My son, who will be on leave from National Guards in Iraq, plans to spend a week in Paris with his girlfriend and then fly to Rome (on Mother's Day) to spend a week with me in Italy. He was waiting to make flight reservations to Rome because he want to wait until travel orders about flying back out of Rome. I checked yesterday and was shocked to find out how few options he had. The cheapest non-stop out of CDG airport to Rome I found was $382 one-way (ironically on Kuwait Airlines), and then the price jumped to over $900. From Orly there was an Iberian flight for $133. Since his girlfriend is home from CDG, he was hoping to fly from there. He was going to check further to see what I may have missed, but does anyone have experience flying from CDG to Rome, or from Orly to Rome, for that matter? Has he just waited too long to get good flights?
Posted by
Gaston, Oregon, USA
931 posts
Elaine go to Ryan air.com. $27.99 eu one way. Paris Beauvais to Rome Ciampino. I would buy my tickets now. But, Ryan Air does not fly into or out of the major airports. There is usually great transportation to these smaller airports. We have flown into Rome Ciampino, and taken a private taxi to Rome for less than $50. Ryan air has very strict! luggage requirements, and there willl be additional fees, but we have used them with great sucess flying thruout the EU. Vueling also has direct fights at around $130 US. So does Easy Jet.
Posted by
Park Ridge, IL
524 posts
Elane A great way to spend his National Guard leave in Europe! Check out the website www.skyscanner.com. This has many (all) the discount European airlines, schedules, prices, etc. They really really beat the big airline prices. But as the previous writer mentioned, you have to check which airport they fly into. Also how far and how much, to get the center of the city. As important, is following all of the strict rules these airlines have for luggage weight and size and number of pieces. They make some of their money by clobbering you with extra fees. You may also have to pay for the option to choose a seat in advance, any food or drink, etc. Just read the fine print. The discount airlines are a very good option for getting around inside Europe. Note: The closer the day to the flight, the more the flight usually costs so I hope he finds out his Travel Orders soon. Hope everyone has a wonderful time on his leave! Bobbie
Posted by
The Hague, NL (AMS)
2207 posts
Elane, we've flown multiple times on Vueling and Easyjet from Rome to Paris. I've avoided Ryanair as they land about an hour (by bus) from Paris, and despite their advertised low fees (1 cent!), by the time you add in all their taxes, additional charges, and transportation costs from their way out airport locations, you're often better off on a competitor. You might look at this article, budget airlines in Europe, for some more info and links on this route.
Posted by
OP
Joseph, Oregon, USA
46 posts
I haven't had a chance to talk to my son via Skype for the past week, so don't know if he booked a flight to Rome or not. He was aware of relatively low-cost flights from ORLY and the RyanJet one, but was still hoping to find one from CDG because of his girlfriend.
He's not yet sure when and where he flies to in order to catch a military flight back to Kuwait and Iraq, thus can only do one-way so far. Too far in to get really budget flights. Thanks for all your responses.