City airport is my closest and easiest by a long way living close to westcombe park station. 3 stops to Woolwich arsenal, 2 stops on DLR, 15 minutes to being airside.
For business trips would never use a carrier that has no slots there.
For personal trips to Europe, same thing. No way I am travelling to Gatwick, Heathrow or Luton to save a few quid on the flight price and have it taken off me through additional charges.
Recently flew Norwegian* to Austin, the flight was delayed 5 hours but once on the service was superb. *we flew Premium which was £100 more than BA's economy. Big seat, dedicated cabin for 35 people, 2 toilets!
Not had one good experience with ryanair, without sounding too much of a snob its the destinations and typical ppl on board that ruin each experience thou not overly ryanair. They just treat everyone like animals, which in 99% of the passengers onboard is correct.
Sleezyjet, better but not by much.
Whizz actually alright
Norwegian bloody brilliant.
Long haul wise of the cheap ones dont mind norwegian again, China air, Malaysian or thai. Not a fan of ba at all but do do some great deals, did japan direct return for £416 2 yrs ago, in korea atm direct return again about £400.
Im flying AirAsia at the end of the month, that's always an experience.
Lucky you. I’ve used them loads. They used to be called Air Delaysia. You ought to try Cebu Pacific though if you want real fun. They’re a bit like Air Asia but offer naff prizes during the flight if you can answer silly questions.
When EasyJet first started, Stavros's marketing policy was to sell some seats for £1 each way plus a booking fee.
So me and the missus just went for the £1 deals whenever we could and get the time off work. So £4 for us to fly to Copenhagen and back, Prague and back and Amsterdam and back.
Also did some very cheap 2/3/4 day returns (under £40 for both us) to Berlin, Dublin, Rome and to at least four different French airports. Normally our first nights meal in a restaurant cost more.
I think you mean Stellios unless you bought your tickets from a kebab shop
I blame Harry Enfield
The original Stavros, on whom Harry based the character and the now famous punch line “Hello Matey Peeps,” sold his kebab shop in East London long ago and now lives in Clacton-on-Sea. His daughter Dawn lives in North Street Bromley......her husband Alan used to do building work for me. Not a lot of people know that........no honestly they really don’t....unbelievable when you come to think of it.
Im flying AirAsia at the end of the month, that's always an experience.
Lucky you. I’ve used them loads. They used to be called Air Delaysia. You ought to try Cebu Pacific though if you want real fun. They’re a bit like Air Asia but offer naff prizes during the flight if you can answer silly questions.
Luckily its only Kunming > Penang.
I find almost all Asian airlines to be rough, there's never enough legroom and I always seem to get stuck next to a 10ft Aussie.
Jet2 aren’t too bad.....but be aware when booking online that you don’t choose and pay for something extra you don’t want(easily done)......a real bastard trying to change booking details and getting a refund......once you’ve selected and mistakenly paid for something they don’t like giving you your money back. Conversely they spend a great deal of time and effort trying to get you to pay for all manner of extras......which, of course, they make very easy. Also it’s nigh on impossible to get someone on the phone.......from any department. The flights and planes are OK though.......nothing spectacular but you get what you pay for.
I’ve flown with EasyJet & Ryanair plenty of times and I am yet to have a problem with them. Except from the stag do which you normally encounter on them.
I personally try to avoid using Ryanair but sometimes the price is too big to turn down.
Echo what people have said about Norwegian Air, used them twice and they would surperb.
First an admission. I live in Essex. That's the main reason I endeavour to give BA a swerve. Too many bad experiences battling round the M25 to either LHR or LGW. On top of that these days BA is no more and no less than a budget airline. There's a worse seat pitch in economy than Ryanair for heavens sake. BA's club world is a truly dreadful experience. The seats are rattlely cheap crap and on red eyes you actually have to climb over other passengers to get to an aisle. Flying has become a bad experience all round. Today I'm going to Berlin. Even though it's costing more and taking longer, I'm getting the ferry from Harwich and driving over. All together a more relaxing experience.
First an admission. I live in Essex. That's the main reason I endeavour to give BA a swerve. Too many bad experiences battling round the M25 to either LHR or LGW. On top of that these days BA is no more and no less than a budget airline. There's a worse seat pitch in economy than Ryanair for heavens sake. BA's club world is a truly dreadful experience. The seats are rattlely cheap crap and on red eyes you actually have to climb over other passengers to get to an aisle. Flying has become a bad experience all round. Today I'm going to Berlin. Even though it's costing more and taking longer, I'm getting the ferry from Harwich and driving over. All together a more relaxing experience.
City airport is my closest and easiest by a long way living close to westcombe park station. 3 stops to Woolwich arsenal, 2 stops on DLR, 15 minutes to being airside.
For business trips would never use a carrier that has no slots there.
