So ask yourself what your priorities are—is it worth that extra £20 to get yourself to hotel check-in as swiftly as possible and make the most of your visit to London? Or do you have time on your side and would rather save those £££s on transportation, so you have more money to burn when you’re out and about in the city?

We’ve saved you the lengthy research by weighing up the best fast and cheapo options below!

Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport. Photo: Curt Smith

Heathrow Airport

If you’re arriving in London on a long haul flight, chances are you’ll wind up at Heathrow, which sees almost 200,000 passengers arriving and departing each day. There are five terminals, all fairly easily accessible. Terminals 1, 2 and 3 are walking distance apart, whereas for Terminals 4 and 5 you may find you need to jump on the Underground or the Heathrow Express train.

Fastest: If you’re on a short jaunt in London and want to maximize your time in the city then the Heathrow Express is the best option for you. Sleek and uber comfortable trains with tons of space for luggage depart every 15 minutes from the airport and take just 15 minutes from terminals 1, 2 and 3 to Paddington station in central London. Add on four or six more minutes to the journey time if departing from terminals 4 or 5.

It’s not the cheap option, with adult tickets costing £26 for a single and £39 for a return when purchased onboard, but you can knock £5 off the cost of each ticket when you buy online or at the ticket machines and ticket desks in the station, making a single £21 and a return £34. Get organized and you’ll get an even better price as well, with regular advanced booking deals available online, particularly for kids and group bookings.

Cheapest: If saving those pennies is the most important thing, then by far the best option is to take the London Underground into the city center, which takes around one hour depending on where your final destination is. The Piccadilly Line has a stop for Terminals 1, 2 and 3, another for Terminal 4 and another for Terminal 5, so no matter where you land you’ll be able to access the Tube.

The airport is located in zone 6 and a single ticket into zone 1 (central London) will set you back around £5.70. However, if you read our guide to public transport in London and get yourself an Oyster card, this will be reduced by a few pounds.

The Gatwick Express train gets you to Victoria Station in 30 minutes. Photo: Vera Blossom

Gatwick Airport

Officially located in Sussex, Gatwick Airport is London’s second biggest air hub and covers the largest number of destinations of any airport in the country. There are two terminals; North and South, which are walking distance apart.

Fastest: The quickest way into London is from the well-located train station at the airport. However, unlike from Heathrow, the official “Gatwick Express” service which runs every 15 minutes to London Victoria only shaves around five minutes off your total journey time when compared to the notably cheaper, Southern Trains service. The former will set you back around £18 for a single and £31 for a return, while you can bag a return on the trusty Southern Train for a mere £15. If London Bridge or St Pancras are more convenient for you, opt for the Thameslink train for a similar price.

Cheapo tip: If you’re arriving and departing from Gatwick then be sure to buy yourself a return ticket, it’s only a few pence more expensive that the single!

Cheapest: If time is on your side then take the bus to central London. National Express has regular departures from both terminals to London Victoria from as little as £8 each way online. On average the journey takes an hour and a half, but be patient—London traffic is always unpredictable. Alternatively, Stelios’ easyBus has services to Waterloo and Earl’s Court which take between 60-90 minutes. Buses run every 15-20 minutes and start from as little as £2 each way when booked in advance online.

Stansted Airport

London’s third busiest airport is Stansted. Serving shorter haul destinations, you may well find yourself here if you’re flying to other countries in Europe with a low-cost airline.

Fastest: The handily located station makes it very easy to hop on the train from the airport. The Stansted Express departs every 15 minutes and takes around 35 minutes to Tottenham Hale or 45 minutes to Liverpool Street station. Given the trains are often pretty packed, the £21 single and £32 return feels pretty steep, but you can cut this price massively if you book early, with fares from £8 when booked 30 days in advance and £12 when booked seven days in advance. There are also discounts for groups and two adults traveling together.

