October 2004
Flights of Fancy
How to get the best deals from budget airlines
Ever fancied just taking off for a weekend? While such ideas would have seemed ludicrous 10 years ago, a boom in the budget airline market has made spontaneous hops not only possible, but also affordable. And with an airport on your doorstep, it would seem mad not to take advantage of the offers available. Granted, as one of Germany’s key air travel hubs, Munich can afford to demand higher landing fees and airport charges than the likes of Frankfurt-Hahn or Nuremberg, thereby not proving as attractive to some of the cheaper airlines. Similarly, as the city is already a tourist mecca, there is no reason for the city to offer subsidies to the cheap airlines to bring more people in, as is the case at some destinations. But that’s not to say Munich airport is oblivious to the trends. In the long term, the airport expects the number of passengers flying with budget airlines to increase from its current 10 percent of all airport traffic, to around 25 percent. “It’s definitely a growing market,” said airport spokesman Edgar Engert. “And now that we have the new terminal, we do have extra capacities that will be developed in the future.”
So where should holiday hunters start? How to find the bargain basement tickets, without getting lost in the online maze? There’s no doubt, with new airlines popping up all the time and hundreds of cheap-flight booking Websites, it’s easy to spend hours surfing, only to end up more confused than you were when you started. But there are ways to beat the machine. The secret to any savvy traveler’s success is to understand how the various airlines work. Though it may seem otherwise, their business and pricing concepts are not random. And with each one slightly different from the next, it is important to look at your needs and match them with the most appropriate airline.
Germania Express, for example, which has five planes based in Munich, has three key target groups. With a third of their destinations within Germany, the first of these is business travelers, who would previously have used trains or private transport. Flights therefore leave early mornings and return in the evening. Flights during the day are then aimed at what the airline refers to as “ethnic passengers” and holidaymakers, with destinations including Istanbul, Moscow, Athens, Rome and Naples. “We do consider ourselves a niche provider,” said a spokeswoman for the company. “Not only are our destinations carefully selected, but our price structure has also been drawn up to cater specifically to our target passengers.” As such, with business travelers rarely booking months in advance, the ticket prices are intended not to disadvantage the last-minute traveler, as is the case with many budget airlines. Instead, Germania sets a fixed price for each route, including tax and charges, which remains the same regardless of when passengers book. This is based on fees at the particular airports and, when compared to prices other airlines offer for similar routes, comes in somewhere in the middle.
Verdict: Good for short-term booking, with unusual destinations such as Istanbul and Moscow. Guaranteed one-for-all price.
www.gexx.de
One of the original budget flyers,
easyJet, has made a big success of its Munich-Stansted route. Its tried-and-tested concept, introduced in 1995, is a purely no-frills service: no paper tickets, no free lunches and quick flight turnarounds. One thing they haven’t scrimped on, however, is advertising, and most people are now familiar with the bright orange banners, shouting out next-to-nothing fares. To get the best deals, passengers need to book well in advance, as easyJet’s fare system works on a first come, first served basis. For each route, a basic fare is established, based on distance. This applies to a minimum of 10 percent of seats. Once these seats are sold, the price increases by between € 10 and € 15, depending on the route. Again, as soon as the seats available at this price are sold, the price goes up again. And so on. As the basic fares are set as soon as a flight is available for booking—as far as eight months in advance—it is advisable to sign up for the e-mail newsletter to ensure you hear of the latest routes and offers before the rest of the world.
Verdict: Good prices—if you’re prepared to book months ahead. Currently offers only one route, from Munich to London Stansted, but good choice of connecting flights.
