Searching budget European airlines
 

Is there a site, like Kayak, which will let you search the budget European airlines?

And, does anyone know how easy it is to transfer from LHR to LGW or STN, and how long it takes? I'm thinking about a trip to France this summer, and BA or Virgin premium economy tickets aren't all that expensive, but neither fly to my final destination, Montpellier...

Use www.whichbudget.com .

In general, National Express is one good choice for LHR-LGW.

For the other transfers, it would depend whether you wanted to save time, or money.

No matter which you choose, allow plenty of time, because London airports + London traffic + London public transport tends to equal delays.

National Express is the only connection between Heathrow and Gatwick that makes any real sense. Depending on the terminals you're using, generally allow a absolute minimum of three hours (though a couple more for luck won't hurt)from scheduled touch down to getting into the queue for checkin, and double check the very rigidly enforced checkin cutoff times most Gatwick airlines operate.

National Express also operate the only direct service from Heathrow to Stansted. This though takes forever: the alternatives are either to use a car service (like justairports), though this'll cost a fortune, or the following public transport route through London,which will take about 90 mins:
Heathrow Express to Paddington
Bakerloo Tube to Oxford Circus
Victoria Tube northbound to Tottenham Hale
Stansted Express to Stansted

Slightly slower (about 2 hours) and slightly cheaper:
Heathrow Connect to Paddington
Circle Line Tube to Liverpool St
Stansted Express to Stansted.

The general advice is to allow at least 5 hours between flights if changing between any 2 London airports

On the return journey I'd recommend an overnight stay in London as nothing ruins a holiday more than having to buy a full cost one way Transatlantic ticket because you missed your connection

Note that however you do it, travelling between London airports is neither cheap nor covenient and a low costs airline may not be cheap.

Also note that they do tend to be VERY strict on luggage allowances & check-in times

Have a look at www.skyscanner.net for low costs airlines and http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/...ttransfers.htm for how to get between airports - the airport websites also have a lot of information on airport transfers

BTW, Kayak searches many of the major budget airlines, so you might just be able to

I also use wikipedia to find who flies into a specific airport, but whichbudget is also handy.

As for your specific itinerary, you only have two options from London to Montpellier - Easyjet from Gatwick or Ryannair from Stansted. I would suggest Easyjet over Ryannair.

there is a substantial price difference between Easy jet and Ryan air, leading me to prefer Ryan. Are they that bad?

Make sure you add up all of the extras on Ryanair. Pay especial attention to the checked baggage allowance. You pay for all checked bags - GBP 6 for the first and GBP 12 for the second and third. And you get a combined weight of up to 15 kg. Above 15 kg, you pay GBP 7.50 per kg.

So, supposing that you have a single 50 pound bag, you will have to pay GBP 66 in checked bag fees.

And the carry-on allowance is a single piece weighing up to 10 kg.

On Easyjet, there is no carry-on weight limit, that I know of. And your checked baggage allowance is 20kg, though you still pay per bag.

So, make sure you do your homework to see who is cheaper.

As for the in-flight experience, both will be pretty dire, with absurdly tight seating and pay-for drinks (including sodas) and food. Don't expect much and you want be disappointed, but if you expect even the standards of someone like Southwest, then you will walk away unhappy.

worse than Southwest? Wow! Since we will be flying into LHR, and we will be travelling for only a week, I think we will go with carryons - I will monitor the weight. But even GBP 6 for a checked bag keeps the price less than half of easy Jet's. If they are both awful, I might as well go for cheap. The flight is less than 2 hours, and our other flight will be Virgin, so we could do the extremes of comfort, I guess. Hope I don't regret this...

<<< But even GBP 6 for a checked bag keeps the price less than half of easy Jet's >>>

It's only £6 for the first bag per person per flight - it's £12 for subsequent bags

Then add on £2 per person per flight for airport check-in plus £3 per person PER FLIGHT for use of a credit card.

As for choice of flights - LGW is a lot easier to get to from LHR than STN so factor that into your costs.

<<< So, supposing that you have a single 50 pound bag, you will have to pay GBP 66 in checked bag fees. >>>

You have £66 in EXCESS baggage fees - per flight.

And that £66 is regardless of how many bags you have - just that one bag saves you the £12 per 2nd & subsequent bag cost

<i>worse than Southwest? Wow!</i>

Traveling on European budget (and some mainline) carriers is an eye-opener. I suggest all US-based flyers try it out so that they can prepare for what is coming. It is not pretty.