For personal trips to Europe, same thing. No way I am travelling to Gatwick, Heathrow or Luton to save a few quid on the flight price and have it taken off me through additional charges.
3-4 hour flights is a different story.
I always use City for work too. Haven't used it for personal trips yet, but would rather pay the extra for the convenience.
Have used City a few times, always for personal trips rather than Business - Its a great Airport.
Certainly one of the best approaches, not just getting excellent views of London yet also the sharp descent that the plane is forced to do once past Canary Wharf... Is as good as any rollercoaster
I've never had an issue with Easyjet. Have flown with them a dozen times or so in the last 4 years. When we take our parents with us, as my Dad is registered disabled, he gets special assistance as he can't walk far these days, so we get jumped through the security checks and Easyjet jump us to the front of the queue for getting on the plane too as a result. No need to pay for their Easyboading thing.
Have heard really good things about Norwegian Airlines, especially the American routes. We tend to fly Virgin long haul, purely as my wife is a frequent Gold flyer through work and we get heavily discounted flights/upgrades. Cant beat going to LHR in the limo with the private check in, that is a nice start to the holiday.
Have used City a few times, always for personal trips rather than Business - Its a great Airport.
Certainly one of the best approaches, not just getting excellent views of London yet also the sharp descent that the plane is forced to do once past Canary Wharf... Is as good as any rollercoaster
Wasn't so great when I was flying back from Dublin a couple of years ago, after a fairly long and liquid lunch. It was fairly windy and my colleague was trying to talk to me and kept making "whayying" noises every time the plane lurched.
It was taking all my concentration to not throw up and in the end said to him quite abrupbtly "if you don't fu****g shut up, you'll get my dinner all over your lap"
I think I upset him because he didn't speak to me even after we'd landed.
If you’re making short flights round Europe you may as well do it on the cheap. I’ve booked about 30 Easy Jet flights over the past 3 years or so (my son worked abroad for a year) for various members of my family, Germany, Spain, Turkey and Canary Isles and not had one issue. However I wouldn’t touch Ryanair with a barge pole. Used Virgin over BA to fly to USA and Caribbean as they’ve never let me down and were cheaper than BA the first time I booked trans-Atlantic. However I’m currently in dispute with Virgin over non existing upgrade I bid for and paid for on my flight out here last week. End of the day if you’re flying Economy they’re all much of a muchness and someone has always got a good or bad experience to tell about all airlines/hotels/pubs/restaurants/ etc etc
Have used City a few times, always for personal trips rather than Business - Its a great Airport.
Certainly one of the best approaches, not just getting excellent views of London yet also the sharp descent that the plane is forced to do once past Canary Wharf... Is as good as any rollercoaster
Wasn't so great when I was flying back from Dublin a couple of years ago, after a fairly long and liquid lunch. It was fairly windy and my colleague was trying to talk to me and kept making "whayying" noises every time the plane lurched.
It was taking all my concentration to not throw up and in the end said to him quite abrupbtly "if you don't fu****g shut up, you'll get my dinner all over your lap"
I think I upset him because he didn't speak to me even after we'd landed.
Reminds me when I flew from Picton (NZ South Island) to Wellington with a tiny airline (Cessna plane), flying into Wellington is extremely windy and could feel the plane lurching all over the place - Had this poor woman in front of me who was terrified of flying yet had her Husband next to her constantly taking the piss asking halfway across the Cook Strait if she wanted to change her mind and use the Ferry
Have used City a few times, always for personal trips rather than Business - Its a great Airport.
Certainly one of the best approaches, not just getting excellent views of London yet also the sharp descent that the plane is forced to do once past Canary Wharf... Is as good as any rollercoaster
Flew from City to Exeter recently with my missus, and soon after take off I've pointed to The Valley with pride and was saying what a great stadium it was. She then pointed to the London Stadium a few moments later and said 'that one's much more impressive'.
I just put my headphones in and ignored her for the rest of the flight.
like Easyjet a lot, absolutely hate Ryanair. Ryanair staff are awful. Checked in once, handed over four passports, weighed bag to find it 1Kg over. Removed some crap and placed it on scales. Doris then asked for the final fourth passport. Indicated that she was given four. Flatly denied this and the argument got quite heated. My daughter shone her iphone torch down the side between her seat and baggage conveyor and indicated it had dropped down there. Spent the next half an hour waiting for an engineer to strip the conveyor down to retrieve it. Not so much as an apology from the miserable bitch. Then get to the gate to be told by some other jumped up old c***, that we shouldn't leave it this late to board in future. F***ing hate Ryanair and would only fly with them if it was me and the lads, never with family. I have even changed flight dates, so as not to fly with them.
