Inter Europe airlines: who did you find the most reliable?
 

Hi:

If things come together we'll still be able to get across the pond this Fall in November.

We have now decided to move Paris & Normandy to Spring 2006. DH prefers this and I think it's a good idea since the gardens will be in bloom and the wet, cold weather in Normandy may be subsided. Originally we had this all planned for mid October.

Anyway, now we're still going to London and in place of France are thinking of returning to Florence or Rome.

I've been checking flights & prices on
Meridiana, EasyJet, RyanAir. They are running close in price. Never used them before, are aware of the luggage restrictions.

We'd be flying London to Florence.

Basically, which ones have you used?

Were they reliable, on time?

How much more time is needed to get to LGW,
STN, LTN airports in London?

Are there direct public transportation out of London city to these airports or will we need to use more than one leg to get there?

Di

<<How much more time is needed to get to LGW, STN, LTN airports in London?>>

Well, it really rather depends on "from where" in London, wouldn't it?

Anyhow, directly from rynair.com (click on "Destinations" then on the city, and follow the links...

http://www.london-luton.co.uk/en/con...ea=2&id=62

http://www.stanstedairport.com

and then one choice there is http://www.stanstedairport.com/click...tedexpress.com (the other links are too long to cite here)

From the official Stansted site, you wil also find direct links to every other BAA airport official website.

including...

http://www.gatwickairport.com

Best wishes,

Rex

p.s. it's <i>intr<b>a</b></i>-Europe.

Interstate - - between states
Intramural - - within the walls

Hello DiG.

The good news is that I've read many reports of people satisfied with at least two of the airlines you mention (Easyjet and Ryanair). Those posters reported these airlines as being on time when they used them.

The bad news is that many posters on flyertalk.com, a board that attracts frequent flyers (people who fly often enough to qualify for elite status in airline point programs) do not care to risk their business flights on these airlines, referred to on that board as LCC (low cost carriers.) Reasons cited include the lack of excess capacity carried by these airlines. If there is a delay due to mechanical breakdown, for example, these airlines could take longer than conventional airlines like BA to reschedule the passengers affected.

Bottom line: you must assess your own risk tolerance, and buy accordingly. For ourselves, we prefer to use BA, not least of which because the schedules are better. But, it is more expensive as a rule.

All the airports you cite have public transportation from centre London. The time you need depends on where you are and your circumstances - i.e, between which two airports are you trying to connect. It's also very important to remember that whenever traveling on multiple tickets instead of a single itinerary 'through-ticket' - and multiple tickets are invariably the case with LCC connections - you will not receive any compensation from the airlines if you miss your connection. Again, speaking only for ourselves, when we fly into LGW from the continent, we overnight in London before picking up our transatlantic flight the next day at LHR. At the least, you should plan on 5 hours layover when needing to switch airports in London.

My husband and I flew from Gatwick to Florence on Meridiana and we really liked it. The plane was comfortable, not particularly full (and this was a Saturday morning flight) and it was a pleasant experience in general. It was also nice to fly into the Florence airport, which is very small and a quick cab ride from the city center. We had a minor problem returning with a computer not working or something, but they fixed the problem quickly and we were only delayed about an hour or so. They even allowed us to return to the terminal so we weren't sitting in the plane during the delay. I can't help with transportation from London to Gatwick since we were flying through from the States, but I did take a train from Gatwick directly to London on a previous trip and it wasn't too much of a hassle.

I've used both Easy Jet and Meridiana and found both pleasant and very reliable. Flew Rome to Milan a few months ago, and it was quite a full flight as there was a transportation strike that day, but flight took off on time, arrived on time, and the few of us who had checked luggage received it promptly.

BC

Hi everyone:

Rex, thanks for the websites, I'll put them in my London folder. I notice that yr posts have alot of work in them. It's much appreciated.

Got me! I spend too much time driving on the (inter) state that I can't wait to get to the (intra)Europe.

I can't book anything until October 13.
Planning on staying in a central
location of the London city. Airport looking like it will be Gatewick.

Been on (priceline),(venere), (whichbudget)sites collecting data for hotels. Also using these &amp; others for airfare quotes. I have collected notes from this forum for Florence and London tours, theatre, etc.

Sue,I see yr view regarding using 'BA'. Can't doubt their reliabilty but price of trip goes up but I understand now why that is. Good points to consider.

Glad to hear some of you have had positive experiences with 'Meridiana'. They have an inexpensive am flight.
The others,'EasyJet' &amp; 'RyanAir' have either a very early am or a very late pm flights to Florence.

Definitely will think more on 'BA' vs
'Meridiana'. Price vs Dependability?

Trip shaping up like this:

Dates 11/5 or 6 - 11/17 or 18.
ON Flight, BOS-LHR, AA or BA
5N London
am flight, LGW-FLR, BA or Meridiana
5N Florence
Departure am, FLR-BOS, AA or Atalia

I'll keep you posted.
Thanks for helping.

Di

I appreciate your kind comments.

I have flown both Ryanair and Easyjet frequently over the past 5 years for both business and pleasure and have found them both reasonably reliable.

IMO if BA were to run their business as efficiently they wouldn't have had the fiasco they encountered this summer.