# Sky Europe



## Karl89 (Feb 20, 2005)

Gents,

Last week had to attend a funeral near Geneva and a wedding in Bratislava. Was able to use Delta miles to get across the pond (note to Delta your Business Elite is the best in the business - circa 1995. Time for an update of the product, Atlanta.) Getting from Geneva to Bratislava or even Vienna on short notice proved to be an expensive proposition - around $700 on Lufthansa. However I came across Sky Europe, a relatively new low cost carrier based in Central Europe, that could get me from Basel to Bratislava for around $150 USD with less than a weeks notice so I was thrilled. 

Had to take the train from Lausanne to Basel and it was fine if nothing special though the Swiss military reservists who stank of kirsch and displayed an alarming lack of weapons safety provided a few minutes of worry. The Basel airport is a 3.40 CHF bus ride away from the train station and kept me reasonably occuppied with a decent duty free selection for a second-tier airport. I was however dreading the flight. I avoid low cost carriers like the plague in the States (though I have heard good things about Jet Blue) and when a huge crowd began forming at the gate a few minutes before boarding I braced myself for the worst.

I was pleasantly surprised. The aircraft was a relatively new 737 in good condition, the flight attendants were pretty and friendly Slovak lasses and boarding was a breeze. The seats were a bit tight in the legroom deparment as I think they squeeze another row or two in to maximize revenue. You pay for drinks and snacks (about 2 Euro for a Coke or 6 Euro for a Coke and pizza) and service was polite and efficient despite the airline accepting about 6 differenr currencies for payment. And they even had an inflight magazine that was worth reading that included an excellent story on western Ukraine.

Arrival in Bratislava was no problem as there were ample airline staff and immigration officers and I picked up my bag in about five minutes after leaving the plane (via stairs of course, Europe has yet to fully embrace the beauty of the jetway, though I think the airport bus driver union has something to do with this.)

So if you need a cheap flight in Europe, particularly Central or Eastern Europe then by all means check out Sky Europe.



Karl


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## jazzy1 (May 2, 2006)

Hi Karl,

I am going to need to purchase two round trip tickets from NYC to Rome in July 07. What would you reccomend for the best prices?


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## Karl89 (Feb 20, 2005)

Jazzy1,

A cursory glance of July fares to Rome from NYC saw the cheapest fare (on an airline I can vouch for) being from Iberia with a connection in Madrid at a shade under $1000 a ticket. There was a fare of about $700 on a low cost Spanish carrier called Comet 1 but I have no clue as to their services and they service the route with an A-310 which is a bit long in the tooth (though Northwest is still using DC-10's on some their European routes until January 2007.) A direct flight from NYC is about $1150 but I must caution you to avoid Alitalia as its future is uncertain and if they are bought by someone or are downsized the restless Italian unions will make any travel plans on Alitalia dicey. Continental flies to Rome from Newark and think AA and Delta offer service from JFK. You might see what fare you can find on US Airways out of Philadelphia if you don't mind flying out of Philly.

July is still a long time from now so you might wait and see if any sales develop. Delta has been rapidly expanding its service to Europe (with new flights to Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Kiev and Bucharest) so they might offer a cheaper fare over the next few months. The only other suggestion I would make is to check the NY Times Sunday Travel Section for ticket consolidators. And do check Ask Andy for some ideas about Rome as there have been some threads concerning Roman shopping, hotels and dining.

Karl


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## jazzy1 (May 2, 2006)

Thanks for the information. The more I can save on airfare, the more I can spend on wine and clothes.

I plan to ship the cases of wine to NY while I am still in Italy to avoid having to deal with the whole airline thing


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