Would never fly Ryanair on principle and avoid Easyjet as much as possible - life is too short to be treated like that by choice (if an alternative airline doesn’t fly the route, then there’s the option not to go at all which is one I will gladly take over those two).
BA not great I agree but at least you get treated with respect. Virgin always excellent.
Have had good experiences with Jet2 but limited routes.
Curious that some US low fare carriers like JetBlue and Southwest have found a way not to treat their customers with disdain whilst maintaining a profitable business (having said that the likes of Frontier and Spirit look appalling and presumably are).
Ive used SleazyJet many many times, never had an issue, as long as you remember that its just a bus with wings then you wont be disappointed. I used Norwegian Air to fly to Tenerife a couple of years ago, really impressed and it was about the same price as Sleazyjet.
like Easyjet a lot, absolutely hate Ryanair. Ryanair staff are awful. Checked in once, handed over four passports, weighed bag to find it 1Kg over. Removed some crap and placed it on scales. Doris then asked for the final fourth passport. Indicated that she was given four. Flatly denied this and the argument got quite heated. My daughter shone her iphone torch down the side between her seat and baggage conveyor and indicated it had dropped down there. Spent the next half an hour waiting for an engineer to strip the conveyor down to retrieve it. Not so much as an apology from the miserable bitch. Then get to the gate to be told by some other jumped up old c***, that we shouldn't leave it this late to board in future. F***ing hate Ryanair and would only fly with them if it was me and the lads, never with family. I have even changed flight dates, so as not to fly with them.
Just got off a Norwegian flight from Chicago to London, lovely plane (Dreamliner) and the flight departed on time and arrived an hour early.
Have flown Norwegian a couple of times to and from the US and multiple times around Europe for work (Scandinavia mainly) and I honestly think in terms of the quality of fleet and keeping to their scheduled times they are head and shoulders above the other budget airlines and I’d probably choose them over BA these days (I only really fly BA now when I can use my air miles because I’d never actually pay the premium they charge with my own money for the level of service they now provide).
SAS (Scandinavian) and Luthtansa are both highly recommended and you can sometimes pick up cheap flights with either (air hostesses are fit too!).
P.S another vote for City airport - it’s what an airport experience should be, we’ve just been so conditioned to the Heathrow/Gatwick nonsense that we think it’s notmal.
In terms of Long Haul I'll never be able to recommend Singapore Airlines highly enough - Wont ever use another airline if flying East, not just because Changi Airport is also an excellent place to find yourself having to wait for a connecting flight for three hours yet the Customer Service even in Economy is brilliant, not to mention the uniforms worn are stunning
I’m in disbelief reading that some people have never had a problem with Ryan Air. There are always delays, it’s never their fault and it’s always hassle. The final straw was a 3.5 hour delay with no food or compensation offered, coming back from Barcelona in July. After that I said never again and I’ve stuck to it. I agree that you know what you’re getting when you agree to fly budget but taking off and landing on time are fundamentals I expect with any airline, regardless of the price of the fare. But people put up with Ryan’s dreadful service so there’s no incentive for the company to improve. If everyone took a stand and agreed not to use their services, they’d be forced to either sort it out or fold. I know which one I’d prefer.
Are there any techniques for getting best prices, ie like the Trainline, are the best prices 3 months before you leave? Does anyone have a theory of when the best time to buy is?
Kayak have some clever features. One enables you to look at the most likely time to get a low price on a specific date and city pair. They track the rise and fall of prices for each route and determine the "best" time to book on each route, depending on when you're flying. They also have a price alert email service where you can look at a flight and get the system to email you when that price drops.
Finding the "best" price is a very, very complicated process. Systems can interrogate millions of fares on any route. The amount of data held is astonishing. Typically, GDS businesses (the "global distribution systems" which power most sites and travel agents) are among the biggest, most powerful in the world. One of them (there are three main ones in the word) is described as the biggest non-military data servers in north America.
Several years ago, British Airways went through a huge process of reducing the number of fares they publish. After several months editing, combining, consolidating and reducing their range of fares, they proudly announced that they had managed to reduce the number of fares they publish to just one million.
When you enter your request, the system interrogates live data across hundreds of airlines to determine which ones have seats available, then compare the results with the international database of published fares. There are millions and millions of fare! And each of them can change several times an hour. So it's a massive task for them to present a useful, usable fare.
Any system makes money out of the fares it sells. But usually, not from the airline. In fact, in an increasing number of cases, the airline (say Lufthansa) will charge the system you use (say Kayak) a fee for booking that flight. However, the GDS systems pay systems and travel agents for each booking that's made. No-one earns commission for selling flights any more. So you are often better shopping round real travel agents to make sure you're getting a good price (because systems have to pass on their fees).
Also, many travel agents do deals with airlines so that they can sell "net fares". These are discounted fares that the airline makes available only to certain agents. The agent is allowed to mark up the fare and so make some money on that booking.
