Airport Transfers More Expensive Than Actual Flights
Jennifer Billock May 01, 2017
Imagine paying four times more to get to your hotel than the cost of your actual flight.
If you’re going to transfer from an airport to a hotel in Europe, be prepared to spend some serious money. A recent study released by Flightdelays.co.uk unveiled that vacationers in about a third of European destinations can expect to pay up to four times the cost of the flight it took to get there. The biggest offender is Geneva in Switzerland – the study showed that the typical transfer cost is £170.92, or about $220. That’s more than four times what it costs to fly to Geneva from Manchester.
Copenhagen gets the second-place distinction, at £170.67 for a ten-mile ride to a hotel. To put that in perspective, a flight from Manchester to Copenhagen only costs about £50 in the high season. Belfast, Weeze in Germany, and Naples followed suit, with transfers costing £165.26, £147.19, and £111.90 respectively.
“You should always be careful to check the extra costs in addition to hotel and flight prices, as you may be in for a nasty shock when you come to pay,” Steve Phillips from Flightdelays.co.uk told The Sun. “Passengers think they’ve got the bargain of the century – only to find the airport transfers along with baggage costs have been added, hiking up the cost of their holiday.”
The study analyzed the average cost of every transfer route (public transportation to private cars) to 80 airports across Europe on June 1, then compared those costs to flights to the destinations from Manchester on the same day.
Anyone looking for cheap transfers should head to some of these spots: Milan (£11.28), Moscow (£12.17).
[Photo: Shutterstock]
Copenhagen is £170? According to the airport website, a cab is DKK 250-300: about £28-34. http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/transportation/and-airport
"Geneva in Switzerland – the study showed that the typical transfer cost is £170.92" Say what now? Are they ordering a stretch limo? Last time I paid like £20 for a taxi ride from GVA. Besides, GVA is easily accessible by public transport. For Weeze I assume they took a taxi all the way to Dusseldorf (instead of public transport). The fact that these Ryanair far out wannabe city airports are expensive if you get there by taxi is hardly surprising.
Or you could just take the metro in Copenhagen for less than 5 euros.
I've never found public transport at all expensive in Europe. Too many people just don't realise how good it is. Geneva airport (listed as the most expensive) has free public transport for an hour after you pick up a ticket in the arrival hall; with both tram, bus and rail connections to the city and beyond. I guess they just put far too much emphasis on taxis.