A few words about travelling by air

I've already said in my previous posts that to travel by bus is the cheapest way to travel from one city to another in Europe, and this time I'm gonna talk a little about flights.

Although flights are more expensive than buses, I often find them to be cheaper than trains when I need to travel from one country to another. The prices of flights vary from website to website. Of all the websites for flight booking, I find Skyscanner to be the most comprehensive one. Its search results include deals from almost all the flight booking websites, and I can easily compare the results within any dimension, like time, price, direct flight, etc. That said, I always check the official website of the airline that I'm going to book. Although I can find probably the cheapest price for a flight, sometimes the airline's official site shows some special deals such as a further discount (although a very small discount). This is just like what I said in my previous post about hotels: it's better to check the official website of the hostel or the hotel to see if there are special offers.

As for the cheap airlines, like Easyjet and Ryanair, I would say 'don't rely on them'. You can't alway find a flight by them - they only operate in the summer. Also, their flights are only available in some certain cities - not all the major cities have them. For example, you live in a big city with two big airports, but a cheap flight by a cheap airline going to your destination departs from a small airport in a small town near your city. The small airport is about a hundred miles away from your place, so you have to buy a train ticket to get there first. Although the train ticket may be cheap, it increases the total cost of your trip. Also possible is that the train is cancelled due to a strike or something and thus you have to go there by car, which is more costly. If the cancellation of the train makes you miss your flight, then the cost is even higher. In brief, if you have to make a lot of efforts to arrange your trip to suit the cheap airline’s flight, then it’ll probably be not cheap at all. Therefore, think twice before you book a flight with a cheap airline that’s not convenient for you.

Another aspect about travelling by air is that I suggest everyone spend enough time to get prepared before you set off for your flight. Here is my checklist you can follow:

1. I need to know before what time I have to finish doing the check-in. Usually, airports in Europe close their check-in system 40 minutes before the departure time of a flight. Some airports I’ve been to even require the passengers to finish checking in 60 minutes ahead of the departure of any international flight. 

2. I need to know which terminal I'm gonna depart from. An airport can be very large and terminals can be far away from each other. If you get to the wrong terminal, then it may take a lot of time to get to the right one.

3. Check what stuff I can't bring onto the aeroplane. Airports have some regulations about it, airlines also have regulations about it, and more importantly, the customs of the country I'm visiting always has strict regulations about it.

4. Sometimes I have to have my travel documents checked, and it may some time. If I fly to a country that requires me to get a visa, then I need to show my visa to the airline when checking in and then show my visa to the border officer before I'm allowed to get on the aeroplane. I need to spare enough time.