 Poster: A snowHead
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Advice please from the assembled wisdom of sH.
Our depleted family of 3 wish to ski in MdC in the Feb half term.
We preferred flying via Verona, but there are no options from the UK anymore.
The closest we can see, is Milan Malpensa, of the 3 airlines, I prefer Ryanair.
Any advice from the collective? Its flippin' expensive either way!
Thanks,
Strax
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Unless there's a difference in kit allowance/cost (if you need it) they all do the same job. Never had any issues with any of them really - and in fact my first RyanAir trip was to the BB this year and I reckon it was one of the better journeys I've had, so am now ignoring scare stories!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Of RyanAir and EasyJet I would choose EasyJet every time. I have found the staff generally so much more friendly and helpful. I have no experience of Flybe but friends and family report having had no problems with them.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Flybe aka Flymaybe
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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A poke in the left eye, a poke in the right eye or a slap in the face....... very little to choose between them 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@holidayloverxx, my mate works for their PR department and has the privilege of seeing that several times every week. Flew with them to Rome though and had no complaints other than their baggage policy which seems different from anyone else's.
EasyJet I fly regularly with and have had no issues, generally good flights and aircraft are decent.
Never flown Ryanair and have no desire to.
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@Strax, Try BA to Milan.
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@Strax, Lufthansa Munich from Manchester? Free ski carriage.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
We preferred flying via Verona, but there are no options from the UK anymore.
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I know it is the backend of beyond but doesn't BA do Gatwick to Verona?
Does Ryanair not do Stanstead to Verona?
Any way my rankings of the 3 companies are:
Flybe - used lots of times, but mainly inside the UK and to the Isle of Man and they accept Avios. I find them good
Easyjet - have proved good and relaible to Geneva from Luton and Birmingham and also to Malpensa
Ryanair - I have now stopped using them having had very bad experiences with them.
I imagine all the major airlines do UK to Verona, for example Lufthansa do Manchester to Verona. I beleive some airlines will also fly to Bergarmo, a useful airport for the Dolomites, as is Venice.
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@Strax,
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We preferred flying via Verona, but there are no options from the UK anymore.
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BA and EasyJet do LGW to Verona.
Ryanair and Thomson go from Birmingham
Thomson also do Bristol and Manchester.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Strax,
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We preferred flying via Verona, but there are no options from the UK anymore.
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BA and EasyJet do LGW to Verona.
Ryanair and Thomson go from Birmingham
Thomson also do Bristol and Manchester.
As for your actual question, all three airlins can be good or poor. personally, Ive never had any problem with any of them. Bizarrely, I think Ryanair are probably the ebst of the bunch these days. Customer service on board on off is far better than it used to be.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I've just flown Ryanair back from Ibiza. I paid for business class to get their equivalent of speedy boarding and extra luggage.
For an extra £60 each we got: No priority check-in, Priority Q only let us get onto a runway bus more quickly... where it waited without aircon for 15 minutes until rammed full of normal fare passengers... all of whom ran to the aircraft and filled the tiny overhead bins resulting in luggage chaos on board. On arrival back at STN, we got steps quickly but then had to wait over 15 minutes for the runway buses. I'm guessing buses are used to avoid paying for a snorkel as there were plenty of empty gates at both ends.
Compared to our regular Easyjet flights, to Geneva and Ibiza, this flight has reconfirmed my desire to never use Ryanair.
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Have never seen the point of going on a cheap airline then paying a fortune for "extras" which ensure you get to the other end around the same time as the people who didn't.....
I rather enjoy being one of the last people off the plane, and therefore one of the last on, and first off, the bus.... 