Cheapest: Again, if you really want to save those pennies then the bus will be your best option. From Stansted you can catch National Express or Terravision buses to Victoria or Liverpool Street, while the easyBus goes to Old Street and Baker Street. All buses depart regularly and take between one and two hours. Fares start from £2 each way and the best prices are found when booked in advance online.

London Luton

Again, you’re most likely to find yourself at Luton if you’re flying low-cost to a nearby destination, and most Londoners try and avoid this airport like the plague. Not because it’s unpleasant when you get there, but because the lack of an on-site train station makes it a whole lot more awkward to get to and from. If arriving very late at night, I would pay the extra flight price to land somewhere else, as the onward journey from Luton is not so straightforward.

Fastest: Rail is still (just) the quickest way to central London, but the difference isn’t as huge as when compared to Heathrow and in this instance I would probably just go for the cheaper bus route. All visitors must catch the shuttle from outside the airport to the rail station. The journey takes around 10 minutes and the buses leave fairly regularly. Your rail ticket can be bought at the bus stop and includes the surcharge for the shuttle. If you don’t pay it you will be charged £1.60 to take the shuttle bus. On arrival, Thameslink runs trains to Blackfriars, Farringdon, and St Pancras, which take between 40 and 60 minutes and cost around £15 single and £24 return.

Cheapest: Both easyBus and National Express serve Luton Airport and take around 90 minutes to Victoria coach station. EasyBus just launched its direct service to Liverpool Street last month as well, which it claims takes one hour and five minutes, but I would always recommend leaving a bit longer. Single tickets can be bought from as little as £2 if you get them in advance.

You can easily take the Docklands Light Rail to connect with the Tube from London City Airport. Photo: Tom Page

London City

Finally, if you’re touching down at London City Airport then you’re very lucky indeed! Designed for business travelers to have easy access to the city, you won’t be swamped with mind boggling options here—simply up your Oyster card and hop onto the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) and connect to London Underground’s Jubilee Line at Canning Town in just three stops.

How do you get in?

Have a tip for a fast or cheap way in from any of London’s airports? Share with us in the comments section below!

The post London Airport Transport: Our picks for the fastest and cheapest ways into town appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Our new search tool, which is powered by Momondo.com, quickly shows you the cheapest short- and long-haul flights between major European cities, and between North America and Europe.

What’s new?

EuroCheapo’s new flights channel has several new features that we’re excited about:

• Ticket prices for low-cost carriers: We’re now able to show prices and times for flights from carriers such as Ryanair, easyJet and others.

Our new flights search also includes Eurostar trains, when they compare favorably to flights. In this example, the Eurostar costs almost the same as the Air France and easyJet flights.

• Easy booking: Once you’ve found the carrier that works for your trip, we’ll pass you off to make your booking directly with the carrier (such as Ryanair, easyJet and Vueling) or with one of our reservation partners, including cheapOair, Bravofly and others.

• Flights vs trains: EuroCheapo’s new flights search also includes Eurostar train results alongside flights, when the train offers an affordable and convenient option. For example, when you search for London to Paris, results for the Eurostar high-speed trains appear next to flights from Air France, easyJet, British Airways, and others.

Check out our budget flights search for yourself!

Keep up in the air

In addition to launching our new flight search tool, we’re happy to be bringing on Hilary Bown, a Berlin-based travel writer, to regularly cover European budget airline news for us. Hilary will be posting weekly about the latest trends and developments with Europe’s discount airlines and most important airports.

Last week, for example, Hilary covered easyJet’s carry-on baggage guarantee (if you can call it a “guarantee,” that is!), and this week she examined the often overlooked and “hidden” costs of certain budget airlines.

Thanks, as always, for reading and using EuroCheapo. Together, we can afford to go anywhere!

The post EuroCheapo’s new budget flights search takes off! appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

First, the good — yes, you really can book flights regularly for less than €30 each way, if you pay attention to sales (even just two weeks before your flight) or book a couple months in advance. And if you carry on your luggage, obey the weight restrictions, and are flying between major airports, you will most likely feel that you have scored an unbelievable bargain.

