Cheap tricks for low cost airlines

I secretly kind of like low cost airlines. They offer you the chance to really travel on a budget. But you do need to know what you are getting into.

 

 

 

You pay for what you get

If you pay 20 euro for your flight from Brussels to Madrid you can't expect a five star treatment. You paid a basic price to you will get the most basic service possible. No complementary meals and news papers. No on-flight entertainment. Basically you should have very low expectations matching the low costs of the flights. However, I find that the flights are not often delayed a lot and the staff is often just as friendly as in other airlines. The last thing is quite impressive because all these low cost rules makes their job more difficult sometimes (for example a huge amount of cabin luggage that doesn't fit in the over-head storage).

 

 

 

Carry on only

 To generate some costs out of these super low prices that barely cover the costs the company makes, any luggage is being charged extra for. So if you are not going on a long holiday, it would be clever to travel with just a small suitcase. You can fit in enough things to go for about one week and it forces you to leave home the things you don't need (if you are spending all day on the beach, you really do not need much) . Just make sure not to have any liquids in packaging that exceeds 100ml. Usually you can use the towels (and even shampoo) from your hostel or hotel so no need to bring those.

 

 I feel like I am the master in making the most of this one 10 kg bag. In many smaller airports they don't weigh carry on luggage so you can bring more than 10 kg if you want. Else you can just take out as much as possible (coat, cardigan, etc.) and carry it on your arm while their weigh. I even had several books in my arms once and they didn't say anything. Also, one time I put the excess weight in a separate bag and told the desk employee I would throw it away. Of course I put it back in my suitcase as soon as I was out of her sight.

 

 

 

No meals on board

 On some of the nicer flights you get meals, but not with the low cost airlines. They sell food, but I would not recommend it. The average ready made supermarket meal even tastes better than the food on board (it probably comes from the same factory). Instead you can better eat something at the airport or take something with you.

 

 

Everything's an add-on

 As mentioned before, the low cost airlines need to make their money somehow. So they do that by making you pay for everything extra you want. Choosing your seat? Pay extra. Priority boarding? Pay extra. Name change on a ticket? Pay extra. Luckily the toilet is still for free. At the moment.

 

 

Not so precise

I booked a ticket with my gender as "male" accidentally once. I did not notice until I was about to check in so there was nothing that could be done anymore. So when it was my turn to go through the check I just handed in my ticket and.. "Have a nice flight madam." (although the ticket said Mr.). Turns out they are not discriminating on gender (or just not really paying attention). Actually I read several cases on the internet where people had similar situations. One was even told by the airport staff that the gender on the ticket is not really looked at.

 

 

Help! I made a mistake

Last time I booked a ticket, I made a typo in my middle name. When I tried to change it online, I was charged 110 euros. I read on the website that if I would change it at the airport, it would even be 160. So I started googeling to see if there was anything I could do. I came across several useful online discussions about the topic of mistakes on boarding tickets. I found out the following things:

- You are allowed to use a short version of your passport name (i.e. John /Jonathan.)

- As a married woman, you have to use the name as it is in your passport

- Tickets without middle names are allowed 

- For Ryanair: When you see your mistake immediately, you can call a special helpline and have it changed for free

- And the golden tip that helped me (at least for Ryanair); if you call the "rest of the world" helpline for post-booking issues, they will usually correct small mistakes free of charge. I tried and it worked. Within five minutes I had my new and correct ticket in my mailbox. Some people mentioned they had to pay a 10 euro administration fee for this, but still, that is a lot better than paying 110, or even 160, euro.

 

 

Have a good flight!