I have used Flybe (Southampton Chambery) and lots of easyJet flights - also met a lot of easyJet flights at Geneva. I like them both. Haven't flown Ryannair for years.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Strax, Ryanair fly Birmingham Verona according to Skyscanner ?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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No problems when I flew with Ryanair to Treviso - except that the seat was very hard. EasyJet is usually fine. Flybe can be restrictive over ski length - depends on what plane they are using I think.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Am I right in thinking, apart from the ski length issue with Flybe, Ryanair tend to charge far more for ski carriage or is it just EJ have jacked it up to the Ryanair levels. Personally, I am a bit anti EJ after a problem at Verona, have found Ryanair generally excellent and Flybe fine on my only recent experience. EJ were fine on my last ski trip tho'. Others in the ski chalet retailed bad experiences of an EJ Innsbruck flight diverted to Munich with none of the promised buses awaiting them to get them to Innsbruck. I think BA are dear re skis and one has to watch the charters as they have very light hand luggage allowances.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Ryanair now charge a whopping £90 return for 20kg suitcase.....this time last year, I'm sure it was £60
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@bar shaker, Many, but not 100% of the problems you describe are nothing to do with Ryanair, but the fault of the airport ground staff.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Quote: |
BA and EasyJet do LGW to Verona.
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The trouble is that Gatwick is the back end of beyond. By the time you have got the flight to Gatwick you may as well have changed in Amsterdam or Frankfurt.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@johnE, Gatwick super easy from my old flat near Victoria. Heathrow too... and I lastly worked near Clapham Junction... (great for LGW, not so much LHR).
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@johnE, depends where you live
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@johnE, Indeed it does depend where you live. By car Gatwick is no more difficult to access than Heathrow, and actually easier to drop someone off at than Stansted is now (other than at rush hour times)
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By car Gatwick is no more difficult to access than Heathrow
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@CaravanSkier, At least another hour around the M25. If you are lucky. The OP gave location as Leeds, so probably at least 4 hours to Gatwick, but because of traffic risks I would allow 5 hours.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Don't forget the major airlines - if you are taking skis with you then Swiss often can be cheaper than Easyjet/Ryanair.
We generally fly with Ryanair from Stansted to Milan for half-term, but this year Alitalia from London City Airport was cheaper.
Not so useful from Leeds, but from London City is a great airport (albeit with no cheap parking) with check-in allowed much later than for other airports. Also, consider rail (I much prefer it to flying but cannot persuade the rest of my family to use it as a first choice).
P.S. If booking with Alitalia make sure you go through an IATA / ATOL agent because they are permanently about to go bankrupt (and have been for years - every time that the get bailed out by the Italian government it is supposedly the last time).
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@johnE,You are probably correct. I think of it as only about 10 -15 mins further if I go that way round the M25 but then I do avoid the M25 at peak times.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Strax, We've used Flybe MAN-MXP for the last two years with no issues, they use an Embraer 190 jet which is quite small 2+2 seat across, but has good legroom. Have jumped plane to easyJet for next year as they were much cheaper when we booked which was on the day the flights were released. I think the only issue you may have with Flybe is that their cabin baggage size is slightly smaller than the other two.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Ryanair are definitely still selling the Stansted Verona route for this winter. I have had both perfectly decent Ryanair experiences and bloody awful.
Recently went Ryanair from Stansted to Milan Bergamo and the massed scrum at Ryanair bag drop for which we had to wait about an hour was pretty hellish - very nearly missed our flight. You pays your money and take your choice - clearly wouldn't recommend them but even after bags they were over a £100 cheaper at the time than other airline for that or other Milan / Verona routes.
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I'm pretty sure it's not the quality of the airline that's the issue but the attitude, experience and behaviour of your fellow passengers.
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You know it makes sense.
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@under a new name, partly perhaps but coming back from Bergamo, still Ryanair, was a pleasant experience. Short queues, friendly ground staff and as I don't care if we're first or last on - we had checked in so know where we're sitting - no rush or need to stand in a boarding queue.
At Stansted which is their main hub they simply don't staff up sufficiently at the check in/bag drop gates so it is generally unpleasant. Stansted is though a bit of a pain whoever you fly with.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@Strax, I just booked Manchester to Malpensa for Christmas ..... less than £50 per person return including bags for 4 nights away.
