029 – Advice for using budget airlines
September 7, 2007 in Flights
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Never taken a budget airline flight? Or did it once and didn’t enjoy it? In this episode, the Indie Travel Podcast gives several pieces of budget airline advice to give some pre-flight tips and points of difference between budget and traditional airlines.
In brief, when travelling by budget airline consider when you book and the hidden costs inherent in the system. These include taxes, baggage costs, credit card fees and booking extras like a dedicated seat. Also pay close attention to baggage allowances throughout your entire journey. Different carriers have different guidelines and all of them charge the earth for excess baggage fees. This is especially important if you’re connecting with another flight.
On arrival at the airport you should have your confirmation number handy even though you will seldom be asked for it. Of course, your passport or similar ID is essential! Your boarding card won’t have a seat number, but some airlines have different boarding groups depending on how early you check in. We recommend relaxing and boarding later rather than joining the scrum.
In the end you get what you pay for — budget airlines are heavily mediated spaces with audio and visual advertising making up the profit margins: expect to be advertised at. A lot.
Want to know more? Click the play button above to hear these ideas fleshed out then click here to subscribe in iTunes for free independent travel advice, reviews and interviews from the Indie Travel Podcast.
Links:
- Download transcript (pdf, 262kb).
- Recommended price comparison site: Sky Scanner.
Other recommendations:
(If you have another favourite, let us know and we’ll add it.)
This article was written by Craig and Linda
Craig and Linda Martin have been living on the road since February 2006. Both born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand they are ... somewhere in the world! Craig and Linda host the Indie Travel Podcast - you can get in touch with them here.
Since November 2006 the Indie Travel Podcast has evolved into an independent travel hub with regular audio and video podcasts along with articles by travellers from all over the world. 
Hosts Craig and Linda Martin started travelling in February 2006 and have been to over 50 countries. They were 
Uncle Drew said on September 12, 2007
Nice meditation on the budget airlines – the expression for them in Hungarian is literally “wooden bench” airlines. For people who’ve never flown with them, you really provide some valuable info. Well done!
Craig and Linda said on November 8, 2007
We just found out about bezurk and air ninja thanks to the loose wire blog.