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| Who wants to be a Millionaire? |
| It is fun to fantasize
about being a Millionaire, especially when you are told you must pay $471
for one tiny ticket, just to pop across the channel from Europe to London.
That is what I was faced with recently when I tried to book a one way ticket
on Lufthansa from Munich to London for a trip in June. I was mortified!!!
Not only was I less than happy with the idea of paying for an Airline ticket,
which I only do when I absolutely have to, but I was in total sticker shock
over the price of that short flight.
Those of you who are familiar with my Strategy #9 know that I do recommend paying for airline tickets if they cost $250 or less, saving your frequent flyer bonus miles, but not $471. There is no way I was about to pay that! (Especially since I am flying round-trip to Europe for FREE.) Just about then I remembered a nice little Airline that hops all over Europe and is based in London. Actually, there are two that come to mind; easyJet and Go . EasyJet's Web site just happened to be in my bookmarks. They fly 737's and the planes have their phone number all across the fuselage. Kind of tacky, but can't be bothered by a little bad taste, since I am not a millionaire. I can't be that choosy, when the price is right. Wasn't that another TV Show? It was so easy and cheap that I am still pinching myself for saving so much. After arriving at their Web site: www.easyJet.com, I then clicked on "buy online". After that it got even easier. Although I had to employ another one of my strategies, the "Alternate City", to get to London, it actually worked out better. It turns out that easyJet doesn't fly from Munich, but not to worry, as I will be traveling back from Paris, via Zurich by train, so I will fly out of Zurich. (An example of using the "Alternate City" strategy is one that we use frequently: We fly in and out of Ft. Lauderdale to Seattle (R/T) for less than $200 when a ticket from Miami might be over $450 for the same dates, sometimes even on the same Airline. If you are wondering how to do this, one way is to fly Southwest, $99 each way.) Online, I put in my information; origin, destination, date and one way ticket, and clicked on continue. Then they asked personal information; name, address, you know the drill. A secure server made giving them my credit card information pain free. That was it! It took all of five minutes and I already had a tune playing on my computer telling me my confirmation e-mail had arrived. Don't even need to have a ticket, it is all e-ticketed and all I have to show in Zurich is my passport and my confirmation number*. So you ask, what did I end up paying for my 50 minute flight? Just a pittance, less than it would have cost me to take the bus. I paid only 65 CHF (Swiss Francs), which translates to approximately $39. Now I don't feel so bad about paying for that flight and with all the time I save flying from Zurich to London, I will have more time to enjoy the rest of my trip in England and Scotland. Who wants to be a Millionaire?, If it happened I wouldn't turn it down. But guess what? Without having to worry about all that money and the numerous headaches that come with it, I can still feel like a Millionaire, being able to afford to jet back and forth from the Continent to London. At that price, I can almost go whenever I want. I guess that is why they are called easyJet and Go. With the option to fly so inexpensively you can afford to jet all over Europe. Don't play the high ticket price game, use the strategies from our book and if you can't always fly for FREE, at least shop around. You will be thrilled to find savings from 50% to 80% off the sticker price. With the Internet and a little "know how" a better question might be "Who needs to be a Millionaire"? Not me, as long
as I can afford all the travel I want, I am happy! Vicki Mills PS. I am back now. The flight was great
and I didn't even have to
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