La Vie En Rose for 2007 April 10

I have finally decided on a route for my august adventure, partly because I was tired of waking up everyday and thinking something like, "maybe I'll go to turkey," and then spending 5 hours reading about turkey (I won't say wasting time, but travel research seems to be my favorite mode of procrastination, and right now I really need to be spending about 90% of my waking hours working on my thesis), and partly because ryanair was having a sale. So I booked a cheap flight to Venice! The morning after I arrive in London! I figured all I really need to do is drop my bags off somewhere, so I'll do that, hang around for a few hours, then head off to Stansted for a good night's sleep, haha. Actually, the flight for the 1st was $30 cheaper than the flight on the 2nd, so I figure with that money I saved, plus the money from not having to pay for two nights in a London hostel, I can actually afford to visit Venice!

The thing about budget airlines is that they keep the fares low by ripping you off in every other possible way. I think this has gotten worse in the few years since my happy-go-lucky days as an undergrad study abroader, back when a euro was less than a dollar and it took less than two dollars to get you a pound. *sigh* Anyway, the 4 pound fare was seriously the cheapest part of my ticket except the 1.75 credit card fee (which is charged per leg, per passenger). There was 25 pounds tax (but that's to be expected), and now apparently they don't even let you check luggage without having to pay for it. 5 pounds per piece, I think more at the airport, and if it weighs more than 15 kilos, it's like 8 pounds per kilo or something ridiculous like that. Needless to say there will be no free snacks, drinks, or friendly stewards aboard the flight. But I'm still flying from London to Venice for $75, so it's hard to complain. Thanks to cheap airlines, I experienced the delights of Paris, Madrid, Nice, and other places that would have been out of reach previous to the budget airline revolution in Europe. I'm really looking forward to being back where all of Europe is just a hop, skip, and 20 pounds away, especially now that they have expanded east. I will probably be spending many more nights on a scored armrest-less cushion at Stansted en route to Krakow, Budapest, Riga… The sky is the limit (as they say).