Sweden on a budget? Airline?

To Sweden by Air....Ryanair

“Your bag is 11.1 kilos. I can’t let you go through.”

“Sorry? What am I supposed to do?”

“You can only have 10 kilos. I don’t know check your bag? Put more clothes on?”

I looked around and saw others scampering through their bags trying to rearrange things. I stared at the Ryanair bag-nazi. She didn’t back down.

I retreated to the bathroom.

Ten minutes later I exited wearing two pairs of pants, four shirts, two jackets and my camera stuffed in a jacket pocket. I guess they can’t weigh me.

My low-cost harasser told me I was free to board now that I weighed an extra kilo. Now I just had to overcome the heat and fainting feeling as I walked to immigration.

It’s the price I had to pay. For what? Well that’s what this week’s Rock Fever Column is about: Budget Airlines.

Why? Because I’m currently based in London trying to find ten cheap trips (less than $100) from and in this city. The first? That was last week’s Frequent Flyer flight to London. Ok it was $130, but that was round-trip so really only $65 one-way! See I told you counting your miles can be helpful!

The second? Well that one saw me sweating the small things (yes I even managed to fit my computer charger in my jacket) to board my flight to Stockholm, Sweden. That’s because I had found a flight for £10 to Stockholm on budget, Ryanair’s website. Yes I wrote that!

How many bags?

But Robyn, what about taxes? Ha. Those only added £10. For £20 or $47 I had a return flight (which takes about two hours one way) to Stockholm, Sweden.

Sure it sounds great, right. And it is…..but….butttttt well you read about my layering. Which brings me to my cheap trip column this week: traveling budget airlines (the only way to travel under $100 outside of Britain). So tip one is: look at your self in the mirror and ask yourself: Can I really travel light? And I don’t mean one checked bag instead of two. I mean only ONE carry-on bag (and by one I mean no computer bar and purse combo. I mean ONE) and NO checked bags.

Why only one bag? Well that’s simple. Tip two is Ryanair and Easy Jet (two major budget, European airlines) charge for checked bags. Yep. It would have cost me more to check a bag to Stockholm than checking myself in! £30 for my bag! The clothes can stay in London.

To travel light a quick tip three is to: make sure you pack clothes all in one colour category (i.e. black is easiest) so matching and mixing is easy, bring travel-size soaps and pack a small notebook rather than full-blown lap-top.

Which leads to four which is: book the ticket even if you have to check a bag. That bag plus the ticket is still cheaper than flying other commercial airlines, but if you can: ask a friend to store your stuff or ask if the hotel will keep it for a couple of days while you enjoy Europe.

And if you are trying to kill time from the British Airways flight until your cheap flight later in the day from another airport, tip five is: head into the city with Gatwick Express and check your luggage in a museum. Yep those baggage checks are there for something. Get some culture and give your arms a rest.

That done the next task is finding your flight. These cheap flights usually fly in and out of distant airports (i.e. not the main hub) which leads to tip six: all of the budget airlines have websites for transport information to and from the random airports. For me to get to Sweden I had to go to Stansted – no not the well-known Gatwick or Heathrow – airport. I took a bus for £14 round-trip that ran all night from central London. My point? Don’t let a distant airport discourage you. You can make it and on-time with the convenient bus connections that are all detailed on your budget airline’s website when you book your flight.

So board your bus, but make sure before you do, you print your boarding passes for your flights! Tip Seven: budget airlines ensure that boarding their planes are simple (if you have carry-on luggage and print!) so make sure you abide by it. They will charge you at the airport if you fail to print your boarding passes. Don’t miss this little tidbit of information!

But make sure tidbits are not what you have eaten for breakfast or lunch. Tip eight is: eat, a hearty meal

Sweden from above

because while other commercial airlines might throw you a bag of peanuts, budget airlines will charge ridiculous prices for water!

Which could lead to them charging for waste water. What? It’s tip nine: Ryanair made headlines earlier this year saying they planned to charge for bathrooms onboard. It hasn’t happened yet, but better use the potty before you leave in case!

Charge for a kilo, charge for a bag, charge for water…..one thing these budget airlines won’t charge for? Your seat of choice. Your final tip for attempting to board a budget airline is get in line really early because these flights do not have assigned seats. You want a window? Make sure you get there first because no one will reserve it for you.

Is it still worth it? I got to the land of Ikea, H&M, and blonde vikings for under $50! Next week’s column: Stalking Stockholm.

But make sure you check back here! Since my last column I have also managed to make it to Berlin……it was amazing. Now I need to figure out where to go next!

What is this?

Moon over London

Through my blurred eyes, I stumbled. I seemed to be stumbling a lot. Was it the shoes? My sad little white sneakers that had made it through London, Sweden and Berlin?

I don’t think so. They hadn’t been causing problems before. Could it be my arch nemesis – WHEAT?! Don’t think so. I had been very careful and not eaten anything out of the ordinary. In fact I had found a grocery store filled to the brim with gluten-free food and I had stuffed my face with them.

It wasn’t the side-walk. I was wandering along the groomed streets of London. And noooo. No it wasn’t to do with too much beer, wine or any other spirits. Unfortunately no.

What was it? What was this blurred image?

I was wandering through London. I was wandering through London FOUR hours LATER than I was supposed to be. I was sadly watching the young students stumble over each other and after each other as they propelled themselves from the clubs.

I couldn’t watch their antics any longer. I looked up.

It was my blurred image. It was my small sliver of a moon trying to peak into what these plastered freshers were doing. So I decided to try some night photography. Anything to keep me standing straight at 2.30 a.m. as I waited for my London, night-bus.

But why, you ask, was I standing on the streets of London at 2.30 a.m. sober? Good question.

Well the answer to that would have to be deferred to the likes of EasyJet.

Yes this budget, low-cost, cheap (whatever you want to call it) airline had been my choice for my latest adventure – Berlin, Germany – and was a bad choice at best (and remember to check on Monday’s Rock Fever Column in The Royal Gazette and here for tips on how to travel these budget airlines).

Last I left you here on my blog I was in Sweden. Berlin was my next stop and it was supposed to be easy. And I don’t mean because of the name of the airline. No, what I mean is that my flight from London to Berlin was late in the day which meant no early risings.

Too bad my flight that was supposed to leave at 7.50 p.m. didn’t leave until 11. That led to a late-night Berlin commute.

Just to even things out Easy Jet decided to offer me a late-night London wandering too. From Luton (i.e. an hour and a half from London centre). My flight was supposed to arrive at 11. It arrived at 12.30 a.m.

I couldn’t get out of bed this morning. I couldn’t move. I’m exhausted. It’s been a lot of flying hours and not enough lying-in hours.

Hence the lateness of this blog. I think it might be time. It might be time to find a trip closer to London (remember I’m based here for a month trying to find cheap trips from this capital city).

Where should I visit? Got some ideas? Suggestions? I am happy to hear them!