Low-cost carriers are shaking up the airline industry for good reason — they deliver virtually the same product as the big players at a fraction of the price. EuroCheapo’s new and improved flight search makes these tickets even easier to find.

Yet as this video (warning: they use grown-up language) makes hilariously clear, there are plenty of opportunities to make expensive missteps when flying with a low-cost carrier.

Here are some of the additional costs you need to consider when weighing your travel options:

Ryanair charges €7 for “Web check in” and another €7 as an “Administration fee.”

1. Cost (in money and time) of traveling to/from the airport

Do not assume that your ticket to “Paris” lands you at well-connected Charles de Gaulle. Many smaller airports used by low-cost carriers name themselves after major metropolitan areas that can be over 90 minutes away. Your options may be limited to charter buses to/from your actual destination, and, if you book a very early departure or very late arrival, you may be looking at a hotel stay and taxi ride to/from somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

A little due diligence here is necessary to make sure you will not be stuck literally or financially.

2. Additional baggage fees

Every low-cost carrier allows you one carry-on bag at no additional cost. If you can fit all of your things into their space/weight constraints (be sure to check your airline’s website for exact specifications!), you can take it on board and save yourself quite a bit of money. (Although, as I mentioned in my last column, some airlines might push you to check your carry-on at the gate.)

If you must check a bag, book the option in advance online. You can generally add this to an existing booking later at no additional cost, but it will often cost double to add the same suitcase at the airport. If you’re traveling with a partner, consider checking just one bag for the two of you and splitting the cost.

Note that you are regularly limited to no more than 20 kg total in checked luggage per person, no matter how many bags you have paid to check. If you exceed this limit, you can expect it to cost you dearly on a per-kilo basis.

3. Online check-in

Do not show up to the airport without checking in online and printing your boarding passes beforehand. At the time of publication, easyJet will allow reprints of boarding cards from its machines at the airport no later than 40 minutes before the flight at no additional cost, while Ryanair charges €70 for this privilege. And despite the fact that it’s their standard, Ryanair’s non-sale flights also regularly include a €7 charge for web check-in.

4. Booking fees, including credit card fees

Low-cost airlines pass these costs of business directly onto the customer.

• Ryanair charges a €7 administrative fee per flight, plus 2% of the total if booked using a credit card
• easyJet charges €12.50 per order, regardless of the number of tickets, and an additional 2.5% of the entire purchase on cards

On both airlines, you can forgo the additional credit card fee if you use a debit card (or, in Germany only, ELV bank transfers), though travelers should note that debit cards may not grant the same protections as credit cards in the case of airline bankruptcy.

Now what’s cheaper?

Carefully examining these very real additional costs may make it clear that the major carrier who doesn’t charge through the nose for luggage isn’t actually more expensive after all, or that taking the train isn’t any longer door-to-door and in fact a better option for your trip given the pleasant scenery, variety of departure options, and lack of airport security hassles.

The real magic of frugal travel is in finding the option that is truly best for you, and for that, the only “special powers” needed are a little knowledge and the application of reason.

The post How much does that budget airline ticket really cost? appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

But we do have four or five days that are wide open and free for a quick jaunt elsewhere. So we turned to one of our new favorite flight search sites, Dohop.com, to see what the options were on Saturday, January 5th in the land of low-cost carriers. Ideally we’d like to pay well under $100 to head to either Rome, Berlin or Barcelona.

After a few searches, we had a winner: $60 for a one-way ticket on Ryanair from Paris (BVA) to Rome (CIA), a full 45% cheaper than the next cheapest price on easyJet. Seems awfully good, right?

Well, here’s where things unwind a bit.

To pass "security," watch this quick advertisement from FedEx. Grrrrrr....

Please just show me the price

Ryanair is a little touchy when it comes to showing their fares and routes on other flight search sites. While they appear in Dohop’s search results, clicking the “Go” button doesn’t link directly to the same result on Ryanair’s site, which would let you book the flight and move on with your day.

