Flights to Rome for €9,99 with Blu-express

Glad I made you laugh. Have a nice day.

eh no u maybe but i disagree. . what you didnt recognize the attitude of many people who choose not to use lowcost airlines? the critism of cheap flights to Rome comes often from people with this attitude. I am saying that people should have a look at that website as they can decide for themselves whether it is cheaper and with better access for their holiday than other websites. Just because it is with a nontraditional airline does not mean the will rip you off anymore or anyless than BA or Lufthansa.

it was not written to be lefty political shite but as an accurate observation of the attitude and pomposity of many people. you feel that there are not many people that act and feel in the manner i described?

so although there are many views it seems to be a case of check this site out but the usual caution is advised. Most interesting post in the thread was that apparently they do fly to the main Rome airport so could be some good deals to pick up.

I am well aware that the prices quoted by budget airlines normally exclude taxes and airport fees. But this airline is charging more than that. The airport tax is €28 on a return flight, but in addition to this there is an unexplained "surcharge" of €34. This is dishonest because it is not a standard charge - in other words it is kept by the airline and not passed on to the airport or governmental tax authorities. It is a way of subsiding their headline fares. That IS dishonest, it IS misleading and it has NOT been done for many years. Only standard fees and taxes have been excluded in the past.

much the same as Lufthansa then?

No, that's not my experience. At lufthansa.de the prices quoted to you include tax. They have, however, recently introduced some strange "booking charge", of around €10. This is similar to the Blu surcharge I was referring to, and so I believe that this too is dishonest. I wrote to Lufthansa about it but never received a reply.

Again. Why is this dishonest? They are telling you BEFORE you book the ticket thus giving you every chance to pull out of the sale. Nothing dishonest there I am afraid. It is all included in the original quotation.

Standard marketing practices

The fees for booking Lufthansa tickets online are scandalous (through Lufthansa.com/Opodo et al). Why is there a "service fee" for an e-ticket? Total ripoff.

Standard marketing practices my arse. So if you went to Tengelmanns to do your shopping, and there are prices quoted on the shelves by the products, but by the front door there was a sign saying that all purchases will be subject to a €10 surcharge, that would be standard would it?

The surcharges are NOT included in the original quotation. They are quoted later, one step before you start the booking process. This is AFTER the original quotation. In the case of EasyJet, some charges are added once the booking process has already started, for example a credit/debit card charge for ALL card types apart from Electron, which no-one over the age of 18 owns.

These surcharges are NOT standard marketing practices. Even if they were standard, does not mean they are honest. Blair is a standard Prime Minister, for example.

No it is not. You select the flights you want and it takes you to the quotation screen. There it lists the 34 Euro surcharge along with the other charges. Nothing hidden about that.

The Tengelmann comparison is just hilarious. How the hell did you think up that one?

Although when you go shopping in the US you see the price on the shelves without tax.
I had a right go at the shop assistant in the magazine shop in the airport - thought she was ripping me off cos I was a foreigner. Bless her, she was very patient in explaining that all stuff in the States is like that, and that I'd better get used to it

Not that that's got anything to do with this thread, really, but I thought I'd chuck it in, since TT is the sole highlight of my measly existence and I haven't posted enough on this thread yet

@Crawlie: The Tengelmann comparison was pretty simple really. I have no problem with tax being added on later (as is done in shops in America, as Topsy pointed out), but these 'surcharges' are money for nothing. They are invented by the airline and pocketed by the airline. They are simply a tool to offer lower headline fares. That is not standard, as my Tengelmann comparison highlights.

That's a mighty big "if". Do you know much about airlines, their budgeting and their aircraft maintenance? This is one place the cheap-ass airlines save money. Safety is indeed a big concern.


It's deceptive. Advertising in Munich about a €9.99 fare to Rome when that fare is only available if you fly from Naples is outright deception. The term is "bait-and-switch" and it's illegal in most Western countries.


Not once you add in the surcharges, taxes, fees, travel to a remote airport and your time. And a hotel in that remote area if your flight is delayed and can't take off. The cheap airlines book you in such a way that they're noever obligated to provide you with a room or alternate flights.


Quite. Either you don't fly much or your time isn't very valuable to you. Or you're dirt-poor. It's clear you're not the most patient person so there are only a few reasons you'd get into those cattle car airlines.


