More Budget Airlines, ATTITUDE Travel

Two years ago I spent a small fortune getting to Bucharest, Romania for a research project. Granted, I flew British Airways and we know that's NEVER cheap (but oh so nice). At that point, I had no clue about the many low-cost airlines serving Eastern Europe.

I recently discovered this great website that lists all of the budget airlines cropping up all over the place. They are organized by continent and then by country/cities they serve. There's even a section for low-cost transatlantic flights and apparently RyanAir will start service from UK to US in 2009 (although, I'm not sure how I could manage their miniature baggage restrictions for a trip to London).

http://www.attitudetravel.com/

If you're really adventurous, you might try hitching a ride across the atlantic...seriously:
http://www.airhitch.org/

I also frequently check these sites for hotel/attractions/restaurant advice:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/
http://wikitravel.org/en/Main_Page
http://www.virtualtourist.com/

Leaving on a Jet Plane

The world has never been smaller for our generation, thanks mainly to budget air travel! Just last week, I booked a trip for my best friend and I to Barcelona from London Stansted - the two flights and all the taxes added together came to £55.00! (approximately $100!) Bargain! Here are some of my tips for air travel on a budget:

* book as far in advance as possible - back in February, for Jonathon and I to travel to New York on BA for Thanksgiving would have cost us £448.00 (for two, including taxes); if we had booked last week, it would have cost us £660.00! A sadly significant increase! I'm waiting for FlyZoom to publish their autumn prices!

* if you can, travel during the week - not exactly condusive to saving holiday days from work, but flights are generally less expensive Monday - Wednesday

* be flexible on times of travel - "unpopular" times, such as early in the morning or late at night, can be less expensive and on offer for a longer period of time

* if you are flexible on your destination, research all options - airport taxes vary from airport to airport, thus increasing or reducing your final cost. Last week I discovered that, for the same dates as our Barcelona trip, we could have gone to:
Berlin, Germany - £74
Riga, Latvia - £78
Ebsjerg, Denmark - £84

All the flight prices were the same (0.01p each way!), but the airport taxes varied!

* Be sure to weigh up budget airlines versus the more expensive - although prices can be cheaper on a budget airline, airports servicing your destination can be much further out, thus incurring additional transportation charges in both directions. Double check you are saving money by travelling budget - if there is only a minimal saving, it may be nicer to travel the mainstream airliners and have convenience at both ends!

* sign up to your airline's newsletter - you will hear of special offers in advance

Of course, the bonus of flying inexpensively is that you get to see more places over time, and, more importantly, are also able to splurge a little more on accommodation!