Instead, Ryanair requires partner search engines like Dohop, Kayak and Skyscanner to link to Ryanair’s homepage and then travelers must re-enter their search dates.

Okay, not a huge deal.

But before doing a search, you have to agree to Ryanair’s terms and conditions. Just to see that route and price you already saw elsewhere.

Okay, whatever.

But after agreeing to the terms, you have to first complete a “Security check” that grants you permission to use the site (funny, we thought agreeing to the terms granted us permission to use the site).

But click wisely, dear Cheapos, for this Security Check is also an advertisement and will quickly shoot you elsewhere if you click on its image. In my case, it was a giant kangaroo prompting me for a “hopping good” deal on cable TV services. When we stopped back the next day, the ad was for FedEx.

(Spoiler alert! The “security password” is “Ship with FedEx.” Are they going to send TSA after us?)

We entered the advertisement’s security words, but were told we made an error and included the wrong information. We were presented with a new Security Check and a more standard reCAPTCHA form to try again, but then received a 500 server message.

"€51.99" for the evening flight from Paris to Rome.

Getting a little bummed out.

We then clicked back to the homepage, re-entered our search for the third time, and—success!—saw our chosen route and rates.

Finally there it was: €51.99 to go from Paris to Rome. Not bad. Right? (We’ll dismiss the slight difference between $60 and €51.99, which is currently $68, as a currency exchange oddity.)

Too bad we’re not able to take the morning flight for €34.99.

Please just let me figure out how much this is “really” going to cost

Now the fun part: the small print.

Reading Ryanair’s fare details on their website, it shows a €6 web check-in fee. Can I get around the fee by checking in at the airport? Of course not. All travelers are required to check in via the web. And if you booked your flight through a call center or at the airport, you’ll need to pay €12 to check in.

What if you arrive at the airport having forgotten to check in online? [insert sinister laughter from Ryanair here] No problem! If there’s time to re-issue an “alternative form of Boarding Pass” Ryanair will do so, but you’ll be charged a Boarding Pass re-issue fee at the rate set in their Consolidation Table of Fees.

According to this chart, there is no re-issue fee if you booked via Ryanair.com. Ok, that’s nice. However, if you booked through a call center or at the airport, you’re getting charged €60. Not so nice.

Here’s a quick run down of the other charges you can expect, courtesy of the Consolidation Table of Fees and based on booking through Ryanair’s website:

• Booked with a credit card: 3% of total transaction value

• Priority boarding fee: €5

• Reserved seats: €10 (but higher on certain routes)

• Musical instrument: €50

• Flight change fees: €30 to €60, depending on the route and whether it’s low or high season

• Carry on baggage: 1 bag for free. All other bags must be checked.

• Fee for checking 1st bag under 15 kg (33 lbs): €15 to €30, depending on the route and whether it’s low or high season

• Fee for checking 1st bag under 20 kg (44 lbs): €25 to €40, depending on the route and whether it’s low or high season

• Fee for checking 2nd bag under 15 kg (44 lbs): €35 to €50, depending on the route and whether it’s low or high season

• Excess baggage fee per kilo if you exceed the limitations set above: €20 per kilo.

So what’s it really cost?

Our trip is for one person traveling with one carry-on and one large suitcase that weighs 50 lbs. So first, the easy part: Shove at least 6 lbs of the weight from the large suitcase into the carry on. No joke – figure it out.

Bam! We just saved €54 (6 lbs = 2.72 kilos. 2.72 kilos x 20 Euros per kilo over.)

Now the rest of the tally:

$68 ticket + €25 ($32.75 USD) luggage fee + 3% transaction charge ($3.02) = $103.77. As much as we’d like to avoid doing the “Ryanair sprint” and not get the worst seat in the house, we can’t rationalize paying an extra cost just to board the plane.

And while this final price almost satisfies our original goal of keeping the flight cost below $100, we can’t help but feel a little, well, gross after going through this whole process. We’d prefer to feel inspired while we plan our trips and right now we’re just feeling kind of stressed out.

