Help please: Easy Jet /Ryan Air logistics -- London to Berlin
 

I've never flown from central London to central Berlin but will need to do so in a few weeks.

I'd like to leave on Wednesday evening, and my choices on Easy Jet are a 19:55 flight from Gatwick (arr 22:45) or an 18:50 from Luton (arr 21:35). Ryan Air has an 18:35 from Stansted (arr 21:20).

My questions are:

(1) Are both airlines equally reliable? (I must get to Berlin that night.)

(2) Which has the best transfer from central London to the airport?

(3) If I am above weight on my luggage, do I just pay an extra fee at check-in?

(4) How long will it take to get to my hotel in Berlin (probably Mitte area). Will I find any place open for a bite to eat at that hour?

Thanks so much for your help.

Cannot speak for Ryanair but for Easyjet they will charge you for any excess weight at check-in. Friends of mine had to do this for an ATH-LGW flight last year. What's worse..they had to go to someother part of the terminal to actually pay the money..but it was their own fault as we warned them about the weight restrictions but they refused to listen.

I wasn't aware that either one had a transfer from central London other than what is normally availabe: National Rail or the coach services.

Cannot help you with Mitte-specific info as I usually stay elsewhere.

In my own experience, Berlin tends to be a late night sort of place. Are you planning to take a taxi from the airport?

Dukey,

Thanks. I was figuring on a taxi from the Berlin airport at that hour.

Can you give me some idea of when should I leave London to make those flights at that time of day? When I used the word "transfer" I meant to cover all possibilities: Should I take a train? A coach? I've never done this before.

The weight restrictions are worrisome. I will be traveling in Europe for two weeks. Should I look for a regular carrier?

Thanks again!

I have flown and liked both. Check the websites for info about how to get from the Berlin airport to the city center. RyanAir has information on this for all cities to which they fly. I'd guess that both Easyjet and Ryanair use the same airport, so the tranfer would be the same. Sometimes Rynair has their own shuttle to the city center; not sure if this is true for Berlin. I think you can take the S-Bahn?

There are trains to Gatwick and Stansted from London. I can't recall about Luton as I've never been there from London itself. However, I think it's more out of the way than Gatwick or Stansted. Check out Gatwick Express and Stansted Express.

Since you will be gone for two weeks, I'd guess that you'll be over weight. Check out opodo.co.uk for European airlines like BA or Luftansa. Maybe AirBeriln will work as well? I'm not sure what their baggage limits are.

Ryanair (out of Stansted) is very reliable .

You can easily go to Stansted by train from central London.Leave at least 2 1/2-3 hours lead time for your flight . Do check ahead to synchronize train times so you don't get nervous.

You will pay if you are above weight and you will need extra time and money if this is the case. (Part of the low fares are trying to keep weight down and I don't know how the recent no carry-on policy will have impacted these discount airlines. See the website-they keep it up-to-date.

Others are better on the Berlin end for info.

Good luck!

Thanks for the all the responses. Air Berlin has the same weight restrictions, so I'm going to experiment over the next few days to see what 20kg of luggage looks like in the bag I intend to carry. Maybe I can do it!

Having to leave Central London 3 hours before the flight is the real kick in the head.

One more question:

Is it highly recommended that I book these flights in advance for a midweek afternoon/evening flight, or do most people just show up to buy a ticket at the counter?

Please, please, please book in advance. You'll get the best rates that way!

< do most people just show up to buy a ticket at the counter? >

Most people book several MONTHS in advance. If you buy on the day you'll probably pay more than with a "regular" airline. Many of the low cost carriers only allow on-line or phone bookings so you can't "just turn up"

BTW do check the "regular" airlines from Heathrow & Gatwick as their prices can be very competitive especially at short notice

As for your original question, the easiest to get to is Gatwick via a Southern Trains - em - train from Victoria or a First Capital Direct train from several stations in London.

The cheapest is to go to Luton Airport with Easybus from Baker Street.

All the low cost airlines will charge for excess baggage, though with the current security problems most are allowing you to be slightly over on your hold luggage IF you don't have much hand luggage

Ryanair and Easyjet fly to Berlin Schönefeld, which was the East Berlin/DDR airport and further away from the centre. The S-Bahn takes nearly an hour to get to central Berlin, but there are regional trains taking about half an hour: last trains around 11pm. Air Berlin flies to Tegel, which is more central, in what was West Berlin; there is no direct train connection but express buses, taking 15 minutes to Zoo station or 25-30 minutes to Alexanderplatz.

Try kayak.com. I found some very good fares on BA from London for my trip. They allow 23kg. I am using Ryan Air for my return so I can only bring 20 kg.

Thank you for all this precise info!

I really do want the close-in airport, and I will book as far in advance as possible.

Is Ryan Air 15kg or 20kg?

If I can grab one of the cheaper BA flights (thanks Micheline!) I certainly will, but the cheap one is on the early side.

Does anybody have any feeling about whether the Stansted Express is better than the coach to Stanstead? If train is more reliable, does it makes sense to have a hotel near Liverpool station? I'm thinking I will stow my bags at the hotel during the day, then pick them up on my way to catch my flight. If so, any recommendations for a hotel in Holborn?

