Budget Travel - hopping around in europe for cheap

hello all,

i am looking for ideas on how to fly in the cheapest way between the following destinations. rather than checking all the websites (ryan, easy, flag carriers...) for routes/prices i was hoping that someone may already have flown some of these routes and has some advice on it. (or even just know that they exist!)

i am looking to fly from paris or brussels or amsterdam to bologna.

i am looking to fly from bologna to zurich.

i am looking to fly from zurich to berlin.

and... i am looking to fly from berlin to paris or brussels or amsterdam.

any help, clues, ideas, experiences, comments etc. will be very much appreciated. many thanks.

al

Try www.low-cost-airline-guide.com and www.kayak.com. You won't miss much with those two.

Do be careful though about what the budget airlines call airports. Some of the budget airlines use Girona and call it Barcelona. Girona is 65 miles from Barcelona. They use Hann (I think that is the name) and it is a long way from Frankfurt but they call it Frankfurt. It is nowhere near the major Frankfurt airport.

The weight limits are a lot more restrictive. 10 kg is common, or a little over 20 pounds for a carry-on.

Even if you find some of the zero or almost zero rates, you have to watch the add-ons, or you will end up spending as much or more than a regular ticket.

The other thing is that rates are very date dependent, so even if somebody is familiar with a route, they might not be able to help you unless they knew your flight dates.

And finally, matrix.itasoftware.com is a powerful tool for finding good rates. Quite a learning curve, but well worth it. Look under the Help menu for instructions.

And if you haven't done so already, the stickie at the top of this section has lots of tips on the budget carriers.

Romelle

Other useful sites for searching across a range of lo-cost carriers and mainstream airlines are skyscanner.net and dohop.com

Other useful sites for searching across a range of lo-cost carriers and mainstream airlines are skyscanner.net and dohop.com
Depending on the distances, also consider trains or buses.

By the time you add together the time/cost of travelling to the airports, on journeys under 300km train city centre/city centre can be as cheap and quick. You also see more and can chat to the locals.

For schedules on trains check the DB website (http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?newrequest=yes&protocol=http:&) or buses at Eurolines (http://www.eurolines.com/). There's a dedicated European Rail Travel Forum (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/european-rail-travel-654/) on this site with lots of tips

I think between Transavia and AirBerlin all your needs should be covered

I think between Transavia and AirBerlin all your needs should be covered

and there is also a direcgt train that will take you.
berlin-amsterdam 6h
amsterdam-brussels 3h
brussels-paris 1,5h

apart from that, i like momondo.com and opodo.fr

hello all,

many thanks for your responses! very useful. i've booked a few tickets now.

i am flying ryan from beauvais to bologna. and i am flying air berlin from zurich to berlin. both very good deals.
it looks like bologna - zurich don't exist at all (only option is firenze and that extremely expensive) so it will have to be the train. berlin to amsterdam has some klm flights but they are fairly expensive as well so i might take the train or if i feel crazy rent a car - achtung baby autobahn!

thanks again,

al

if i feel crazy rent a car - achtung baby autobahn!



Which is it: impulsive fun or tight budget?

Be aware if you decide to hop across borders with a hire car, it'll cost you an arm and a leg or even more if you don't return the car to it's country of origin! Recommend rail - that way you'll actually see more of the countries you're visiting, and might find a good rail pass for even better rates.

you can fly from rome to zurich for cheap on swiss air. train to rome, or just go down there.

good luck.

Zurich to Rome by train means that you will be likely to change at Milan. The scenery between Zurich and Milan is SPECTACULAR - the Swiss Gotthard route. Not to be missed!!