Go back and read other people's comments again. There are no legitimate €9.99 tickets. Add the additional charges and you're already approaching big airline territory. Now add the time to get to and from a crappy little airport like Stanstead and the cost thereof.

What's that? You found a couple €10 seats in June? Except that additional charges take those up to €80 each way. Book that far in advance on a major and you can find cheaper seats with better service to a convenient airport.


WTF? Do you know what a "monopoly" is? There are many dozens of airlines, too many for even an oligarchy. They had certain price structures (which in the US was government-enforced until deregulation in the 1980s). They were healthy but hardly money-printing machines. The budget airlines showed up, took a few profitable routes, cut costs everywhere possible, and some of them survived. Others crashed and burned, some literally. Most don't survive because there's just not that much money to be made in the business.

Since you're so shit-fire hot to bitch about politics and class warfare on a thread about airlines, I'd expect you to be in agreement with the premise of the majority of the posts and screaming about the public deception in this rich company's adverts and how that "€9.99" fare is really €87.44, just another case of some airline corporation and their shareholders screwing the working man even further.

Instead you're ranting at the brink of intelligibility and defending deceptive advertising practices.

The Lufthansa "ticketing service charge" is also a load of bollox. Since LH don't answer mail about it I'm going to have a go at filing a complaint (it only appears at the end of booking just before agreeing to pay, and is there even for E-tickets).

Edit: The US sales tax is different from state to state and non-existant in some (e.g., Delaware). Since "everyone" knows what his local and state rates are, there's no confusion and fairer comparison shopping can be done.

woof.

I love budget airlines. Don't have a bad word to say about them, actually.
xxxooo to all budget airlines.

I thought Scots Geeza's was a top notch stream of consciousness rant, actually. It put a smile on my face, anyway.

And BD, soz and all, but you obv didn't read the thread properly cos most of your points have been covered. These blu guys fly to the same airport in Rome as Lufthansa and for a given weekend are half the price. Only one flight a day, admittedly, but it's at lunchtime, so it's alright.

Although I am biased, I admit, because I'm a big fan of cheapo airlines.

I don't care about this anymore as normality has been restored. I do not agree with the majority of BD's post or his views on deceptive marketing. Thank God for that. I can cancel my appointment with the shrink now

You should compare like with like. Have you ever purchased concert tickets? Everyone I ever purchase charges a handling fee. This seems to be standard practice. Also concerning Blu-Express I tried to buy them in January (around the third) Every flight listed was available for 9.99. I assume that these seats were taken by the people who were ready...They did exist.

A quick thank you for Bad Doggie picking up the baton, when I clearly could not be arsed any more.

I flew with blu-express in December. In fact, 5 of us flew from vienna to rome, and then from rome to munich. It was super cheap, and the flights was pretty much empty, which meant everyone had a row to themselves. Tix were indeed 9,99 each. I think we booked them a month or so ahead. I don't remember the exact total, but 5 of us flew, for example, from rome to munich for around 250 or 275 eur.

Of course there were taxes, etc. but it was not unreasonable. You also have to buy your own drinks, snacks, etc. in-flight.

All that being said, it was a fine experience, and i would fly them again.

-m

DBA Spring Specials one way incl. all tax/fees from 33€
From Munich to Nice, Rome, Rimini and Paris Orly (from 6th March).

Does anyone know if Blu-express or any other discount airline still has cheap flights between Munich and Rome? I checked the Blu-express Web site and could not fine any. I'll spend 3-4 days in Rome in the first half of August, and it appears that the best options are with Lufthansa and Al Italia, as AirBerlin is more expensive. Suggestions welcome here or in one or another related TT threads. Thanks.

Mods: Feel free to move this post to another thread.

WhichBudget offers a few possibilities here...enjoy!

Thanks for this. WhichBudget strikes me as a good resource generally, although in this case for Munich ---> Rome it offers links two two airlines, Condor (which seems to be discontinuing flights between Munich and Rome after this spring) and AirBerlin, which has no direct flights and is more expensive than the direct flights offered by Lufthansa and Al Italia.

Check with www.opodo.de or www.expedia.de

For a comprehensive search on budget airlines, I would recommend Sky Scanner.
For normal airlines, Side Step has the most flexibility in my opinion.