Slowing economy in the UK = good news for budget airlines

by Iva Skoch on

The economy in the UK, much like in the US, has been slowing considerably. Some people–budget airlines for example–are actually pretty pleased about this. Their customers are turning to the cheap, no-frills airlines to keep their holidays on budget.

After it released strong passenger numbers, EasyJet said to The Guardian that the biggest danger facing the airline industry is the global oil price of $100+. Hedging, or betting on the future price of oil, is no longer an option because airlines are unwilling to peg their fuel costs at $100 a barrel. EasyJet has hedged 40% of its fuel needs until September at $75 a barrel. Then what? Things might not be so easy for EasyJet come this fall.

EasyJet busted for misleading advertising

by Jeffrey White on

Frequent travelers of Europe’s budget airlines have known for years that the industry relies, to a certain extent, on misleading, if not outright false, advertising.

Usually this has to do with their pricing. Log onto any of the big European budget carriers — easyJet, Ryanair or Germanwings, for instance — and you’ll be hit with a great offer. Take Germanwings, for instance. You’ll see them pimping April flights from Zagreb, Croatia to Cologne for €5. Not bad. Click on it, choose a random set of dates (say an April 8 departure and an April 16 return) and you can get both legs for €14. Ah, but then the tax is figured in, and that trip is now €77.36 (more than $120).

European budget airlines don’t usually come under fire for this because (1.) technically there was a flight in this case for €5 and (2.) they make it clear that the prices they pimp often do not include taxes. But that doesn’t completely wash off the stench of ‘scam’ in my book, if simply because I always feel like the promotions these airlines run and the ridiculously cheap prices they quote reflect how stupid they think consumers are. Obviously we’re not smart enough to view a €77 round-trip plane ticket as still a pretty good deal.

So, it’s nice when one of these carriers gets busted for not playing it straight with customers. This has just happened to easyJet, which was running a special recently along the lines of “book by Friday and if you find a better price, we’ll pay you up to triple the difference.”

Well, a Swiss woman did just that, and then played hell trying to get the Luton, England-based airline to pay up. It claimed the woman hadn’t delivered proof, and then tried something along the lines of saying she had not found a comparable ticket, since it was a competitor’s return fare she found rather than the two single fairs (there and back) she booked on easyJet. Gimme a break, right?

That’s what Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority essentially said. They’ve ruled the easyJet promotion was misleading, since the fine print implied that the refund was easy to claim, when it really was like dealing with the IRS. Only bookings made at certain times and dates were eligible. Refund requests had to be made within an hour of the original booking. And so on. The Guardian newspaper reports the whole sordid tale.

There was good news for the Swiss woman, however. EasyJet told the Guardian that she would receive close to $1,500 in her bank account within a week.

Cage match: Eurostar versus Easyjet

by Grant Martin on

We’ve all seen the one cent ultra-cheap fares that Ryanair, Easyjet and and other low cost carriers (LCCs) frequently offer from European hubs. It’s a great way to skip around the EU if you’re flexible and haven’t got a lot of cash; it thus has recently become pretty popular with students and vacationers on a limited budget.

And as most of us know, the one cent fares come with strings attached. Taxes and fees can add multiple dollars and fees and constraints on routings often require you to travel to an out-of-the-way airport in order to catch a flight at a strange time of the day. Additionally, extra charges during transit such as baggage and meal purchases can add further cost to an airplane journey.

Needless to say, when traveling over a longer distance, it’s usually a good idea to take the low cost carrier, plan well and be frugal during your travels. But over shorter distances accessible by rail or coach, that line blurs.

Eurostar, for example, recently started offering high speed rail service between London and Paris at very competitive rates. While none of their fares sink as low as the one cent LCC sales that frequently surface, their service runs direct between downtown London and Paris, has looser restrictions on baggage and ultimately saves transit time.

What’s the savings, you ask? On a recent trip between the office in Loughborough and my sister’s apartment in Paris I decided to run a comparison. I’ve calculated the price of transit from city-center to city-center with Eurostar versus Easyjet, the only budget carrier to connect between the two cities. I’ve also included any additional fees for transit to airports, taxes and baggage, then tabulated the costs side by side. For ease, I’ve converted everything to dollars so you can see the easiest comparison across numbers. Take a look:

EasyJet Eurostar
Ticket 15.7 98
Tax 61 0
Two bags checked 31.92 0
Train ticket between London Victoria and Luton 21.8 0
Train between Charles De Gaulle and Gare Du Nord 12 0
Total 142.42 98
Total transit time 5 hours 3 hours

The result? In the end, Eurostar ends up saving you time and money. Combined with the comfort and timeliness of the service, the high speed train is the easy pick when traveling between London and Paris.
On my most recent Eurostar journey I paid an extra 116$ to travel on leisure select. This involved a secluded seat to myself, free champaign, hot bangers and mash and bottomless coffee over the entire journey. When you compare the 214$ total price against Easyjet’s 142$, I think its still worth it for the hot food, time saved and comfort.

So next time you’re considering that low cost carrier for your short intra-european trip, make sure you thoroughly check your options. While trains and coaches don’t necessarily have the romantic allure of one cent fares, they may ultimately end up saving you time and money.

Budget Airlines Whine About Environtmental Concerns

by Catherine Bodry on

Budget Airlines, like Europe’s EasyJet, complain that they’re carrying the burden of concern about air travel’s environmental impact. EasyJet’s Chief Executive Andy Harrison argues that taxes should be based on the efficiency of planes and the distance traveled rather than being a per-passenger duty, claiming that budget airlines’ fleets are newer and thus more efficient than traditional airlines.

While I don’t think that budget airlines alone should be charged with “ruining the planet,” I do think it’s difficult to ignore the impact of cheap and quick airfare on less environmentally-damaging overland travel, like rail. That’s not necessarily the airlines’ fault though — they’re simply meeting travelers’ demands.

What do you think?

Ultra Cheap Airfares May Be A Thing Of The Past in Europe

by Martha Edwards on

Those 1P (or better yet — FREE!) airfares you can find in England aboard Ryanair or some similar budget carrier sure are exciting after the exorbitant prices we’ve been paying ever since Air Travel became an industry. But they’re a bit deceptive, don’t you think? You don’t ever actually pay 1p. For example, I booked a flight for ???20 and when all was said and done, it ended up being ???60. And that’s before any excess baggage surcharges.

The Office of Fair Trading thinks these ultra-low prices are deceptive too, and they’ve ordered airlines to start being more upfront about their pricing. This means they’ll have to start padding their prices with the cost of non-optional fixed extras like fuel surcharges and air passenger taxes. And if they don’t comply, they’ll find themselves in court.

In all honesty, I don’t mind the low-low air fares, even if it is shady marketing. At least it makes me feel like I’m getting a deal, even if It’s only for the few precious moments before I click that dreaded ‘Calculate’ button.