Hey there, JFC-ers!

I hope your inboxes are recovering from the onslaught of seasonal offers over the last couple of weeks!

It was all hands on deck last week at JFC HQ, as the airlines rolled out sales left, right and centre, and let’s just say that some were more exciting than others. 

Having long been planning a trip to Vietnam with a friend for early next year, my eyes were firmly on those already cheap Chinese airline fares. What I didn’t expect was that the best combo of fares and flight times would come from Air India, with one short stop in Delhi in either direction. And as an added bonus, our return flight is scheduled to be on a new A350 — fancy!

So, dear readers, this is where I ask you for help again. It’ll be our first visit to Vietnam. We’re looking to split our time between Ho Chi Minh City and a beachy spot (anyone been to Phú Quốc?), making the most of our ten days and not spreading ourselves too thin. What must we see? Where should we stay?  And, of course, what do we absolutely have to eat?!

Happy travels and safe landings,

Budget airline shenanigans never fail to entertain and amaze, and the last couple of weeks have been no exception. Daily flash sales and marketing gimmicks such as “buy one, get one half price” were the norm during Black Friday and Cyber Week, but few of you seem convinced that budget travel is truly worth it these days.

When Spirit announced that it was going into liquidation earlier this month, I asked you whether this signalled the beginning of the end for budget airlines. It turns out that you’re not necessarily a bougie bunch, readers, and most of you would be happy to entertain the notion of low-cost travel. But one thing you certainly don’t like is feeling conned. 

“Low-cost airlines have their place, but once you add all the necessities like seats luggage, taxes, it's cheaper to go with a mainstream line.” - Errol

“Regarding budget airlines, I am not a fan. When Ryanair first started up, they were a genuine cheaper alternative, with only the in-flight meals missing from mainstream airlines. Since then, they have come up with multiple ways of charging customers more, and other budget airlines have followed them. The hidden prices that Wizz Air charge for hold luggage can make their flights more expensive than a mainstream airline. The charging extra just to have a seat next to a partner is just a rip-off.    

Personally, I am pleased to see that the Spanish government is clamping down in a small way, by fining Ryanair and easyJet for charging for hand luggage. Let us have clear pricing, upfront, so that we know what the offer is, without getting to just before checkout to find out.” - Michael

“I made the ‘standard’ carrier choice 3 times over the discounted in the last year. 

Frontier had a CHEAP NOLA flight RT but would actually have cost more…

1) Why save $100+ on a flight that requires me to arrive into MSY at 1 am when there’s no public transportation ($3 bus into town) and pay $36 min for taxi…

2) I would have needed to book that night at a hotel, +$175, low end AND not get the full use?

3) And pay for a carry-on bag / cost of additional waiting if using public transport to get to my departure airport. 

Meanwhile, Delta offered a low fare that for an additional $75 made it more affordable! Free carry-on. Normal evening arrivals meant public transportation was available, and I didn’t need to pay for an unused hotel room.

For Ireland / Portugal, the Aer Lingus pricing we found on your site was equal to Ryanair and better quality. 

For any place with Spirit Airlines, I won’t book after seeing the video of two employees ‘mouthing off’ at each other at the PHL gate. Who is fixing those planes if that is what is loading passengers!!” - Lark & Kevin

Lark and Kevin aren’t the only ones swayed by service standards as well as the extras:

“Thinking back to when the budget flight thing started, you could get a flight for £10. Maybe you didn't know your seat number, but you could take a "full-sized hand luggage" as they're called now (when did that become a thing??) and not pay too much for hold luggage. You'd leave at a smaller airport in the middle of nowhere, but there'd be a bus to a better connection, and you could likely park for free. 

You can still get a good deal now if you're okay to fly with just a "small hand luggage", but people want to shop, bring back a gift, take a laptop or medication or shoes for the gym or hiking, or take things you can't put in hand luggage without paying £80 extra within Europe. 

Changing the model to be only rewarding for the lowest-frills travellers as well as having a track record of terrible service and/or taking advantage of customers meant they lost a good portion of the medium and above income customers after a good bargain. If we're paying £160 with Ryanair on a tiny seat with constant sales pitches and £5 for a coke, we'll likely opt for a standard airline and more comfort for £180 instead.” - Birgit

“Not sure it’s the end for budget airlines. We fly budget all over the world, but budget doesn’t have to mean rude money grabbing, terrible service. We avoid Ryanair for similarly priced flights just because the service is better elsewhere. - Huw

Like many of you, reader Andre feels that budget airlines had their place in the early days. They were transparent about what they offered, opening doors to the places you want to go.

“Budget Airlines, when they started, were fantastic.

They were basically a bus service. You paid a low fare, turned up, and they took you where you wanted to go. You expected nothing more and got nothing more.  I flew everywhere on easyJet and, apart from the ridiculous priority boarding and free-for-all seat-finding, it worked.

Now, somehow, a cheap fare ends up an expensive fare with all the extras, so it is often cheaper to fly BA (as I did to Rome), and if you are paying the same or more, you expect the frills. Incidentally, it was a great flight there and back. Ryanair's profits are down because they think they can charge lots and provide no service!  We are not idiots.

I still fly easyJet but buy NO extras and still get an allocated seat. It's actually not hard to take enough in your hand luggage for a long weekend or even a week if you think about what you actually use.

