Aviation Discussion

[Tim R-T-C]

Is there any easy way to find flights departing on a certain date, by time.

I am trying to plan a weekend away in December and looking for early departures, to anywhere in Europe, so we can make the most of a day - but the only way I have found is to go through individual airports and routes on Skyscanner and look for early times. You can filter by departure time once you have selected a FROM and TO, but not before. Does any website let you do this?

 

[AlterEgo]

Is there any easy way to find flights departing on a certain date, by time.

I am trying to plan a weekend away in December and looking for early departures, to anywhere in Europe, so we can make the most of a day - but the only way I have found is to go through individual airports and routes on Skyscanner and look for early times. You can filter by departure time once you have selected a FROM and TO, but not before. Does any website let you do this?

Are you familiar with ITA Matrix? It is a more complex tool for agents and fare "enthusiasts" like me, but there is an option to filter by departure time at the very outset. No licence is needed to use it.

https://matrix.itasoftware.com/

You can put multiple destinations in the "TO" and "FROM" boxes, separating them by commas, eg:

FROM: LON, MAN, NCL, LBA, BRS

TO: TXL, FRA, STR, MUC, DBV, PAR, FCO, MAD, BIO

etc etc.

Note that most budget airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet will not appear using that tool (Flybe, Vueling, and a few others notable exceptions).

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Thanks for the recommendation, I will have a play with this, although I presume there is no way to add an 'everywhere' or similar into the destination box?

 

[AlterEgo]

Thanks for the recommendation, I will have a play with this, although I presume there is no way to add an 'everywhere' or similar into the destination box?

No such thing as "everywhere", but you can enter as many destinations as you like. Be mindful that entering a silly amount (say, 50) might slow the search down! But it is possible.

Another way of searching for "everywhere" is using a destination radius.

In the destination box, once you have populated the full name of the airport from a drop down (it will not work with a code like FCO but rather "Rome Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino, Italy (FCO)"), click the NEARBY button and expand the radius. You can get a radius of up to 1000 miles, but be wary of course that this will be a very broad search and your search may time out.

 

[telstarbox]

Google Flights will let you select the departure time and you can put in a destination of 'Europe' which should cover nearly everywhere short haul.

You could also get some initial ideas by looking at the live departures for your chosen airport - these usually start to appear the evening before.

 

[fowler9]

One problem I found (Mostly using budget airlines, which are what I use the most) is that even if you find a cheap flight out at a suitable time on a Friday, the flight back on a Sunday or Monday is often a lot pricier. I did get an absolute bargain last year doing Wizzair from Liverpool to Budapest and back in April. out on a Saturday, back on a Tuesday. I know this isn't hat the poster is asking and I apologise but sometimes if possible it is cheaper to be able to be more flexible than doing a weekend, that said you are using more annual leave.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

I found this last year. Could fly out from DSA to Poland for a few pounds, but flights back were some £200 each (too much to pay for Wizz or Ryanair!). So got the sleeper to Cologne and flew back from Dusseldorf to Manchester instead.

For short trips I rarely use the same airport out and back anyway, chuck in a couple of sleeper trains and fly back from somewhere else entirely.

 

[fowler9]

I found this last year. Could fly out from DSA to Poland for a few pounds, but flights back were some £200 each (too much to pay for Wizz or Ryanair!). So got the sleeper to Cologne and flew back from Dusseldorf to Manchester instead.

For short trips I rarely use the same airport out and back anyway, chuck in a couple of sleeper trains and fly back from somewhere else entirely.

Yeah, that is part of the problem with finding a website that will cover all the cheapest flights in one simple search, it will throw up so many options not from or to the same place. Me personally given where I live book time off in advance and see where I can get to and back from Liverpool, then I look at Manchester. I don't look any further because the hassle of getting to the airport would make it a pointless exercise. You can get some bargains to Barcelona and back early December from Liverpool at the mo, just not necesarrily over weekends. .

 

[atillathehunn]

TPX use those filter cups too? Oh now I really do need a proper full day of travelling with them!

Agreed that Ryanair rule the skies when it comes to that filter coffee, it's excellent stuff and well worth the extra compared to the rubbish you get on BA, Flybe and the others!

Sorry, the King of Koffee in the air is Austrian. To die for. And they fly 767s on their long haul, winner.

 

[Jetlagged]

Are you familiar with ITA Matrix? It is a more complex tool for agents and fare "enthusiasts" like me, but there is an option to filter by departure time at the very outset. No licence is needed to use it.

https://matrix.itasoftware.com/

You can put multiple destinations in the "TO" and "FROM" boxes, separating them by commas, eg:

FROM: LON, MAN, NCL, LBA, BRS

TO: TXL, FRA, STR, MUC, DBV, PAR, FCO, MAD, BIO

etc etc.

