I have two queries,
One - I am planning to spend a few nights in Salzburg in early February, Does anyone have ideas for a cheap but warm accommodation - with character? Also cheap/warm accommodation in Vienna?
Two - booking flights to and from London, are all those last minute, expedia websites reliable? Is it better to go direct through an airline's website, eg Austrian?

In Salzburg I can't help so much.

In Vienna, the Pension Domizil is cheap and very central with a great breakfast but not really ye olde worlde charm.

Austrian Airlines is always expensive. Try one of the low cost carriers.

Hi C,

www.expedia.com is reliable.

Salzburg lodging: If by cheap you mean around 100 Euro/nt or less for a double with breakfast, you might consider the Am Dom on Goldgasse (88-106 E/nt) in the Altstadt, or Hotel Bergland (88E/nt)--a bit of a hike from the Altstadt, but with good reviews and free parking. One that we might stay at next time is the Weisses Kreuz, right below the fortress, at 90 Euro/nt.

Ryanair flies Stanstead to Salzburg for as little as 19.99 GBP each way.

www.ryanair.com

Sorry - I was way wrong on my Ryanair prices.

According to their website the lowest price from London Stanstead to either Salzburg or Bratislava (Vienna) is 0.01 GBP, plus fees,taxes. Sounds like a good deal to me.

lastminute.com is 99% reliable. That is, it's operated by honest and mostly competent people and I've never had a hint of a problem with them. But they're human, they're agents and they rely on lots of suppliers' systems gelling perfectly with theirs. No doubt there's someone out there who hit a screw-up on a day their customer service people all had flu. But then Fodors is hardly perfect when it comes to keeping systems working properly, is it?

You'll almost always get better prices from lastminute (or ebookers) than from Expedia, and - unless they're having a sale - always, always than from the legacy airlines. You'll probably get better prices on low-costs though - but not necessarily, and it's always worth checking both strategies. Even if lastminute (or ebookers) is selling you a seat on Austrian or BA.

You'll also get better value with these consolidators' hotel/flight packages than almost any other way that's easily available.