One of my Euro flights makes want to rip my hair out

[Robert Qld]

This isn't a rant, so much as me being amused by the entire situation. lol. Sorry if wrong forum. Feel free to redirect Mods, if required.

Who would've thought flying between two major Euro cities (BRU & TXL) would be such a headache?

Surprisingly Air Berlin doesn't fly to BRU or any of the lowland countries at all, and I'd rather slit my wrists then fly Iberia again (and via BCN does seem a little overkill in the wrong direction even for a connector like me)

Biting the bullet and looking at *A, SN and LH are both playing the silly buggers games of €400-500 one way fares.

SAS does seem rather reasonable however, just a longish stopover in CPH or ARN (but I could work with that).

BA... Yes wrong direction but not overly so and I can chill in lounges happily for a few hours (I'm going to be a WP by then). BUT... (Isn't there always a big one? Lol) Well a multi city BRU-LHR-TXL is coming in at apx €450. However... Booking at two separate tickets has it at a much more reasonable €180

Could I get BA to link it after being bought?

If it wasn't for the lack of *A status making me waver, I would've thrown it in already with the IKEA crowd and do the SAS flight and lunch or something in CPH. (Not sure about ARN as it looks rather far away from everywhere on the map). The 25 SCs and pathetic amount of points I'd get flying BA aren't necessarily going to sell me OW this time either ;-)

Thankfully hair is the one good gene I inherited so at least I've got a bit to rip out!

 

[Must...Fly!]

Have you tried looking through search engines such as KAYAK - Cheap Flights, Hotels, Airline Tickets, Cheap Tickets, Cheap Travel Deals - Compare Hundreds of Travel Sites At Once ? Sometimes a consolidator site or two can offer a nice fare that means you can avoid the silly oneway pricing.

 

[im.daniel]

I've heard of people buying a return ticket and dumping the return portion ...

ps. Try and status match with Turkish Airlines for *G status?

 

[whatmeworry]

I entered a random date for BRU -TXL in May in matrix airfare search and set the sales office as Sao Paulo and currency as Aussie.

 

[Boris spatsky]

I entered a random date for BRU -TXL in May in matrix airfare search and set the sales office as Sao Paulo and currency as Aussie.

View attachment 14794

Why Sao Paulo?

 

[whatmeworry]

Why Sao Paulo?

Because some flights for reason are cheaper if booked in Brazil. However I could not that price on expedia.br but I did on expedia.ie.

 

[anat0l]

Have you considered the train instead?

 

[whatmeworry]

Have you considered the train instead?

Train will take at least 7-8 hours. Going with SAS will get you some SC, points and should only take 4 hours.

 

[aikman]

Easyjet BRU-SXF. Sure there's no status credits etc but it's cheap and direct.

 

[opusman]

Most Euro airlines are still stuck in the past with exorbitant one-way fares, Saturday night stays, 21 day advance purchase etc. - just like the bad old days in Australia.
Just book a return trip, pick your return date to be the cheapest you can find, and then throw it away.

 

[Alanslegal]

I've heard of people buying a return ticket and dumping the return portion ...

I've used the "book a return, throw the return leg" a handful of times now. Unless there is a LCC alternative, sometimes purchasing return fares can be much cheaper than one ways.

 

[notmensa]

Two other suggestions:
- Search on a few different online travel agents to get different carriers (e.g. Jetaboard picks up some different airlines to Expedia)
- Search directly on the LCC websites (some don't offer their fares through consolidators)

Do you have to fly into TXL? Aer Lingus flies BRU-DUB and DUB-SFX, and the DUB terminal isn't too bad.

 

[Boris spatsky]

Agree that LCCs are probably the way to go. Recently got fare for 9 EUR paris to prague on Wizzair, when Air France wanted 600 EUR. Then flew Cimber Sterling for peanuts from CPH-Montpellier when SAS wanted a fortune too.

The only airline i have disliked out of all the Euro LCCs is Ryanair.