The news is full of stories that apply to travelers visiting Spain over the Christmas period. Here is a summary of the latest:
- Flyglobespan goes bust Scotland's biggest airline, Flyglobespan has gone into administration, leaving travelers stranded all over the world. Flyglobespan flew from Scotland to a number of destinations in Spain, the rest of Europe and the United States. If you had a flight booked with them, visit their site for more details: Flyglobespan
- British Airways strike illegal? The legality of the imminent British Airways strike, due to ruin tourists' festive travel plans, is being questioned. It is accused that ex-staff had been balloted. Read more here: British Airways strike talks drag on
- easyJet's enlarges hand baggage allowance... Good news, as easyJet enlarges its hand luggage allowance. Having previously only allowed a bag of 55cmx40cmx20cm (the joint lowest allowance with Ryanair), the airline has raised that to 56cmx45cmx25cm.
- ...but sneaks a fine on unsuspecting travelers As reported here a few days ago, I have discovered that easyJet has followed Ryanair's lead in fining passengers who come to the departure gate with a second bag. Curiously, it is not important how many bags you have, but what is in them. Read more here: easyJet's Sneaky New Extra Baggage Fee
- Latest flight routes from Spain to the UK I updated my pages on flight routes to Spain from the UK, a few days ago. You can see the routes here: Flight Routes from the UK to Spain. Flyglobespan's routes have been removed from these pages.
In the two months since my last flight with easyJet, it seems the budget airline has added a new fee that will catch out unsuspecting customers. Copied straight from Ryanair (who got a lot of press attention and criticism for the same policy), it is a fee that you don't hear about until you are at the departure gate.
The charge in question is for 'extra hand luggage', as introduced by Ryanair nearly a year ago: Ryanair to Fine Passengers with Too Much Hand Luggage.
If you arrive at the departure gate with two bags, including any duty-free shopping you may have purchased at the airport, you will be forced to pay a fine.
The fee, which has escaped media attention this time around, is shrouded in mystery. I find no reference to it on the easyJet website. There is no warning before you check in. Even the airline's staff are in the dark about it. I asked an on-board steward how much the fine was and he said it was the same as for extra checked luggage - 11€ online, 22€ on the day. But there is no facility to pay for the extra hand luggage when booking.
easyJet's main rival, Ryanair, comes in for a lot of criticism for its "hidden charges", not least from me (see my article on Why Hate Ryanair?). Their defense is that there is a list of Ryanair Fees on their site: Ryanair Table of Fees. Indeed, this was one of the few plus points I found about Ryanair when they came 12th out of 12 in my look at Best Budget Airlines.
easyJet has no such table. A spokesman for the airline told me some that time ago that such a page was 'in consideration'. But easyJet's website has been redesigned since the comment and no such table has appeared, so it is clear that easyJet considered that a convenient place for their customers to see all the ways they might be charged was not actually in anyone's best interests. Pity.
It just goes to show that, though Ryanair gets intense scrutiny for their wily ways (and rightly so), other airlines try just as hard to push down their advertised fares by catching out unsuspecting customers.
I have contacted both airlines about this. I will print their responses if I get them.
Update: Paul H, easyJet's man on Twitter (@easyJetCare), has informed me that this policy should only be enforced to prevent people taking two bags of their own, and that a memo will be sent out to clarify this point with airline ground staff. According to Paul, a bag of duty-free is still allowed, as long as it has been sealed by the shop. Which means, bizarrely, that it doesn't matter how much baggage you take on the plane, it's the bag's contents that matters.
Read more about Budget Airlines' Hidden Charges.
Getting the cheapest flight to Spain is not always easy, especially from the UK, which has more airlines flying to the country than anywhere else. Price comparison sites are all well and good, but they don't list every airline. So sometimes the best flight might slip through the net.
So what you really need is a list of all the routes from UK airports to Spain. Then you'd be able to find out exactly who flies to Spain from your nearest airport (or airports). By doing the old-fashioned thing of checking each individual airline's website (along with the help of a price comparison site, just to be sure) you'd be able to get the very best deal on your flight to Spain.
Now, where would you find such a list? Why, right here of course! On each page below you'll find a list of airlines that fly to Spain from each of the airports listed. Click on the airport name for a list of the exact routes to Spain from that departure point.
These lists were updated in December 2009.
Of course, thanks to the unscrupulous behavior of budget airlines (particularly Ryanair), what seems like the cheapest flight may not be when all the extra charges have been added on. Not even when you've paid for your ticket can you be sure the airline won't sting you for an extra fee when you get to the airport, so beware! These pages will help you avoid paying more than you bargain for:
Read more about Cheap Flights to Spain
Two monumental things happened in Madrid this week. One is that Puerta del Sol, Madrid's most famous square, is finally free of construction work (for the first time since some time in the middle ages). At last, Madrileños and tourists can walk through the square without following endless detours and bottlenecks.
The other big event this week in the history of Madrid is that I finally finished writing my 100 Things to Do in Madrid. It's been a long time coming (I've been working on it since I was in the city in September).
Many visitors complain that there's not enough to do in Madrid. As you can see from this list, this couldn't be further from the truth. Though it lacks the in-your-face attractions that Barcelona has (such as Las Ramblas or La Sagrada Familia), Madrid has far superior art museums, better restaurants and more diverse districts waiting to be explored.
Check out my list and you'll be sure to never get bored in Madrid: 100 Things to Do in Madrid