Sure, we got a decent deal on the flight, but I guess we’ll have to leave our trombone at home, dare we risk yet another fee.

Has Ryanair brought you down?

Are you down on Ryanair or do you take a different view? Maybe we’re overreacting. After all, those flights can really be cheap. Tell us what you think, Cheapos.

The post Ryanair, we love you but you’re bringing us down appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Another old Paddington euphemism, one we have not heard for many a year, is the habit of alluding to Platform 1 as “the departure stage.” In the 19th century, that was where the premium trains departed. It’s a nice phrase, a happy reminder that there is still something theatrical about leaving a grand railway station. Departures deserve a little drama.

Arriving in Paddington after 15 minutes of theatre. Photo: Lars Plougmann

All stops on the Piccadilly Line

Visitors to London are spoiled for choice when it comes to getting out to Heathrow. But let’s face it. There’s not much drama if you ride the tube, en route swapping subterranean gloom for London’s leafy western suburbs. There are an awful lot of intermediate stops and it’s a challenge to work up any great enthusiasm for the architectural charms of South Ealing, Northfields or Boston Manor.

Or 15 minutes of theatre

But the Heathrow Express does have a touch of the dramatic about it. It is a great alternative to the slow grind on the Piccadilly line. Trains run every 15 minutes and the travel time from Paddington to Heathrow Terminals 1, 2 and 3 is just 15 minutes. (Trips to slightly further distant Terminals 4 and 5 take a little longer.) And the run out from Paddington to the airport offers 15 minutes of theatre.

You catch glimpses of some very engaging architecture along the way, from the assertively modern Paddington Basin development to sedate Victorian suburbs like Ealing. There is art deco style (watch out for the EMI plant at Hayes), a water tower disguised as a castle (near Southall) and wonderful reminders of London’s multicultural character.

Just before Southall station, on the left and easily identifiable from its golden dome, is the largest Sikh temple in Europe. And the station signs at Southall station are in both Punjabi and English. This is “Bend it like Beckham” country and a chance to catch a glimpse of quite another London from that which features in the regular tourist guides.

A blurry flurry passes… Photo: JDinBawlmer

A changing London

Times have changed since the great 19th-century engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel built this fine route out from Paddington to the west. The new branch off to Heathrow is a mere youthful upstart.

But until the moment, usually about 11 minutes out from Paddington, when you branch off from Brunel’s main line to burrow underground to Heathrow, you’ll get an eyeful of classic railway architecture. There is Wharncliffe Viaduct, a feast of brick and Georgian elegance that just oozes style.

Heathrow Connect for slow-motion replay

There are some journeys that we just wish would take a little longer. This is one of them. Heathrow Express is a premium service, but it is a visual feast. Part of the appeal is the kaleidoscope of images seen at speed.

If you want a slow motion re-run, then note that Heathrow Express has a slower sibling that makes the same journey at a more moderate pace. It is called Heathrow Connect and the fares are a little cheaper.

The post London’s Heathrow Express: 15 minutes of theatre appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Trains are below the terminal

The Dutch are amazing at making the most of a small space. The entire airport train station is located down, way down, below the main passenger area. Escalator ramps tow visitors to the lower deck, while train departure information can be checked from the main floor. (FYI: It’s about a 20-minute trip to Amsterdam Central Station.)

Train tickets? Head to the yellow kiosks

Yellow electronic box kiosks are placed throughout the passenger terminal area and serve as a fast and easy way to buy a train ticket to your destination. All are locked and loaded with a touch screen, credit card payment (and coins) and English language option (see the UK flag on the bottom right of the screen). It takes just a few minutes and beats waiting in line to buy the same yellow ticket from the service desk.

You have nothing to declare, period

When it comes to Dutch airport authority, be polite yet direct. Never have a vague purpose for your trip; always have an answer. The Declarations wing is not for tourists or travelers, and just because you arrive from an international flight does not mean you have to stop each time you see an official.

