The Smart Travel Guide

Low cost airlines are the salvation for the difficult days we are going through. However, these airline companies’ services are widely debated. To fly low or not? Some low cost airline companies world wide are US Airways, Easy Jet, Wind Jet, Ryanair, BMIbaby, Wizz Air or Blue Air. Still, there are small companies, that, because of the high costs, have collapsed in recent time. If you choose to travel for a very short time, then go ahead and book your ticket without hesitation. It’s the best deal you can make. A low cost flight is not more dangerous than a regular one because technical inspections are made regularly by the same companies, no matter the costs of the flight tickets. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be allowed to fly anymore. But what are basically the advantages and disadvantages of low cost traveling? There are many statements like ‘you’ll be starving’ or ‘it must be a joke!’, ‘it is very dangerous’, ‘too good to be true’.

First of all, we will consider the advantages of this kind of trip. One is that, if booked very in advance, travelers pay almost nothing for the ticket, less than the airport costs. Thinking that a low cost company is totally uncomfortable proves to be wrong, because, for instance, Southwest airlines have flight attendants who are very funny and sing for you, something that high cost airlines do not have. US Airlines, also a low cost airline company, has a non-stop service from small airports to almost all major airports. More precisely, a low cost ticket can cost you from 35-50 euro, instead of 100-300 across Europe with a regular airline. Food is not an issue because for a less than three hours flight, nobody starves, and even so, food is available to buy. Moreover, in most cases, seats are not established, so if you want to benefit from a beautiful landscape, then go ahead and occupy your seat.

Planes usually land quite far from town and this is the reason why airport costs are low. In most cases, going by bus shuttle to the centre of the city isn’t more than 10 euro and half an hour. Tickets are available online so additional taxes are eliminated. Low cost airline companies usually use one or two types of airplanes, reducing the maintainance and crew training costs. Most cases, the airplanes are Airbus 319, 320 and Boeing 737.

But, before buying a ticket, take also the disadvantages into consideration. Few, but important. Firstly, everything that is additional to the ticket is extra-charged. Extra baggage is payed additional. For traveling with handluggage, there is no extra fee to pay, but be careful to the restrictions on this kind of luggage (for instance, food and drink, unless they are bought from the last duty frees in the airport). All these are detailed in every airport so it won’t do harm to read them carefully. Of course, ocuppying the best seat may be a real adventure. Everyone is looking for ‘the one’. Unfortunately, if you want to change personal details for your tickets then it costs you almost a fortune. Read the terms and conditions for each airline company before making any reservation, this may include the rapid changing of the prise (rising, of course) even while booking.

Another disadvantage is the powerful usage of these aircrafts. They perform many flights a day and before landing and taking off, and because of the approximately 40 minutes break (when passengers and their luggage are taken on and off), there can be delays in the first part of the day. Moreover, low cost airline companies have only direct flights and they do not guarantee catching any other flight afterwards.

Tags: advantages, aircrafts, airlines, disadvantages, ticket, traveling

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