 - ouch!)
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Hi Dana,
If you are on Ryanair or Easyjet website to check a price make sure to go through the whole process of buying a ticket, right up to the point before you enter your credit card details in order to see the prices. As mentioned above there are LOTS of hidden extras. Can you believe they don%26#39;t mention an extra charge for paying by credit card (on a web only ticket). When it says enter credit card you know the actual price and can bail out.
Budget airlines in Europe are about 95% reliable (I guess from my experience) so there%26#39;s a good chance you will be able to make a few trips and not have problems but the post above is correct, almost zero tolerance if you are late, your bag is too heavy etc. They do a good job of flying planes point to point but don%26#39;t care about passengers - that%26#39;s how come they%26#39;re cheap, it%26#39;s your risk.
Anyway have a good trip.
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Just one note about Ryanair - you can get excellent deals e.g. 1p flights but taxes can turn a 1p flight into £40 in some cases. Ryanair (like a lot of airlines now) also charge for checking in luggage and even if you only have carry on luggage I think you are still charged a fee!
To check in one bag costs £8 or thereabouts so that will be added on to the cost of your flight.
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Have a look at www.skyscanner.net
This website compares prices (including taxes) for a lot of European airlines, including Ryanair and easyjet. As far as cost is concerned, if you know where you will be staying and when, check how the costs of flying compares with the Eurail cost. If you can book in advance and stick to a schedule you can probably travel quite cheaply by air if it%26#39;s not at peak times. Only you can tell if it will be cheaper than rail.
But you have to understand how these cheap airlines make money. Ryanair has a 25-minute turnround time for landing and taking off again. This means their planes are in the air most of the time making money for them. There%26#39;s no money to be made keeping planes on the ground.
This means they operate like a bus service. They don%26#39;t allocate seats - you get on the plane and find a seat. They don%26#39;t wait for people who haven%26#39;t turned up in time. A bus generally wouldn%26#39;t wait for you either. They don%26#39;t give you food though you can buy some if you want onboard.The complaints tend to come from people who are used to traditional higher priced airlines where all the extra facilities which seem to be free are actually paid for by the much higher ticket prices and if you miss your plane and you have a full-price ticket you just get on the next one. As long as you understand how the cheap airlines are making their money, there%26#39;s no problem.
I%26#39;ve used easyjet and Ryanair three or four times a year for the past five years or so and have had no problems. Yes, they sometimes fly to out of the way places but that can be a delight. Two or three times we%26#39;ve flown to Rodez in southern France, where there are just four flights a day - three to Orly (Paris) and one to Stansted (London). The airport cafe has about 15 tables. The car hire desks are about 20 metres from the arrivals gate. You can be on your way in minutes. (Did you know that these regional airports actually pay Ryanair to land there instead of Ryanair paying the airport?)
So find out about the cost of ground transport. Or maybe get your friends to pick you up from the airport if they will! If Skyscanner finds you some other airlines there may be no extra charges for hold-luggage or payment by credit card. (Ryanair and easyjet charge less for debit cards than for credit cards.) Sometimes you%26#39;ll find a cheap fare on a major airline. I flew from London to Palma Mallorca on British Airways for £29 including all taxes (And you could check in and choose a seat online.)
I once checked the price of going by rail from Nimes to Genoa (along the southern French coast to Italy) and compared with Ryanair. It would have been cheaper and faster to fly Nimes-Stansted and then Stansted-Genoa than to take the French and Italian trains. (The train journey would have been 11 hours!)
So don%26#39;t rule out travel by air. Work out the total relative costs.
It%26#39;ll be interesting to see how your calculations work out.
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