'I am so over budget airlines,' I overheard an urbane female informing her boyfriend at Stansted. She had a point. Now that British Airways and the rest of the big European carriers have cut their prices and gussied up their websites, flying no-frills is often more expensive than travelling economy with a full-service airline. What's more, securing the cheapest fares generally means getting up in the small hours and enduring a dark and freezing journey to Luton or Stansted. When things go wrong, too, the big carriers will generally do more to help you.
Here are some tips based on a flight search for the weekend of February 21-24. All seats are the cheapest available on those days. Try, too, Skyscanner.net - a new site that allows you to type in a budget for weekend flights and see a list of the cities you can visit.
London to Paris:
easyJet £34.79
Buzz £62.72
Best of the rest:
Travelocity £67
BA £75
Air France £89.60
Eurostar £95
Flybe £95.50
easyJet is half the price, but BA has a far better choice of flights and airports. What a pity that Eurostar can't, or won't, compete; even the cost of trains to Stansted and buses from Charles de Gaulle won't outweigh the extra cost of travelling from Waterloo.
London to Venice:
Ryanair £45.26
easyJet £96.39
Best of the rest:
Expedia/Travelocity £107.20
Alitalia £114.20
BA £139.20
No-frills Ryanair is a clear winner, but do make sure you catch the Venice-Treviso shuttle for the return trip; I missed it last year and had to pay an extremely hefty taxi fare to the airport.
London to Geneva:
Expedia £105.10
Swiss £105.20
Best of the rest:
BA £128.90
easyJet: from Gatwick £150; from Luton £130
Buzz: Sold out
This popular route makes a lot of money for Buzz and easyJet. But there are also plenty of full-service airline seats waiting to be filled, particularly if you can fly from London City, and many more times to choose from.
Birmingham or East Midlands to Amsterdam:
MyTravelLite £49.14
KLM £68.20
Best of the rest:
RExpedia £68.20
bmibaby £71
RBA £104.60
It may have all the appeal of a bucket-shop window, but MyTravelLite is undisputably a bargain. No-frills flights from regional airports are often cheaper than BA's own, chiefly because many of the latter's customers are flying on business.
