My friend and I are going on an excursion throughout Italy for a few months to study and then afterwards we are going to visit a couple of other countries. Are these cheap airlines safe and respectable? We are going to get Eurail passes but that doesn't cover all of the places we want to go.. We just wanted to use the cheap flights for a couple of destinations and don't know HOW they could be so cheap.
Posted by
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2779 posts
They're perfectly save! I use them all the time. They're cheap because they follow a strict no-frills policy. Seat pitch: minimal. Service: none. Seat's don't recline for cost reasons, they've got an all one aircraft type fleet (Boeing 737-800), you've got to pay extra for every single piece of luggage you check in (no free baggage allowance), you've got to pay for food and drink on board (premiums, of course), you've got to pay extra if you don't check-in yourself online, they don't use the big airports (so their Venice is about 100 miles away from the actual city, so is their Frankfurt, their London, their Paris, their Milan etc etc)... But again, I use them all the time and it's always worked out just fine.
Posted by
Paris, France
506 posts
EasyJet and Ryanair are the European equivalent to Southwest in the US. So services are at a minimum to keep costs low. For example, there are fees to check in baggage, no seat assignments, no free drinks etc. and in some cities they land at outer airports where landing fees are cheaper.
I fly both of these airlines frequently. Booking early of course gets you the cheap fares - I have lucked out at times to get flights from Paris to Milan/Rome for example for 10 Euros.
Both have excellent websites as well with great details about their policies. Enjoy !!
Posted by
Nottingham, UK
658 posts
OK I’ll explain how they do it so cheap. Most of the major airlines you will see at airports are part of IATA, a body that regulates airlines and air travel. The ‘no-frills’ airlines are not part of IATA. That saves them a lot of money. This means there are a lot of services they don’t offer. You can’t book connecting flights with them, you won’t get free food or drinks, if your bags are delayed they won’t be delivered to you, you often fly into ‘secondary’ airports, they nearly always charge heavily for any changes you make and hold luggage can be restricted and often incur extra charges. What you get is a flight from one airport to another on a safe aircraft and not much else. If you arrive late or you have any problems, that’s too bad. You will most likely lose your money or pay a very hefty amount to travel.