Low cost airlines have revolutionised flying – but at what price

Low cost airlines have revolutionised flying – but at what price ? Low cost airlines are ideal for the difficult days we are going through with the financial crisis. However, these airline companies’ services have many advantages and disadvantages that deserve to be debated. If one want to travel for a very short time, then booking a ticket with such a company is the best deal to make. On the contrary to what one might think, a low cost flight is not more dangerous than a regular one, because technical inspections are made regularly by the same companies, no matter the costs of the flight tickets.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t be allowed to fly anymore. Below I will point out the different advantages and disadvantages of low cost traveling. First of all, I will consider the advantages of this kind of trip. A strong advantage is that if booked in advance, one can pay almost nothing for the ticket. Moreover, it is wrong thinking that a low cost company is uncomfortable because more often companies have flight attendants who are very nice and attentive. An other advantage is economies : a low cost ticket costs from 35 to 50 Euro instead of 100 to 300 with a regular airline.

A point that is often debated is about food but it shouldn’t be so. During short flights, even if the company does not offer meals it is not an issue because food is available to buy on board. Finally, another advantage is that seats are not established so one can choose the seat he likes the most. It is important to take also the disadvantages of low cost airlines into consideration. A major disadvantage is that everything that is additional to the ticket is extra-charged. For example extra luggage is payed additional except for traveling with handluggage, but there are many restrictions on this kind of luggage.

As I mentioned above, seats are not established, then of course ocuppying a good seat is a big adventure as everyone is looking for their best seat. Unfortunately, if you want to change personal details for your tickets then it costs you a fortune. Another disadvantage is the excessive use of the aircrafts as low cost airline companies usually use one or two types of airplanes in order to reduce the maintainance and crew training costs. They perform many flights a day and because of the pproximately 40 minutes break (when passengers and their luggage are taken on and off), there can be delays in the last part of the day. Moreover, low cost airline companies have only direct flights and they do not guarantee catching any other flight afterwards. My opinion after considering all these points is that this type of low cost fight is a good deal if one wants to travel for a very short time. In my experience, there were too many delays which prevent me to be more enthusiastic about it. Nevertheless, the cost economies one can make if booking his ticket early enough are not negligible ! 507 words