When planning a trip to an unknown (or even a familiar) destination, there’s one part of the equation that’s often overlooked: the airport. Since moving to Madrid, I’ve spent a lot of time arriving in and departing from the Barajas International Airport. I’ve been in all four terminals and have learned the hard way how to » Read more

Everybody loves Paris. The French capital is one of the world’s top travel destinations and a perennial EuroCheapo fave. Getting to the City of Light remains a primary goal for many visitors to Europe, first-time and veteran alike. France has no low-cost airlines of note, but there are several budget airlines that serve Paris. Here » Read more

At EuroCheapo, our updated budget flights section is about to take off. For the past two weeks we’ve been reading the fine print on the baggage, seating and check-in policies for each airline and we’ve seen it all. But beyond the colorful interactive route maps and mouthwateringly cheap deals, we found some information that was » Read more

Earlier this year, I profiled Baboo and Intersky, two small European airlines. Now I’ll turn my attention to the Dutch low-cost airline Transavia. A cog in the Air France-KLM corporate wheel, Transavia has a hybrid business model that allows it to function both as a budget and a charter airline. Its route map includes fun-in-the-sun » Read more

Ten years ago, European budget airlines were widely celebrated as a positive symbol of then-contemporary Europe. The new budget airlines sold tickets online, easing the transaction process. Airlines flew cheaply to destinations both familiar and novel. The low fares and simplicity of travel ushered into effect by Europe’s budget air revolution were largely commended. Budget » Read more

  Tired of arriving to your destination looking like you’ve just emerged from a human car wash? Well, how about getting to Florence refreshed, reposed and with the swagger of a Medici prince?  Check out these tips to save energy, time and money when arriving in Florence:  Lean toward Pisa (the airport, that is) Florence has 1.5 airports. » Read more

This week, let’s set our sights on six key features that define a good, contemporary airport, whether in Europe or elsewhere. Here the focus is on those areas of the airport open to all passengers, not just the frequent-flier set. What makes a business-class lounge good is a matter for another investigation. 1. Public transportation » Read more

  Allegiant Airlines is one of North American aviation’s most underreported success stories. The airline flies to a select number of popular vacation hubs from several relatively remote and seriously underserved destinations across the United States. Allegiant’s model is genius. It is the only vacation destination player at most of its traffic-starved airports. For residents » Read more

When I left you last week, it looked as if I would make it out of Europe’s volcanic ash cloud nightmare more or less unscathed. Last Tuesday, my flight from Chisinau, Moldova to Istanbul was scheduled to take off as planned, while my mother’s flight to Milan was canceled outright. My flight ended up leaving, as » Read more