So if they go back to basics and provide a bus service, it will be happy days for us all, and them.”  - Andre

This point made me think; what really has changed about budget airlines over the years? After all, they’ve always been no-frills, just a way to get from A to B. But in the early days, that just meant a lack of business class seating, checked bags, and in-flight meals. Frills didn’t mean “basics,” it meant “extras.” And since they were generally serving short-haul routes, how much did it really matter?

The first major change I remember in budget airline policy was the move to charge for airport check-in. In the days before smartphones, when it involved printing your boarding pass, it was easy to forget, run out of ink, or lose that faded, folded piece of A4 in your pocket. Nowadays, that could add £60 to your tab. 

We all welcomed their arrival at more mainstream airports. At various times in my youth, I found myself taking an hour-long bus journey to fly out of a glorified shed in the middle of nowhere at some horrific hour. At least now, I can fly from a more convenient airport at a horrific hour (and pay the hefty taxi fare to get there, since public transport is often not on my side).

Next came the luggage. At some point in the evolution of low-cost airlines, it became normal that everyone wanted to maximise their luggage capacity without paying extra by bringing a cabin-sized wheelie case. And so revealed itself another monetisation opportunity in the form of the “full-sized cabin bag.”

On top of that, there are all the different bag packages offered up during booking — full-sized cabin bag plus priority boarding, 10 kg checked bag, 20 kg checked bag, bag plus up-front seating, one of everything! But you just wanted something bigger than your backpack, right?

In the flight finding world, we tend to see this as a bit of a trick. All these packages are thrown in your face, but regularly you’ll find it’s cheaper to add a bag on its own without the priority or up-front seating. However, with some airlines, the opposite can be true, so we’d always suggest clicking through to the final phase of booking to check all your options before paying for something you don’t need!

JFC-er Jerry echoed this sentiment:

“I think the slow-down in low-fare bookings is down to one simple thing. It's overcomplicated! (and ultimately not that cheap) Their websites bombard you with extras, rules and pop-ups, it's a minefield to get to the end and your ticket. 

You're never really sure you've done it right, got what you want, or complied with their rules, or have the correct sized bag, of which, they can differ OUT and then RETURN.

All this makes it a worrying and very stressful experience filled with UNCERTAINTY!

Who needs that when travelling, it's supposed to be enjoyable!” - Jerry

Most of you seem at peace without your inflight catering, at least. It’s easy enough to take a homemade plane picnic for a flight that only lasts a few hours (in case you missed the memo: yes, you can take food through airport security), or grab a much-beloved meal deal if you’re flying from the UK. 

My personal grudge, however, is that budget airlines aren’t even obliged to hand out free water these days (I this know from one very hot and delayed summer flight). At least the recent increase in water bottle refill points in airports means we have half a chance at staying hydrated.

For all our gripes with budget airlines, very few of you seem to want to see the back of them altogether. After all, they open doors to new destinations, with non-stop flights that aren’t bound by the hub model of traditional carriers. And back in the old days, basic service was a compromise we were willing to make.

“I hope it’s not the end of budget airlines ; I don’t mind a little discomfort as long as it’s short haul”  -  Gary

However, reader Jennifer points out that we have to factor in the environmental costs of all these low-cost short-haul flights:

“All flights should have to pay a carbon tax. And short-haul flights that use more carbon per mile due to take off and landings should be penalised more, especially where there is a low carbon land transport alternative. The revenue raised should be used to enhance and subsidise electric buses and trains. 

Climate change is here and now, and yet so many people think it isn’t their problem!” - Jennifer

So, when it’s all taken into account, where does that leave us? Ultimately, the upselling and poor service we’ve become so accustomed to seeing from low-cost airlines really grinds our gears. But we’re not ready to let go of the convenient routes and budget options altogether. 

And as full-service airlines continue unbundling even their premium fares, anyone willing to throw us a bone going forward is likely to come out on top. Certainly, those budget services that have never given up their full-sized carry-on always get extra kudos in JFC land — shout out to Southwest and Jet2!

Perhaps we should all have as much hope as JFC-er Roland, who imagines a future where budget airlines have learnt their lesson and return to their good old ways.

“I think the low-cost airlines will remain, but they will rethink their product and reverse to the way they started. When low-cost flights started, your seat was included, nowadays, ANY seat has to be purchased. 

It only allows for cheaper headline prices, but people are starting to see through this. The difference on short-haul European flights between low cost and “main stream” carriers is not as much as it used to be, once you add all the compulsory add-ons. And customers want to make sure they know what they get for their money, without having to go through optional “extras”.

Low-cost carriers have shot themselves in the foot by adding all the options they did to be able to compete with flag carriers, but forgot their core value of providing cheap air fares for all. 

There is still a market for low-cost carriers, but not in the way it is trying to copy the “all-in” airfare with all the separate charges.”

As for the next parts, a minor airport like ABE will never really be cheaper or even all that close in price to larger airports like Newark or Philly. There just isn’t enough volume for them to price fares competitively. With the big 3 airlines only flying to one city each, and Allegiant only ferrying fair-weather folk down to Florida, it’s just not busy enough to get those cheap fares, and that’s true for most airports with limited competition. Even large ones like Salt Lake City (which we do cover) run into this problem.

And lastly, Southwest consolidated all of their NYC-area service to LaGuardia just before the pandemic to cut down on costs and to take advantage of the brand new LGA terminal. So I don’t think a return to Newark is in the cards unless their finances take a dramatic upturn. On the bright side, Southwest (and Delta) do fly from LaGuardia to Kansas City 5x a day. Just one quick cross of Manhattan away :-)