(The alternative is to stay near Marble Arch and catch the coach.)

Thanks again for all this help!

I'd say the train, just because you can't be sure what traffic will be like via the coach ... of course there could be train issues too!

I would be surprised if you found fares on Opodo that match those on Ryanair or Easyjet IF you book now.

Why wait? The longer you wait, the more expensive the fares will be.

< I would be surprised if you found fares on Opodo that match those on Ryanair or Easyjet IF you book now. >

Ryanair 24th Sep - 2nd October : 98.61 GBP return
BA 24th Sep - 2nd October : 93.90 GBP return

Thank you, JoeTro. That was my instinct but I'm glad to have you confirmation.

Believe me, I would book this flight immediately were it not for a business associate needing a few days to clear his calendar. But I feel in a much better position now to move immediately when the light is green.

Thanks again for all your help!

BA running sales for several destinations including Berlin for Nov 1-30 Apr, GBP39 one-way. departure from Heathrow to Tegel. If you're flying in a few weeks time, your fare may be higher.

Out of London, Luton is the furtherst away, you get there via coach. Stanstead is about 45 min by train from Liverpool St Stn. Gatwick is 30 min by train from Victoria.

Agree with PatrickLondon that Tegel is much closer than Schoenfield. AirBerlin from Stanstead to Tegel may be more efficient in terms of transfer to/from airports, if the flight schedule works.

Thanks, w9London. Even though the BA supersales are not in my window, the fares are still competitive (within a pound) with what Air Berlin is offering.

We still haven't booked, and in terms of efficiency, it's a toss up. I'm figuring that we will need to get to the airport sooner if we choose Heathrow because security and logistics. On the other hand, if we chosse Stansted, we will have to add time getting to Liverpool station.

In any event, I really apprecaite everyone's help. We will book in the next 24 hours and live with whatever our decision is.

Air Berlin is the most reliable of the budget airlines.

More reliable than British Airways?

It's Liverpool STREET station. This may seem like a pedantic correction - ask for a ticket to Liverpool, and that's what you'll get.

Thanks Owain. I've memorized it. What would really get expensive is to say the wrong thing to the taxi driver!

Ryan air has NO baggage allowance - you have to pay to check ANY baggage.

personlly I have a gripe with Ryan air because they also charge £35 if you need a wheelchair.

All airlines are reliable within the realm of possibility. Ryanair and I imagine others post every bit of information they can. Information is updated regularly. Travel confusion results from relying on anecdotal and outdated information. There are hundreds of excellent travel agencies in central London. You can inquire and they will offer economy packages as well as more expensive ones. You may also consider posting luggage to Berlin.

< Ryan air has NO baggage allowance - you have to pay to check ANY baggage.

personlly I have a gripe with Ryan air because they also charge £35 if you need a wheelchair. >

You have a free hand luggage allowance of 10kg

As for the wheelchair, they lost a case a couple of years ago about wheelchairs & now charge EVERYONE for potential wheelchair use

fall06,

We went to Berlin (trip report link: http://tinyurl.com/zbkke) end of July. We left from Stansted and flew into Schönefeld.

We flew Ryan Air. It was super easy to get the train from the airport to any location downtown, about 30 minutes. Make sure you buy an all day pass at the station for use the entire day on any metro, train or bus.

When I booked my txt I paid 5 GBP to check a bag but ended up taking a carry-on and not checking anything.

Both my flights were on time there and back, and really, really easy.

Have a great trip!

I am flying throgh London to Italy too, and my question is: If I am having 10 hour stopover in London and want to leave my already checked in US carryon luggage inside the "secure" inside of the airport, is there a baggage storage, lockers, etc. inside the airport? It will take less time to get through secuity check on the way back from the city then.

Sorry, posted the previous message on the wrong forum

Thanks, StephCar, for the link to your trip report, which I will now make myself a cup of coffee and read. We'll be flying Air Berlin out of Stansted, and good to know it's not a hassle to get there from central London.

Dear Fall06,
e flew into Schonefeld last year amd spent about an hour just finding the right train platform - the station is very confusing, IMO. Given you will arraving late and in the dark, I would definitely take a cab- it should be about E30 as most. Near where we stayed in Mitte, the restaurants and bars were definitely open late but this was in the middle of a hot summer - not sure what the situation is in November, but if you at a fairly central hotel, you will almost certainly find something nearby.
Good luck!

fall06, hope you liked the trip report! FYI, if you dn't have a hotel, I highly recommend the Hotel Astoria that I put in my report. You can't go wrong...I promise.

Regarding annhig's statement that it was hard to find the right platform to get to downtown Berlin...I will agree that we could make no sense of the train schedules there and were completely lost. But, there were so many helpful Berliners that told us where to go, and then of course it seemed obvious. On the first (or 2nd track?) on the right if you go up there is an information booth as well. I would not hesitate to ask someone, even late at night. But, if you have the cash for a taxi then that is great too. We are always budget travellers so I never use cabs if I can avoid it!

Have fun. I already wish I was going back.