www.easyjet.com
Despite being the company with the second biggest presence at Munich airport after Lufthansa,
DBA currently offers only eight routes from the Bavarian capital, six of which are within Germany. “We like to think of ourselves as providing an alternative to the train,” said Matthias Andreesen, spokesman for the company. “We fly nine times a day between destinations, which gives our passengers a lot of flexibility.” Furthermore, the company aims to offer that bit more than some of its rivals, with food and drink and a selection of magazines—including
Playboy—provided free on board. Perhaps not ideal family holiday reading, but for DBA the target market is beyond a doubt business travelers. “Munich’s not a cheap airport to fly from,” said Andreesen. “But it’s what we’re about. Although tourists don’t mind having to drive a couple of hours to an obscure airport, business passengers need quick and easy access. Similarly, they don’t want to be kept waiting if, for example, it snows. With somewhere like Munich, you have the technical and service back-up you need, no matter what the season.” So what’s the deal with prices? Is DBA a reasonable bet for a weekend to, say, Dresden, Hamburg or Berlin? The structure works similarly to easyJet, with flights needing to be booked well in advance if you want to get a bargain. One-way prices range from € 25 to € 175, although this excludes tax and charges of between € 12 and € 25. Like easyJet, the first 10 percent of seats will be charged at the lowest price, which then increases as tickets are booked. The Website does feature one clever tool, which allows passengers who are not bound to a fixed time, to request the cheapest fare on offer for a particular day, which saves them trying out dozens of combinations.
Verdict: Flexible choice of flight times, but to a limited number of destinations. Prices can be high unless you book well in advance.
www.flydba.com
The baby of the bunch,
V Bird, has been around only since October of last year. According to a spokeswoman, Munich accounts for some of the company’s biggest business—which is surprising considering that the Bavarian capital has direct connections only to Niederrhein, near Düsseldorf. Confused? Look more closely. What V Bird manages to do far more successfully than its rivals is to capitalize on its network. Instead of advertising flights from Munich to Cologne, it advertises flights from Munich to Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Manchester. Yes, each involves a 30-minute stop at Niederrhein, but passengers are not required to leave the plane and can purchase tickets for the entire journey, rather than individual stages. Whether this is just good marketing or whether it is genuinely cheaper than doing something similar with easyJet, for example, changing at Stansted before jetting off to any one of dozens of destinations, remains to be seen. But V Bird does seem to be challenging the mindset of travelers, who previously considered Europe too small to warrant indirect flights. The price structure itself, again, works on the first come, first served principle. Here, though, the lowest fare band covers 20 percent of seats on each flight. After that, bands move depending on the route, season and time of day. For example, a morning flight to a business center will have more seats priced at the highest fare. In a further option, passengers can automatically elect to pay the highest possible fare, which then enables them to change their flight up to an hour beforehand, to any other time within a year. Currently some 60 percent of V Bird’s passengers are business travelers, but the company is hoping to introduce flights to more holiday-oriented resorts in the near future.
Verdict: If you don’t mind your flight taking slightly longer, a good bet. With approximately 10 percent more cheap seats than other airlines, you stand a good chance of getting a great deal.
www.vbird.com
Air Berlin’s homepage features three girls in white bikinis. Yes, with reductions for children, bookable seats to enable families to sit together, snacks, soft drinks and newspapers provided on board, this one is clearly aimed mainly at family holidaymakers. In fact, almost every flight from Munich heads south—straight to the sun. Again, it’s the early bookers who’ll be celebrating all the way to the beach, with the lowest price band applied to at least the first 10 percent of bookers. If you don’t have easy access to a computer, Air Berlin can also be recommended, as it is one of the few budget airlines that doesn’t offer a price advantage for online booking. Whether you book over the Internet, by phone or through a good old-fashioned travel agent, you’ll always pay the same price.
Verdict: Family-friendly, with no advantages for online bookers.
Wide choice of Mediterranean
holiday destinations.
www.airberlin.com
Cheap tricks
More tips on how to bag a bargain:
• Consider driving to Salzburg (130 km) or Nuremberg (170 km), where landing fees are notably cheaper than at Munich. This has a direct impact on the starting price of tickets. Airlines to check include Ryanair from Salzburg and Air Berlin and Hapag Lloyd Express from Nuremberg.
• Don’t dismiss the traditional airlines. In an attempt to stay competitive, British Airways and Lufthansa, among others, have also lowered prices and made their Websites more user friendly.
www.britishairways.com,
www.lufthansa.com.
• Websites such as
www.opodo.com and
www.expedia.com offer a great overview of all flights and enable you to compare prices. For last-minute trips, try www.ltur.de. For an overview devoted to budget airlines, visit
www.skyscanner.net.
