Come fly with me

[happy daze john in oz]

Here in Oz we have four domestic airlines all of which offer reasonable rates, for example Melbourne to Sydney all in including a coffee and sandwich for as little as $220 return. About GBP 100.

Thinking of a trip to Europe next year I thought about checking flight times and prices as going to Ireland may be part of the trip. Two years ago it was about GBP 130 return each from London to Cork.

So there I am checking flights from London to Cork, all of four per day so decide to check the price with Aer Lingus.

Not bad by the look of things GBP 78 outbound and only GBP 50 coming back, must be a tail wind.

So to the next stage, seats.

It was at this point that from somewhere deep in my inner most mind a voice not dissimilar to Basil Fawlty came to the fore.

'So sir wants seats, we have plenty to choose from which would you like, the GBP 5.99 or the GBP 7.99 or the GBP 11.99'?

You are telling me the seats are extra??

'Of course sir the fare is only to get on board, seats are extra. But if you are a bit of a skin flint we will allocate your seating when you arrive at the airport for no charge'

Yes I thought, and spend the flight in the toilet or worse

'So sir is not a skin flint and is going for the GBP 5.99, good choice sir'.

'Sir has a suit case, my goodness of course we can accommodate that for a 20 Kilo one only GBP 23 but sir will be an international traveler so maybe more than 20 Kilo maybe the 30 Kilo for only GBP 36, and sir we will for the princely sum of GBP 1 send you an SMS to confirm your booking'.

'So sir for a mere GBP 424 we will take you and your good lady to Cork and back'.

Some Leprechaun somewhere is extracting the urine I think, so now for plan B.

Try British Airways.

Wonderful they use Aer Lingus as their carrier but only on two of the flights per day.

But wait what is this? With them the return flight on an Aer Lingus flight is only GBP 142 each including a seat and room for a suitcase.!!!!!

Looking at the map Ireland is not far from UK, does any one have a spare row boat to rent??

[John Arton]

John in Oz
Look at
Train to Holyhead or Fishguard
Then ferry across to Ireland.
No baggage charge or booking charges and no need to turn up at the airport hours before your flight and you get to see the country on your journey.
Alternatively try flying from Gatwick, Stanstead or some other regional airport.
Forget Ryan Air. EasyJet not too bad, Flybe pretty good.
rgds
JA