Low-Budget Airlines: Cost Effective Way to Travel Through Europe

Travel throughout Europe has become much more time and cost efficient with the increased availability of low-budget airlines! Low-budget airlines provide money conscious individuals with a cheap means of transportation. For those that are daring to book a flight with WizzAir or Condor (I swear, they are legit) than here are some pointers for traveling low-budget style!

1.       The best times to fly are mid-week and early in the morning or late at night

2.       Pack light! Most low-budget airlines have a strict carry-on policy and will charge ridiculous amounts for checked baggage-your seat might be cheap but not the cargo space!

3.       Check frequently for deals-many of the low-budget airlines will offer special deals where flights are tax-free meaning you literally could purchase a ticket for 10 E (I’ve done it)

4.       Most low-budget airlines don’t offer connecting flights so it is important to book direct

5.       Low-budget airlines will only fly to certain destinations so it is important to check the different airlines to see which offers a flight to your specific location

6.       Check the airport that you are flying into because often times it is a more remote airport, which means more travel time and maybe a bus ticket into the city

7.       Read ALL the policies! Low-budget airlines like to throw in some weird regulations and restrictions. For instance, some only allow online check-ins while others require you check-in in person

8.       Seat assignments don’t always exist. Run to the front of the line if you want a good seat!

9.       If it’s a longer flight, eat before or bring snacks because you are definitely not getting any complimentary food service in flight

10.   Reliability can be iffy-some airlines are great at being on time, others you might be stuck waiting for hours…or days…

Here’s a list of the most popular low-budget airlines used throughout Europe:

• Air Berlin
• Air Italy
• Blue Air
• Condor
• Easyjet
• Ryanair
• SmartWings
• Vueling
• WizzAir

*edreams.net is a great website that does comparison prices for multiple low-budget airlines so you can be sure to get the best deal!

Although some of these pointers might sound negative or more of an inconvenience, I promise you that low-budget flying is the way to travel. It is cheap and definitely takes less time than traveling by train (which can be pretty expensive too). Plus, it is an adventure in of itself and it is always kind of fun to say you actually traveled on an airline with the name “WizzAir”!