BUDGET AIRLINES: THE PROS & CONS

I feel like budget airlines are ALL the rage these days. I mean you can literally get from New York to Vegas or Paris to Barcelona for like 30 dollars. It’s crazy! But you know that saying you get what you pay for? Yeah, that applies here BIG TIME. 

But hey, there’s one big benefit too. YOU SAVE MONEY! You can usually enjoy prices under 100 euros on European budget airlines like Easy Jet, Hop, Ryanair, Vueling, etc. There are some budget airlines in the US too like Frontier and Spirit. And I swear I get a new promotion email every other week from Frontier.

But with the good, there’s a lot of bad. Here are a few:

  1. They slam you with extra fees

    • This is truly where they get you. If you want to take a bag? Add anywhere from 20 to 40 euros. Want to pick a seat? 5-20 euros. You do the math!

  2. Airports can sometimes be further outside the city

    • Don’t get me wrong, sometimes a small airport is nice. Like the one at home in Trenton NJ has like two gates and you can get through security in .5 seconds. But these smaller airports are usually further outside the city. For example, Ryanair flies to Paris Beauvais which is 80 minutes outside of the city. If you take the bus you have to leave 4 hours before your flight. And train tickets are around 15 euros. Is it worth the effort?

  3. The plane is small with no amenities

    • Now if you’re on a one hour flight, I think you’ll survive without TVs on the back of the seat. But on those longer flights? You don’t wanna be confined to those small seats with nothing to do.

  4. If something goes wrong, you’re pretty much out of luck

    • Because you’re flying out of smaller airports, there might not be another flight to your destination that day. If your flight is cancelled, you’re usually screwed. In the larger airports, they’ll replace the plane or put you on the next plane to your destination. That’s something you’re giving up by flying on these budget airlines.

  5. Customer service is a joke

    • Cancelled or unsatisfactory flights? Good luck getting the slightest bit of sympathy from a customer service rep, never mind a refund! Again, you get what you pay for.

So my advice? If it’s a really important flight, especially during severe weather season, book the regular airlines. If it’s just a fun weekend getaway that wouldn’t be a total and complete travesty if you missed… then go ahead and take the risk! I take them all the time, and 8 times out of 10 I have no problems.

Hailey Ingrahambudget airlines, budget airlines the pros and cons, the pros and cons of budget airlines, low cost budget airlines