“Americans might think they need to go through customs, but they just have to walk through Nothing To Declare without looking guilty,” says Lynelle Barrett, an editor at Expatica.com, an info site for expatriates. “That can save you from getting caught in a situation you don’t have to deal with in the first place.”

Leave your Amsterdam “trinkets” in Amsterdam

Departing from Schipol to catch a flight home? Regardless of where you’re going, soft drugs like marijuana are illegal to traffic – and that’s exactly what you’re doing if you don’t toss your party favors before boarding. Not to mention the obvious truth of these substances most likely being illegal where you land. Any trace can be detected, counted, and lead to serious trouble.

Tulips and cheese

Tulips going to the US need an official gold stamp, or seal, to certify it is safe to plant this bulb in American soil. These stamps can be purchased for a few euros from the flower shop, and some bulb bags might already have this seal. Either way, be 100 percent sure you’ve got the gold – it would be a pity to dump Dutch tulips with your liquids.

Dutch farm cheese is tricky – it depends on your customs officer. The rule is any cheese coming in to the US must be pasteurized, and this is not always the case in Europe. To up your chances, wrap your cheese well and go for the hard stuff.

The post Amsterdam: Tips for navigating Schipol Airport appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Since moving to Madrid, I’ve spent a lot of time arriving in and departing from the Barajas International Airport. I’ve been in all four terminals and have learned the hard way how to make getting to the airport a stress-free experience. To make your arrival or departure as glitch-free as possible, follow the tips below.

1. Getting to the airport: Use the Metro

Getting to the airport from the city center is a cinch. Most locals hop on the Metro, switch to Line 8 (pink) at “Nuevos Ministerios” and arrive at their desired terminal.

Why do most locals take the Metro? It’s cheap! At just €2 (€1 for the ride and €1 for the airport tax), it’s a much better option than shelling out upwards of €20 for a taxi ride. The Metro can take between 30 to 45 minutes, depending on which part of the city you’re coming from. If I’m traveling light, I always take the Metro. If I can’t carry my bags, then I know it’s time to hail a cab.

2. Budget extra time for long lines

When flying from Madrid to other European destinations, I normally arrive at least two hours early, and when traveling to the U.S., I arrive a little more than three hours in advance. If I’m leaving out of Terminal 1, I always give myself some extra time because of the long indoor walk to the terminal from the Metro.

Why so much time in general? Lines. If you’ve spent some time in Madrid, you know that Spanish people embrace lines and they don’t get upset waiting in them. The airport is no exception. Security lines are a breeze compared to the check-in lines. The worst lines are for Ryanair flights when you’re checking baggage, or flights to Newark, JFK or any other U.S. destination. Prepare to wait for almost an hour to check in.

Once through security, check your watch. If you’ve taken my advice, you’ll most likely have time for a café con leche or a bit of browsing in the duty-free shops. Make sure to check the monitors, as there are no PA announcements to let you know that a flight is boarding.

3. Ready to board. Ready to wait in another line.

If you haven’t gotten used to lines by now, don’t worry: You’ll really understand the concept after you reach the boarding area. Don’t get nervous if you see a long line starting to form before boarding has begun. As I said before, the Spanish love lines. Most flights are still boarded by rows, but lines are customary.

4. The easy part: Arriving at Barajas

The difference between arriving and departing from Barajas is that, upon arrival you don’t have to wait in any lines! The only wait you’ll have is for your luggage. Terminal 4 has the longest luggage retrieval wait time.

If for some reason your bags don’t arrive, walk to the customer service desk (hopefully there isn’t a line). Here you give them your information, identify the brand and color of your luggage, fill out a form with your address and they’ll deliver it to you, for free.

5. Go to town!

Once you have your luggage, you can either take a cab, bus line 200 or the Metro. Again, I most always opt for the Metro. Take line 8 (pink) to “Nuevos Ministerios.” From there you can hop on Line 10 and be in the city center in about 10-15 minutes.

For more information about getting to the airport, check out our Madrid city guide.

Have you been to Barajas?