So, use the fare finding features that systems like Kayak offer, book at the "right" time, shop around and try and find an agent that sells net fares and see if they will do a deal.
And, don't go anywhere near Trainline if you are looking to pay the least for trains. Buying tickets on Trainline is a very expensive way of doing so!
Regarding trainline me and the wife just done Bradford return for less than £20 each via trainline.
Excellent!
How much was the booking fee?
80p was still under 20 notes each
That's a big fee in percentage terms. You can almost always pay less than by going to Trainline.
Yes I agree most of the time. With trainline though you can use a couple of cashback sites
Comments
For business trips would never use a carrier that has no slots there.
For personal trips to Europe, same thing. No way I am travelling to Gatwick, Heathrow or Luton to save a few quid on the flight price and have it taken off me through additional charges.
3-4 hour flights is a different story.
*we flew Premium which was £100 more than BA's economy. Big seat, dedicated cabin for 35 people, 2 toilets!
Sleezyjet, better but not by much.
Whizz actually alright
Norwegian bloody brilliant.
Long haul wise of the cheap ones dont mind norwegian again, China air, Malaysian or thai. Not a fan of ba at all but do do some great deals, did japan direct return for £416 2 yrs ago, in korea atm direct return again about £400.
I have only had issues with easyJet and Ryanair when flying between london - dublin/Belfast.
London - Dublin done the flight probably 50 times can count on 1 hand the amount of times it’s gone on time.
as others have said sometimes you do have to remember how cheap they are and what you expect for that price
His daughter Dawn lives in North Street Bromley......her husband Alan used to do building work for me.
Not a lot of people know that........no honestly they really don’t....unbelievable when you come to think of it.
I find almost all Asian airlines to be rough, there's never enough legroom and I always seem to get stuck next to a 10ft Aussie.
Conversely they spend a great deal of time and effort trying to get you to pay for all manner of extras......which, of course, they make very easy.
Also it’s nigh on impossible to get someone on the phone.......from any department.
The flights and planes are OK though.......nothing spectacular but you get what you pay for.
I personally try to avoid using Ryanair but sometimes the price is too big to turn down.
Echo what people have said about Norwegian Air, used them twice and they would surperb.
Certainly one of the best approaches, not just getting excellent views of London yet also the sharp descent that the plane is forced to do once past Canary Wharf... Is as good as any rollercoaster
Have heard really good things about Norwegian Airlines, especially the American routes. We tend to fly Virgin long haul, purely as my wife is a frequent Gold flyer through work and we get heavily discounted flights/upgrades. Cant beat going to LHR in the limo with the private check in, that is a nice start to the holiday.
It was taking all my concentration to not throw up and in the end said to him quite abrupbtly "if you don't fu****g shut up, you'll get my dinner all over your lap"
I think I upset him because he didn't speak to me even after we'd landed.
I just put my headphones in and ignored her for the rest of the flight.
Ryanair staff are awful.
Checked in once, handed over four passports, weighed bag to find it 1Kg over.
Removed some crap and placed it on scales.
Doris then asked for the final fourth passport.
Indicated that she was given four.
Flatly denied this and the argument got quite heated.
My daughter shone her iphone torch down the side between her seat and baggage conveyor and indicated it had dropped down there.
Spent the next half an hour waiting for an engineer to strip the conveyor down to retrieve it.
Not so much as an apology from the miserable bitch.
Then get to the gate to be told by some other jumped up old c***, that we shouldn't leave it this late to board in future.
F***ing hate Ryanair and would only fly with them if it was me and the lads, never with family.
I have even changed flight dates, so as not to fly with them.
BA not great I agree but at least you get treated with respect. Virgin always excellent.
Have had good experiences with Jet2 but limited routes.
Curious that some US low fare carriers like JetBlue and Southwest have found a way not to treat their customers with disdain whilst maintaining a profitable business (having said that the likes of Frontier and Spirit look appalling and presumably are).
I used Norwegian Air to fly to Tenerife a couple of years ago, really impressed and it was about the same price as Sleazyjet.
Have flown Norwegian a couple of times to and from the US and multiple times around Europe for work (Scandinavia mainly) and I honestly think in terms of the quality of fleet and keeping to their scheduled times they are head and shoulders above the other budget airlines and I’d probably choose them over BA these days (I only really fly BA now when I can use my air miles because I’d never actually pay the premium they charge with my own money for the level of service they now provide).
SAS (Scandinavian) and Luthtansa are both highly recommended and you can sometimes pick up cheap flights with either (air hostesses are fit too!).
P.S another vote for City airport - it’s what an airport experience should be, we’ve just been so conditioned to the Heathrow/Gatwick nonsense that we think it’s notmal.
With trainline though you can use a couple of cashback sites