Budget Travel - Plane or Train?

Well summer travel is fast approaching ex-Europe. I wanted to book something with a OW partner so I could get the airmiles but inter european fares look outrageous...like $4-600 dollars. I considered Ryan Air and Easy Jet, the train. I've used EasyJet before.

I will be departing London for Paris then need to get to Dubrovnik or Split Croatia via Rome before or after I hit Croatia. I thought I could do this as like a circle trip - the train to Paris from London seems obvious unless it's really dirt cheap via air.

Any suggestions?

The way I view air miles is as an accrued discount. For example, I'm a low level (i.e Silver) elite member on Continental Airlines. This means I get a 50% mileage bonus. On a SFO-EWR flight of ~3000 miles, I get 4,500 miles of credit. These miles I value at approximately 1,000 miles->US$1.
My experience on flights within Europe is that, unless you can get some sort of alliance discount with an inter-continental flight, it is usually more intelligent to take a low fare airline with one exception: I won't fly Ryanair because every experience I have had with that airline has been terrible. You might want to look into FlyBe, because it offers Continental Miles. Otherwise, EasyJet is an excellent choice.
Unless you have plenty of time, in which case a Eurail-type pass might make sense, it is now, in my experience, easier/cheaper/faster to fly around Europe instead of taking the train. This said, some people just prefer to take things slowly on vacation. One of my most rewarding travel experiences was a cross-country ride on the Chinese national railway.

Between London and Paris, the train is more convenient but Eurostar oneway fares are expensive. By contrast, BA, which is OW, has very cheap one-way fares on this route, starting at circa 50-60$
Besides this, for intra-European LCC travel, you may want to have a look at http://www.whichbudget.com, which will tell you which budget airlines serve which routes.
Not sure this is Mileage run material though, more like Travelbuzz.

Mileage run?

As this doesn't really have anything to do with Mileage Run, I'm moving this to the Budget Travel forum.

Thank!

bhatnasx
Mileage Run Moderator

Seeing as this is a flyer expert forum, you can be pretty sure of getting fly-only advice :)

As has been posted above, it is nowadays very cheap to get around Europe by plane...however, I much prefer the train, and the price is quite competitive if you do like I like to do, travel with night trains and thus not pay for hotels in most places. You still get some very nice views in the evening (dusk comes along so late these days...) and morning, usually a comfy bed and a restaurant car where you can definitely tickle some taste buds or enjoy a bottle of wine.

That being said, from what you posted, Dubrovnik has no rail connection...Split does, though. Check out www.seat61.com , it should cover all your available rail options.

Philosophically, planes should be cheaper, trains will be more fun. Trains used to be cheaper, back when governments subsidized train service, and the only planes were one government-owned carrier per country. That situation no longer exists. Your first job is to decide which you prefer to do.

If you decide on planes, you can get intra-european fares through AA pretty cheap, if they are your transatlantic carrier. The structure is a flat fee for a flight up to a certain distance, then a higher flat fee for up to a greater distance, and so on. Other carriers may have something similar. If you want miles, ask about this on the forum of the airline you will use transatlantic. If you don't care that much about the miles, use the link posted above for LCCs.

- the train to Paris from London seems obvious unless it's really dirt cheap via air.Having just wrestled with this, IMO your best bet is the train.

1. If you are arriving from the US into LGW, there is no carrier LGW-CDG or LGW-ORY.

2. You can get LHR-CDG, but if you have to get to LHR from LGW it's a bit of a pain (and about 16 quid pp one-way on the bus, a small fortune by cab), and then you have to get from the airport to Paris itself.

3. Eurostar tix can be bought on-line -- I've always bought return tickets and then throw the other half away. IIRC, it's about 29.5GBP each way. That's in "coach". Check out First Class -- nicer ride and you may find deals.

If you're already in London, your selections open up to include Luton and Stanstead, and there are LCCs operating out of those airports that will take you to Paris. Don't forget to factor in the cost of getting to these airports.

IMO, half the fun of these trips is what you're doing right now -- checking out the options, making plans, researching info, filling out scratch pads with tentative plans, and so on. The trip itself is almost anti-climactic. :D

Well summer travel is fast approaching ex-Europe. I wanted to book something with a OW partner so I could get the airmiles but inter european fares look outrageous...like $4-600 dollars. I considered Ryan Air and Easy Jet, the train. I've used EasyJet before.

I will be departing London for Paris then need to get to Dubrovnik or Split Croatia via Rome before or after I hit Croatia. I thought I could do this as like a circle trip - the train to Paris from London seems obvious unless it's really dirt cheap via air.

Any suggestions?

well, I flew ryan air, even after hearing people's complaints, and found it to be fine. You do have to navigate all the add on's they try to sell you, insurance cars etc. And their overweight checked luggage charges strictly enforced (carryons not so much). But other wise not bad at all, and if you get a cheap fare why not? I do think the experience on these carriers varies with how full the flights are, so if you're on a full flight maybe not so good.

You'll also need to be aware that budget airlines sometimes fly into other airports than the legacy carriers use. Like ryan to paris goes to beauvais(sp?), which is an hour and a half shuttle bus from Paris(price not included in airfare). If your ryan air flight arrives at like 10:30 pm, and you get a bus in to paris, you'll get dropped off in Paris at around midnight. So you'll want to be sure to have a place to stay lined up in advance and expect to take a cab to get there, subway will be closed.

That said, I did just that and got to my hotel in Montmarte at about 1am, which was still in time to go out and have something to eat. gotta love paris.

You might also want to consider the Eurobus from/to paris as an alternate to the trains (cheaper) and planes (see more from the road than the air). The Eurobus terminal in paris is in a notorious part of town, watch your stuff if you go through there. But its manageable too with a bit of caution.

sounds like a fun trip. maybe go overland to have a look one way and fly back to save time, easy to bounce around europe by air these days.

www.skyscanner.net -- on this site you can find the cheapest fares from anywhere in one country to anywhere in another. Also does point to point.

www.whichbudget.com -- good for point to point. Lists more obscure carriers then skyscanner.

I have uses many low cost airlines and they have all been fine. No frills, but fine. It is a great, fast way to get around.

Philosophically, planes should be cheaper, trains will be more fun.

Excellent point! I love trains for this very reason: you get to meet lots of interesting people. You also get a great view of the countryside. If you have the time--and like to socialize--I'd take a train. And, as gemac pointed out, they are often more expensive, but for me it's worth it.

If you have the time--and like to socialize--I'd take a train. And, as gemac pointed out, they are often more expensive, but for me it's worth it.

Haven't traveled by train in a very long time, but on a relatively short journey I'd think you save a lot of time by not having to GET to the airport, and then checkin and go through security.

EmailKid

Don't forget train passes will be cheaper if you buy them beforehand in US.

I will be departing London for Paris then need to get to Dubrovnik or Split Croatia via Rome before or after I hit Croatia. I thought I could do this as like a circle trip - the train to Paris from London seems obvious unless it's really dirt cheap via air.

Any suggestions?

Well here's an odd suggestion - take a ferry from Ancona, Italy to get to Croatia....