Have you recently flown into or out of Madrid’s airport? Tell us about your experience in the comments section.

The post Madrid: 5 tips for passing through Madrid’s Barajas International Airport appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Today, increasing awareness of climate change has meant that budget air travel in Europe is often targeted as an environmental disaster. On the consumer side, passengers are overwhelmed by a huge number of fees and charges—for checking a bag, for checking in at the airport, for preferred seating, for using a particular credit card—all of which continue to creep upwards.

The stories told about low-cost carriers tend to focus on the distance of secondary airports from the cities they purport to serve, the rudeness of staff, the inflexibility of various charges and the difficulty in obtaining refunds for canceled flights.

People continue to fly budget airlines in great numbers, of course, but they’re not enjoying themselves. How could things be improved? How could a budget airline actually build a fan base?

Here are five suggestions for improving budget airlines in Europe:

1. Offer transparency in marketing and pricing.

An airport named after a city 100 km away does nobody any favors. Acknowledge location and market around it. Eliminate last-minute charges for the use of a particular credit card. While you’re at it, get rid of perks like early boarding that make embarkation so regimented and unpleasant.

2. Provide a carbon offset opt-out option.

Under this proposal, passengers would be able to click a box to remove the carbon offset option from their flights and save a euro or two. Some would do this. Many would not. Here’s a better and more radical idea: get tons of press by announcing that all flights will be carbon offset in their entirety.

3. Develop a simple, well-scrubbed aesthetic.

Budget airlines shouldn’t be grubby. They should be enveloped in simplicity, ease, and lightness. Colors should be gentle and music should be soft. Flight attendants should have nice uniforms that reflect the airline’s aesthetic. (They should also look rested, competent and pleased to be at work.) License a pleasant 30-minute electronic score for boarding.

4. Offer tasty snacks for purchase.

If ancillary income is the key, offer something worthwhile—tasty treats with some real relationship to the departure or destination city. Also, keep mark-ups in check. On-board mark-ups need not be extortionate.

5. Brand around location.

Souvenir items sold in flight shouldn’t be anonymous. Why stock the duty-free cart with items that can be found in any international airport when cute objets of local relevance make better gifts? Fill the in-flight magazine with the insights of interesting people who populate the route map’s destination cities.

Your recommendations

Can you think of other ways that budget carriers could improve their service? Do you agree or disagree with these points? Tell us about it in the comments section.

The post Flight Memo: 5 ways to improve European budget airlines appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Check out these tips to save energy, time and money when arriving in Florence:

Lean toward Pisa (the airport, that is)

Florence has 1.5 airports. The official airport is Firenze Peretola, which is where most people arrive. However, there is also Pisa, Florence’s bratty little cousin. Pisa’s Galileo Galilei Airport has a longer runway and a higher volume of flights. (Pisa now sticks his tongue out.) Pisa also serves low-cost airlines such as Easyjet and Ryanair.

Getting into Florence from Pisa airport is easy. I recommend that you hop on the Terravision bus, which drops you right in downtown Florence at the Santa Maria Novella Train Station. The trip takes about an hour and a round-trip ticket will cost you €16. Be sure to book online, as the bus tends to fill up in the summer months.

A train also makes the journey, which takes about an hour and fifteen minutes. For more information see the “getting into Florence” article in our city guide.

Arriving at Florence’s airport

Florence’s airport is microscopic. And it’s old. But it doesn’t have to be unpleasant. I suggest going to the bathroom before you arrive (i.e., while you’re still on the plane) since there is only one stall per gender in the arrivals hall. Do take advantage of the free luggage carts and get ready to jockey for a position near the conveyor belt. Consider this a prelude to the challenges you’ll face lugging your heavy suitcase.

Florence is a city of cobblestone streets, razor-thin sidewalks and never-ending stairs. Elevators are as rare as unicorns and can be extremely small. So why not pack super light? A small suitcase will be easy on your watch and your sweat glands—remember that Florence is as hot as an oven during the summer months.

