I'm planning a 3 week trip on March 2008 and I will be visiting Paris, Barcelona, Venice, Florence and Rome.

First, i thought of buying the Eurail SelectPass Saver which was about 470 euros (5 days in 2 months for 3 countries, price include aditional fares for each route and agency fee in Chile).

Now I'm thinking... what about low cost airlines? I checked on mobissimo.com and found amazing rates... for example: Paris - Rome for 25 euros.... is that true???? Would you book with them? Have anyone tried it?

thanks for the info.

The cheap airlines can be a good deal but there are a few things to consider:

First, the schedule isn't always user friendly since some of the airlines don't fly every day of the week and when they do fly, they sometimes leave at very early or late times.

Second, the 25 euro fee sounds good but does that include airport tax? So you might end up paying more than double what they say their ticket price is.

Finally, most of the cheap airlines have very stringent luggage policies. They might allow one bag weighing no more than 25 pounds and then charge 5 euros per pound for every pound over.

Having said all of this, I would (and have) flown cheap airlines. Just be sure to read the fine print.

Very good points sshephard... thnxs!

believe it or not, you can even sometimes find €0/£0 or €1/£1 fares -- plus taxes/fees of course.

For long distances, flying can be considerably cheaper than trains or rail passes.

While I haven't thought through your particulars - - so this might not be a good fit - - take a look at Skyteam Europe Pass.
http://www.skyteam.com/EN/benefits/a...ash2/index.jsp

Might work for you.

But, in general, I think you will find that the low cost airlines are wonderful (values).

Best wishes,

Rex

www.whichbudget.com

in addition to what <b>sshephard</b> said,


most low cost carriers are point to point airlines. if you need to connect you need to re-check at the connecting airport.

Many of the LCCs use far away airports yet they never mention that fact during the booking process. Major airlines fly out of FRA, just minutes away from central Frankfurt by train, the LCCs may be using Frankfurt-Hahn airport, about an hour or more by a coach and 16E per person.

It's stuff like that that you need to pay special attention to when booking these flights. Read the fine print.


Another possibility you may want to look into is www.europebyair.com

Have a great trip!


btw, mobissimo.com is reputible. nothing to worry about if you decide to use the site.

If you want to know about all the current budget airlines and in one place, try using www.skyscanner.net first

Hi, I would recommend checking out www.harefares.com as it lets you choose multiple origin and destination airports and then shows all the cheap airlines that fly those routes....very helpful when trying to navigate your way through the plethora of european airlines. Good luck!

We took AirOne this October and absolutely loved it. We had no problem with luggage weight, but another couple we know did. They had a lot of luggage.

Check out this website:

http://www.flybudget.com/

You can't book a flight, but it will give you a good idea of what's available in Europe.

WE have used Ryan Air and are scheduled to use Easyjet in March for a flight from Milan to Amsterdam for about %50 pp. Try either of their websites. Good trip

Opps, I meant $50 pp. Also, be aware of luggage weight on both airlines. And be on time.

we fly low cost from Pisa all the time. we have never had a problem and we have bought return tickets (including taxes) for as little as 36 euros.

I think low cost airlines are a great idea.

Pisa is an excellent airport to fly to because it is right in town.

To add to other comments. Yes the budget airlines are great, and they can be very cheap. The best times to fly are ususally midweek (Tues-thurs).

Don't rely on them totally. I am flying to Italy twice this year, both times on a Saturday. In both cases BA worked out cheaper than Ryanair , FlyBMI or Easyjet.

I agree with willit, you have to do some maths As my nearest airport is not a big one, for many destinations there are only low cost airlines flying, but when there is more than one flight it doesn't hurt to go shopping a bit
Competition between airlines makes marvels sometimes LOL

Paris has a third airport that some of these discount airlines use. Just how far a drive is it from the city? Just how easy is it to get there? What would a shuttle or taxi cost? I need to book a Paris to Rome flight for June for three, and it appears that &quot;saving&quot; might actually cost me if we fly from Beauvias? What can you tell me about that airport? Thanks

you can look on ryanair´s website to see prices for their bus to town.