My wife and I would like to fly from Venice directly to Prague on a budget airlines, (i.e., not the Czech airline/CSA) on June 1st. OpenJet earlier showed they have this route, but unlike a few months back, I can no longer get flight times and prices. Would anybody else have any good ideas -- preferably from somebody who has actually traveled this route lately? There IS a flight from Rome to Prague but we don't really want to backtrack there... I've checked about all the budget airlines and even looked at flying to ENGLAND to connect to Prague! Yikes! Help!

P.S. A 15-hour night train directly from Venice to Prague is VERY undesirable.

Thanks,

Mike Bresso
San Leandro/SF, CA

Two years ago we flew from Prague to Venice on a small prop plane. It was Tyrolean which I believe is part of Austrian Airways.

I don't know if they are still doing it but you might try them.

If there is a carrier (and there has been - - smartwings.net - - and might be again between now and June 1), you will read about it first (most likely) on www.whichbudget.com

Best wishes,

Rex

Why do you not want to fly Czech Air? I flew from Venice to Prague on them last summer and they were fine. I was originally scheduled on the now defunct Volareweb but they made a schedule change (I would have arrived in the middle of the night) so I canceled the Volareweb flight and booked Czech Air instead. It turned out to be almost the same price. I can't think of any reason not to fly them. It was certainly cheaper and less painful than taking the train.

Why don't I want to fly Czech Air from Venice to Prague? Round-trip: about $180 USD; or, alternatively, 1-way: approx. $760 USD. How do YOU spell "ripoff" ("zlodìjna&quot?!

BTW, I was all over "whichbudget.com" with no luck. Good web site though!

Thanks all for your help.

If the roundtrip/one-way fare discrepancy is a "ripoff" in your outlook, then so is (almost) every other airline in the world. The fare is $760 each way. The airline exercises its prerogative to offer a deep discount (almost 85%) for those passengers prepared to buy a roundtrip ticket. What is the ripoff?

They will not charge you if you are unable to - - or if you elect NOT to - - use the return portion of your roundtrip ticket, you know.

I'm merely pointing out in some modicum of frustration that one can take a 1-way "hop" from Venice to say, Gatwick/London for $40, so Czech Airlines -- not a bona fide "budget" carrier -- is far from a deal. Accordingly I would prefer to avoid it. But ultimately if I call an airline or a price a "ripoff," then to me it is; sue me.

As it turns out chances are we will be taking that round-trip flight and not take the return leg. In any event OpenJet suckles (or at least they do unless and until they reinstate or fix their website). I jes calls 'em as I sees 'em and am happy if you agree with me but not unhappy if you don't.

Thanks for your thoughts everybody.

It's called "supply and demand"..you WANT to fly. THEY have the planes.