Y’all know I can be pretty tight-fisted, right? I’ll happily spend money when it makes sense to do so, and for things and experiences that are special, but when it comes to transportation and hotels, I’m okay with your basic clean versions.
I simply want to get back and forth and have a decent night’s sleep and shower while I’m there. My best experiences are usually OFF the aircraft and OUTSIDE of the hotel.
So, while living in Europe, my family and I did fly the notoriously cheap Ryanair a few times, because how else could I get from the Netherlands to Pisa, Italy and back for a family of four for about US$150?
The wise traveler must know what he/she is getting into with cheapo airlines, however, which is why I think this video spoof of discount airlines is so funny. They pack in almost every problem you’ll run into – surprise extra fees, ground tours that may suck, fees for luggage (especially checked luggage) and of course satellite airports that are MILES from their namesake.
In Europe, Frankfurt/Hahn Airport is quite far from Frankfurt, and as we found in Norway, Oslo/Torp Airport is not very close to the city of Oslo – especially when your kid has to use the bathroom and the bus toilet is frozen because it’s March. Bummer.
The Pisa airport, I will note, is right in the city of Pisa, and it’s an easy train ride to Florence from there, so that one worked very well.
So, grab those fares if you just want to get back and forth, but caveat emptor (buyer beware) when you do so – this video is uncomfortably close to the truth.
(Thanks to Shashank Nigam for sharing this in his SimpliFlying blog post: Five and a half secrets for airlines to drive revenue from social media. He spoke at a conference and his blog post contained his presentation deck on SlideShare, then he shared it with us in the “Travel 2.0″ LinkedIn Group.)
For my RSS readers and anyone who can’t see the video box, here’s the link to the “Those Sneaky Low-Cost Airlines” video on YouTube.
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Went on a golfing holiday to spain. Not a problem going out but on the way back they tried to charge me £85 for excess baggage upon combining golf bag and check in. Fortunately I was able to get a bag and carry on the excess. You have to be so careful. O’leary is even looking at charging you going to toilet
Love the video
I keep hearing that rumor about bathroom charges. I think it should be “pay X amount to go to the toilet, or beat our flight attendant in a boxing match and then you can go.” I guarantee, I’ll WIN that boxing match if it means I have to train with Laila Ali to do it.
lol that is hilarious! I was in tears when he said “and a $21 penalty for NOT booking yesterday” lol
epic video!
I’ve traveled with RyanAir twice so far I think and it was pretty decent, but the early morning flights are a killer lol Still I would do it again though – the important thing for me is to get to my destination
Cheers,
Marica
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