In these difficult economic times, brought about by Covid-19, Brexit and the war in Ukraine, it’s perhaps worth taking a look again at HOW TO FLY.
The Crazy Guy is a triple-F, ie a Fairly Frequent Flyer. When he went abroad, to the UK or Germany, he would drive to the airport – Malaga, Jerez, Sevilla or Granada – and valet-park the car until he returned.
In the years BC – before car – I either used to get the bus or get picked up by friends. After that, we used to drive to the airport, and park the car until our return. Nowadays, with prices of everything rocketing – flights, fuel, car parking – I am looking at ways of flying more cheaply.
I shop around for flights being prepared to use any of the “local” airports, even Gibraltar. Being retired, I can be flexible on dates. Some days are cheaper than others, eg mid-week and on Sundays. I try to travel light, so as to avoid checked-in luggage charges. The small free carry-on bag is adequate for short visits. When my daughter comes to visit with her two young children at half-term, she intends to travel light, buy stuff here and leave it at our house for future visits.
Fuel has gone up in price and, since January and the disappearance of the Spanish government subsidy, costs 20 cents a litre more.
Car parking charges have also increased. Not really sure why, since they have no fuel costs, as they use the client’s car to get to and from the airport. Profiteering?
So, for our most recent trip, to Germany for Christmas and New Year, we decided to use public transport as far as possible.
We got the coach from Ronda to Malaga (6€* each) and stayed at a hotel near the airport (Royal Costa 40€) - our flight was very early in the morning. The local train wasn’t running at that time of the morning so we had to get a taxi to the terminal, but it only cost 15€.
Our return flight was to Sevilla, but landed too late for a bus connection to Ronda, so we stayed in a hotel (IBIS Budget 60€). The following morning we took an Uber to the bus station (10€ - 2€ more than the bus) and caught the coach to Ronda (6€* each) and a taxi home (17€).
By the way, the airport legs in Germany (Baden-Baden to Heilbronn and back) were done by public transport also, namely bus, S-Bahn and train (36€ each for the entire return journey).
It all worked perfectly fine. It was more relaxing and less exhausting than driving in the early dawn and late at night, and we saved money into the bargain.
We paid just under 230€ for both of us for everything in both Spain and Germany, except the flights. If our flight timings had been more conducive we could have skipped the taxis and the hotels and saved even more. In that scenario we would have only paid just under 80€ for both of us!
By comparison, normal taxis to and from the airport would be around 300€. Paying a friend would cost, say 180-200€, if you can find one willing to do it at that time of day. Driving and parking at the airport would come to about 110€, but that only works if you fly from and back to the same airport.
Conclusion? On this occasion, we chose the best option in terms of comfort and cost. I think we will do the same in the future.
How to fly? USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT. DEFINITELY!
* discounted price with tarjetasesentaycinco
Further information:
www.booking.com
www.damas-sa.es
www.skyscanner.com
www.uber.com
© The Crazy Guy
Tags: Baden-Baden, bus, coach, Crazy Guy, Germany, Gibraltar, Granada, Heilbronn, IBIS Budget, Jerez, Malaga, public transport, Royal Costa, S-Bahn, Sevilla, taxi, train, Uber