Here's how...... book through BA.com Executive Club using Avios. The Flybe baggage allowage is 10kg cabin, AND 23kg hold if you book with Avios through the Exec Club. But you have to ensure you go through Flybe Customer Services to claim the hold baggage, a bit of a pain I agree. If you do want skis on top of that allowance it's £30 per set per leg. Unlike BA, Flybe will not allow you to use one hold baggage allowance of 23kg for your skis. On a short 3 ski-day break Mrs Skimastaaah and myself we will hire in resort (first time for 30 years!!). I could have booked MAN to Milan Linate via Heathrow again using (more) Avios and got the skis included but that would have cost extra Avios and more flight costs as there are 4 BA flights as opposed to 2 Flybe. I'll be skiing in the Aosta Valley (Champoluc/Cormayeur/ La Thuile) dependant upon snow. If the snow is poor I can cancel all aspects of the holiday, and not lose costs with Flybe/Avios if I re-book other flights when I cancel (theoretically).
I'll report back on how things go
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Poster: A snowHead
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@skimastaaah, quite an achievement!
I guess at the end of the day we can choose so many compromises: taking my son out 6th form for a day halves the flight prices: a drive from Leeds to B'ham can save 30 minutes on the transfer in Italy, and my Missus isn't good at getting up early...Its nice to add a night in London or Milan, and when there's 3 of us: should we hire a vehicle at the far end. At the end of the day its half term and so all the operators are trying to pull our pants down. Ideally the wee man will have a training day..
Personally I've flown with many airlines, and can't find much difference between the "budget" and the KLMs/BAs of this world. By the time one adds baggage the price is the same(ish) Only Swissair includes ski carriage...but my clan will spend that saving at Zurich..
It seems like it will be more expensive this year (!!) 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Strax, Peak time at February this year I booked BA flights and car hire together from Heathrow to Milan Linate, 5 days at £150 per person!! Bargain when you consider 5 days car hire alone was over £250.
And it's a good thing to note that you can take skis for free with BA if the ski bag is one of your included hold bags and weighs in under 23kg.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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In most cases BA, Lufthansa and Swiss are cheaper than the so called budget airlines if you are taking skis
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| kevinraine wrote: |
| In most cases BA, Lufthansa and Swiss are cheaper than the so called budget airlines if you are taking skis |
Absolutely,.......... I can't understand why the ski-carrying fraternity haven't cottoned on to this yet. My BA flight/care-hire at £150 included 2X ski carriage, plus 23kg bag, plus 23kg cabin bag allowance, and at peak/shoulder week.
And I suggest that BA is ultra-bargain if you can use their Executive Club and the Avios scheme. I costed out similar flights from MAN or LBA to Milan/Italy on the same dates to include baggage...... ouch! 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@kevinraine, depends where you're based. In the SW I can fly EJ from Bristol but need to go to London to fly any of the others, which is an extra 100 miles each way plus a few hours.
Also the strategy with skis as gold baggage don't apply to flights at the economy level, certainly whenever I've looked it's been more expensive to fly BA than EJ.
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@Strax, we've hired at Malpensa the last two years, used Rentalcars.com and chose one with their desk in the terminal, got a Focus the first year and a Yaris this year, managed to get 3 big roll bags (with boots in Flybe class boots as an extra bag!) and three rucksacks without any problems, bit tight in the back though😳. Both cost about £130 for the week, paid for the extra insurance cover in U.K. at £13 for the week, the hire companies charge €9 per day and should be avoided. When searching look for offers that give snow chains and an additional driver if you need one. Driving over there is easy, haven't experienced a que as yet, even going back to MXP on a Friday evening.
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We flew Jet2 for both our ski trips this year. Once from Manchester, the other from Leeds Bradford. We live about 3 hours from both, but Jet2 were great and the journeys actually no bother. The one from Leeds Bradford was half term to Salzburg, we booked 2 weeks before we went and it didn't cost us the earth (£750 for three of us return with cases and 2 x ski carriage).
Worth checking out what they offer. I think they're starting to fly from Stansted too.
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