For your return flight, be sure to check the airport website to avoid commuting there for nothing: Because of the airport’s short runway and quick-changing weather, flights out of Florence are often delayed or diverted to Pisa.

Renting a car in Florence

So you’ve delightfully retrieved your lightweight suitcase, passed through customs and are possibly now ready to tackle another task: claiming your rental car. Turn left once liberated from the arrival hall and head out of the airport while staying to your left.

Here’s a tip: Have a hat and a (full) water bottle ready. The car rental desks are outdoors and you will be waiting under a scorching, merciless Tuscan sun. Plus, you could be in that waiting line for quite some time during peak summer months.

Bonus tip (because I’m such a nice guy): Keep your speed under 50 km/h when fleeing the airport. There are speed cameras set up all along the road to the city center. A speeding ticket makes a lousy souvenir.

For more information, also see our article on renting a car in Florence.

The ATAF Volainbus from the Florence airport

If you arrive at Florence’s airport, take a right from the arrival hall and exit the airport through the main entrance. Wiggle your way through the snake of idling taxis to get to the ATAF Volainbus. It is by no means a rocket, but it will get you downtown to the Santa Maria Novella train station in about 20 minutes. The bus departs every half hour. Tickets cost €4.50 can be purchased from the driver. Buy a round-trip ticket to save money.

Taxiing into town from the Florence airport

If you want to play big shot and take a taxi into downtown Florence, then expect to spend between €15-25, depending on traffic and extra charges. Know that there are extra charges for everything in an Italian taxi cab (luggage, pickup location, rotation of the moon, etc.). Should anyone successfully decode the logic of these charges, please alert the author.

Did you know?

Did you know that Florence’s airport has two official names? It also goes by Aeroporto Amerigo Vespucci, named after the famed Florentine explorer. Two names for an airport, only in Italy!

The post Florence Transportation: Tips on getting in from the airport appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

1. Public transportation between airport and city.

An in-airport rail—train or metro—is usually better than a bus link. Happily, there are many airports across Europe with rail stations underneath or adjacent to airports. London City, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Rome Fiumicino, among many others, deserve positive evaluation. Bus links are fine in theory, though nobody likes jockeying for tickets and playing finicky ticket vending machine roulette games. (Are you listening, Ciampino?)

2. Good, affordable restaurants.

Big international chain restaurants don’t add much value. An outpost of a good local restaurant is always preferable to a placeless chain restaurant. And while we’re it, prices wildly out of tune with the local cost index are alienating, and surely end up convincing many passengers not to purchase any meals at all. An airport pricing structure keyed to local pricing norms might very well translate into people actually spending more money on meals in airports.

3. Free wireless Internet.

Kastrup. Photo: Terry Wha

Not so hard to set up, increasingly anticipated by many travelers, and thankfully more and more common. If Chisinau International Airport can provide free wifi to its passengers, then every European airport should.

4. Time management tools.

An information feed at Copenhagen’s Kastrup airport lets passengers arriving at the airport know how long security lines are going to take. This is invaluable, even if it runs the risk of overkill in a country as efficient as Denmark.

5. A distinctive sense of the local.

Lisbon and Helsinki both have little shops stocked with smart Portuguese and Finnish products, respectively. A shop selling local products fulfills an essential ambassadorial function. It offers departing passengers the opportunity to purchase last-minute gifts of local relevance. Any airport can install shops hawking traditional duty-free items. A smartly-managed airport will attempt to tie its identity to that of the surrounding city, country, or region.

6. Scale.

Small airports are often the most user-friendly, but scale is more important than size. Kilometers of corridors are institutional and annoying. Space should be filled up with restaurants, shops, and lounge spaces. Amsterdam’s Schiphol may be enormous, but it is well scaled, with an appropriate density of retail establishments and frequent postings notifying passengers of walking time between terminals.

What features did we miss?

Anything this list misses outright? Let me know what you value in an airport in the comments section.

The post Flights: Six essential features of good airports appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.