k3vb0t

My wife and I have the trip of a lifetime planned. Flying to Europe for about 2 weeks, hitting up London, Paris, Rome, and Dublin (in that order).

I've got all the flights sorted (plus a chunnel trip) except Paris to Rome. I'm AA Platinum and had been trying to find a way to fly BA, but the pricing (and requirement to go back through London, sometimes switching LGW and LHR with a 3 hour window...) has me considering LCCs in Europe.

I've read lots of horror stories about Vueling, easyJet, and all their friends... do I really have something to worry about if my wife and I understand our baggage requirements up front, understand carry on sizes, and pay for everything up front?

If nothing really to worry about... who to pick? Any favorites of the forum? I thought I read somewhere that easyJet was the 2nd largest carrier in Europe or something like that?

Thanks for the advice!

treppenlaeufer

deleted - my response was for Rome-Barcelona, not Rome-Paris.

malmostoso

I would advise against Ryanair, as it flies from Beauvais which means a looooong bus ride out of the city.

For reasons that escape me, Kuwait Airlines operates KU166 between CDG and FCO on an A340 at a really low price (~100EUR in Y, ~250EUR in C). When are you going to fly KU again?

Easyjet will be fine if you read all the T&Cs, basically print out your boarding pass and make sure your bags are not overweight.

UltraRant

I think that you hit the bullseye when you say that you should read and understand terms and conditions for carriage on beforehand. Most of the rants around here (and on other sites, blogs and forums, in that respect) are about people who haven't or who thought it didn't apply to them.

There are more airlines that operate a leg from outside Europe into Europe and then on to another airport. Not all of them also have the rights to load new passengers for the second leg, but apparently Kuwait has it for FCO-CDG.
In any case, I think they're 'nothing special' (especially for a carrier from the Middle East), but at least they're a legacy airline with an excellent price for the leg and quite relaxed conditions.

AlItalia also has flights on 'reasonable' one way fares with luggage included, although on average at least 1,5 times as much as KU. The advantage is that AZ has multiple departures daily between the big mainports FCO and CDG.

Also, easyJet is not a bad option. Just make sure you read their T&C. And no, they don't serve coffee and a meal on board for free, but are you really in such need on a 2 hour hop? They fly to ORY, by the way, which is equally good connected to the rest of Paris by public transport as CDG and not a disadvantage as such.

I cannot recommend AirFrance, as the one way fares of AirFrance are by default in full flexible booking classes, which are usually more expensive than return fares in economy. I also advise against Ryanair, as they fly into Beauvais, which is not even close to Paris at all.

Koby

Vueling has 3 or 4 direct flight between Paris and Roma each day. Don't worry about flying them. Yes, they are low cost. But I have been flying them several times a month over the last few months and they are not that bad. My only problem with them is the limited legroom, so I normally pay extra for a seat with extra room.

For your information: Vueling is owned by the same company that owns BA, but you will not get any OneWorld advantages.

factory81

As an AA EXP, I am not making any effort to fly BA on my intra-euro travel. Biz class in Europe is usually just economy with the middle seat blocked.

I am working off pure convenience for me. We need to get from Rome to Barcelona. The Vueling 07:15 direct flight gets me in the earliest. It isn't even a 2 hour plane ride, how bad can it be?

For me, I also need to get from Paris to Rome, and I think we might make it a train trip - stop in Geneva or something and stay the night to break it up. Honestly not sure I want to just skip over it all.

I am thinking like of doing something like Paris - Geneva for the night, then Geneva to Milan, Milan to Cinque Terre and then Florence for the night. Rent a car the next day and go to Rome.

Not sure yet, the girlfriend really wants to see Switzerland after seeing some of my pictures. Can't blame her really.

Anyways, for Vueling, it is like 33 euro for us to start with their basic fare. And for less than 20 euro more we can upgrade to an Optima fare, which gives us a 50lb checked bag per person, seat in rows 3-11 with assigned seats, and a e-mailed boarding pass. It seems easy enough, spend another $20 to avoid getting fees.

Fitch

That will all depend on how tall you are. I am only 5'8 but when I flew LGW-BCN on Vueling last year, my knees were actually touching the seat in front Anyone 6ft+ is in for a very uncomfortable ride

factory81

5'8 and 150lbs or less. If space becomes a serious issue, Atillia or whatever flies a direct flight also - but its not as convenient time for me. Only like $40 more, but it is a 777-200...