=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2004/04/27/f= inancial0943EDT0042.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, April 27, 2004 (AP) As ranks swell, Europe's carriers drop prices JANE SPENCER, The Wall Street Journal (04-27) 06:43 PDT (AP) -- On a recent flight to Rome from Amsterdam, Dan Arrecis, a 5-foot-10 indie rock musician from Chicago, summed up a common sentiment on board the packed 737 jet: "Dude, I can't even move my knees." Welcome aboard Europe's discount airlines. Mr. Arrecis, 31 years old, was flying on Virgin Group's Virgin Express, part of Europe's fast-growing flock of no-frills airlines. By cramming in seats and ruthlessly slashing perks, these airlines are transforming the way people travel the Continent. Instead of chugging between countries by train, travelers can zip around by air at mind-bendingly low prices. As the summer travel season approaches, a fierce price war is driving ticket prices to new lows. One-way tickets from London to Berlin start at $25 or so on Ireland's Ryanair, including all taxes, though prices climb for last-minute bookings. Ryanair says its average ticket price is 42 euros (about $50). Tickets from Milan to Barcelona sell for less than $27 on Italy's Volareweb.com airline, owned by Volare Group. As the slogan for German airline Hapag-Lloyd Express puts it, you can literally "Fliegen zum TaxiPreis!" -- fly for the price of a taxi. So what's it actually like to travel on these stripped-down flying buses? To find out, we took a six-airline, seven-country jaunt through Europe. Our trek -- which started in London and ended in Budapest -- included the two largest carriers, easyJet and Ryanair, along with some newer, lesser known such as Basiq Air and Germanwings. It wasn't all a smooth ride. Our Ryanair flight from "Paris," for exampl= e, actually left from a tiny town called Beauvais, nearly an hour and half outside Paris. The airport itself is a corrugated metal warehouse with no toilet seats in the bathrooms. Europe's budget carriers offer a stark contrast to America's discount airlines like JetBlue and Delta Air Line's Song. While the U.S. carriers keep rolling out new perks, like satellite TV and pay-per-view movies, Europe's low-fare airlines are taking cost cutting to new extremes, stripping out every extra frill, from personalized air vents to airsickness bags. In February, Ireland's Ryanair announced that its new planes wouldn't ha= ve reclining seats or Velcro-on fabric head protection flaps on the headrests. The airline expects to save 2 million euros ($2.4 million) a year in seat-repair costs. Space is also tighter on European flights. While JetBlue flights have 32 to 34 inches between seat rows, European discounters average about 29 inches. Since most flights within Europe are shorter than two hours, the focus is efficiency, not comfort. The latest round of cost cutting comes as the more established carriers battle to survive in an overcrowded market. In the past year alone, at least a dozen new discount carriers have launched in Europe, bringing the total number of carriers to 27, according to Aviation Economics, a London-based consulting firm. Many of the newer carriers, including Air Polonia, and Slovakian carrier SkyEurope, have launched in areas where overhead costs are low, giving them an extra edge. The discounters are also facing new competition from Europe's major airlines. Both British Airways and Ireland's Aer Lingus have slashed their fares on key routes in hopes of luring back some of the passenger traffic they've lost to the budget carriers in the past several years. The glut of low-fare options means airlines are scrambling to fill seats and fares continue to drop. In our test, the discount carriers delivered on their promise of no-fril= ls efficiency. We never lost a single piece of checked luggage. Airport check-in was a snap: we arrived about an hour before each flight, and the staff found our reservations with nothing more than a passport. All the carriers flew full-size jets (no puddle jumpers). On every flight, the staff was upbeat, polite and fluent in English. There were, however, some hassles along the way. For starters, there's t= he issue of the remote airports like the one used by Ryanair in France. The atmosphere inside the terminal at Beauvais was so informal that a group of French political-science students felt free to unpack a soccer ball and start a lively scrimmage in front of the check-in counters -- accidentally striking one passenger with the ball. "Normally there is a lot of security around that would prevent you from playing football in the airport," said Jocelyn Parrot, 22, one of the students. An official from Ryanair said, "Cool. That's what we like see, people enjoying themselves at the airport." He added that the Beauvais airport is in the process of building a new terminal but that in general Ryanair prefers "simple facilities." Despite the unusual airport, Ryanair delivered on efficiency. Our flight to Spain, listed as almost two hours long, managed to arrive in Spain a startling 55 minutes early. (As soon as all scheduled passengers arrived, the plane simply took off.) Not all our flights were so punctual. While European discounters general= ly have a good record for punctuality, our trips on KLM's Basiq Air, TUI AG's Hapag-Lloyd Express, and Eurowings-owned Germanwings, all arrived between 15 minutes and an hour behind schedule. Landing the lowest fares proved more complicated than it sounds. To get the hyped "taxi prices," you must often book weeks in advance, or fly at awkward times. (Airport gate time is often cheaper for airlines in the early morning or late at night.) Flying on slow days, including Tuesday, Wednesday and weekends can also help you land a deal. Taxes and fees can drive up the total ticket price significantly. Our ticket from Paris to Barcelona cost 40 euros on Ryanair. But tack on 12 euros in government taxes and 8 euros in other fees, the total was above 60 euros. Some charged extra fees if you paid with a credit card. EasyJet added about $7 for paying with an American Express card. Adding to the challenge, these carriers don't show up on booking sites like Expedia.com, and there isn't another site that consolidates all the discount carriers. The closest thing is openjet.com, which scours fares on seven European discount sites, including easyjet.com and volareweb.com. But it's only marginally useful as a booking tool, since major carriers are excluded, including Europe's largest discount carrier, Ryanair. During booking, we were constantly reminded that these airlines don't cater to Americans. The Web sites for most, including ryanair.com and germanwings.com, list prices only in British pounds or euros. There were also translation glitches. Hapag-Lloyd Express's hlx.com, for example, requested a "lastschriftverfahren" number when we tried to buy a ticket with a credit card. Europe's budget airlines also generate extra revenue by selling food, alcohol and duty-free items in flight. Sometimes the salesmanship is pushy: At 8:20 a.m. on Ryanair, the staff suggested that passengers "choose from a selection of top brand alcoholic drinks." When we tried to order tomato juice shortly before 9 a.m., the flight attendant suggested a beer. While most of these carriers don't offer inflight entertainment, like TV screens or even headphones, they still manage to bombard passengers with ads. Ryanair's headrest flaps advertised Mars candy bars. On easyJet, the airsickness bags are covered with ads for a photo-developing company. "Don't be Sick, Come to Klick," reads the slogan on the bags. If you don't need the bag in-flight, you can use it later as an mail-in envelope to send your vacation snapshots off for developing. CARRIER/ROUTE: Ryanair/Paris-Barcelona (ryanair.com) HIGH POINT: Our flight arrived 55 minutes early. LOW POINT: Flew out of tiny airports more than an hour away from the city center. COMMENT: Cheap prices and 86 destinations, but it has slashed every perk -- including reclining seats. CARRIER/ROUTE: easyJet/London-Paris (easyjet.com) HIGH POINT: No assigned seats meant speedy loading. LOW POINT: Our new suitcase got some black smudges. COMMENT: Serves 44 destinations and is one of the few discounters to fly to Athens, this summer's Olympics host city. CARRIER/ROUTE: Basiq Air/Barcelona-Amsterdam (basiqair.com) HIGH POINT: Offers online check-in: You can print your own boarding pass before hitting the airport. LOW POINT: Check-in was tough to find since the tiny carrier wasn't list= ed on any major airport signs. COMMENT: Played cheesy music over the loudspeaker during the flight (example: Back Street Boys). CARRIER/ROUTE: Virgin Express/Amsterdam-Rome (virginexpress.com) HIGH POINT: Posh leather seats. And you can buy extra leg room for 10 euros. LOW POINT: Like most discounters, just 29 inches between most rows. (U.S. airlines have 32-34 inches.) COMMENT: Good inflight magazine with lots of tips -- like where to buy Camper shoes in Mallorca. CARRIER/ROUTE: Hapag-Lloyd Express/ Naples-Cologne (hlx.com) HIGH POINT: Easy check-in. Like most discounters, you just show your passport and they find your booking. LOW POINT: Plane arrived more than an hour late. No staff came to the ga= te to explain the delay. COMMENT: Sometimes flies at odd times, like early mornings or late evenings, when gate times can be cheaper. CARRIER/ROUTE: Germanwings/Cologne-Budapest (germanwings.com) HIGH POINT: Doesn't charge extra for transporting ski equipment. LOW POINT: Plane arrived 30 minutes late. (But the pilot explained why: Two kids were traveling on passports without photos in them.) COMMENT: Plane was full of advertising, including a nasal-cream ad on the cocktail napkins. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 AP