Note that most budget airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet will not appear using that tool (Flybe, Vueling, and a few others notable exceptions).

Thanks so much for that link. What an amazing and useful tool that is and I love that it will even accept codes such as LON or NYC. I'm off to play some more. Thank goodness you cannot book through it, else my fingers might slip a little!

 

[AlterEgo]

Thanks so much for that link. What an amazing and useful tool that is and I love that it will even accept codes such as LON or NYC. I'm off to play some more. Thank goodness you cannot book through it, else my fingers might slip a little!

If you think the tool is worthwhile, have a Google and find some guides on various traveller blogs which show how to really maximise the code. You can even specify via points, aircraft, alliance, fare code, etc etc.

 

[Techniquest]

Sorry, the King of Koffee in the air is Austrian. To die for. And they fly 767s on their long haul, winner.

Cheers for the tip, it's unlikely I'll be flying with Austrian any time soon.

Ryanair is therefore King of Coffee in the skies within the budget airlines world. Talking of, I need to have a look and see if I can find a good deal with them for October...

 

[Butts]

Cheers for the tip, it's unlikely I'll be flying with Austrian any time soon.

Ryanair is therefore King of Coffee in the skies within the budget airlines world. Talking of, I need to have a look and see if I can find a good deal with them for October...

Not sure about the Coffee it's years since I have been on Ryanair - possibly decades

However next month I am flying from Stansted to Luxembourg for £20 Each Way including Front Row Seats and Priority Boarding.

Have even bought myself a special 35x20x20 second carry on bag - handily just the right size for a few sleeves of Bensons. Already have a 55x40x20 1st bag that I use on BA.

Any other things I should be aware of ?

 

[Bletchleyite]

What do Austrian use? Nespresso machines or something? (SBB also use some kind of capsule machine). It's going to take some doing to be better than the Ryanair coffee.

 

[Techniquest]

Not sure about the Coffee it's years since I have been on Ryanair - possibly decades

However next month I am flying from Stansted to Luxembourg for £20 Each Way including Front Row Seats and Priority Boarding.

Have even bought myself a special 35x20x20 second carry on bag - handily just the right size for a few sleeves of Bensons. Already have a 55x40x20 1st bag that I use on BA.

Any other things I should be aware of ?

It sounds like you're pretty much all set up and ready to go, you sure got a bargain there!

Have had to stop planning October for now as funds are a little short for the time being. Plus I just can't settle on a trip around the UK or a trip to a required country!

 

[fowler9]

Cheers for the tip, it's unlikely I'll be flying with Austrian any time soon.

Ryanair is therefore King of Coffee in the skies within the budget airlines world. Talking of, I need to have a look and see if I can find a good deal with them for October...

I got an absolute bargain with Ryanair from Liverpool to Wroclaw in November a couple of years back. A very nice airport (I was delayed 6 hours and didn't mind, free wi fi, smoking areas and cheap beer), a nice city, trams and trains to all over the place.

 

[AlterEgo]

I got an absolute bargain with Ryanair from Liverpool to Wroclaw in November a couple of years back. A very nice airport (I was delayed 6 hours and didn't mind, free wi fi, smoking areas and cheap beer), a nice city, trams and trains to all over the place.

Got a flight in a few weeks' time, Liverpool to Dublin with Ryanair. £4.99. Unbeatable value, even for a half-hour hop across the Irish Sea.

 

[fowler9]

Got a flight in a few weeks' time, Liverpool to Dublin with Ryanair. £4.99. Unbeatable value, even for a half-hour hop across the Irish Sea.

The bus from the Airport in Dublin will probably cost more if you are catching one. Ha ha.

 

[Joe Paxton]

Got a flight in a few weeks' time, Liverpool to Dublin with Ryanair. £4.99. Unbeatable value, even for a half-hour hop across the Irish Sea.

Doesn't even cover the £13 APD! If you stick to being parsimonious and spend nothing whilst onboard, then Ryanair does end up with the likelihood of you doing some word-of-mouth advertising for them... as you just have done!

(I wonder if a very small part of their calculation for very low fares such as these is the possibility that some passengers may buy multiple flights to cover various eventualities, meaning that for no shows it ends up being a straight fiver in Ryanair's pocket for carrying fresh air as there's no need to pay out APD.)

 

[fowler9]

Doesn't even cover the £13 APD! If you stick to being parsimonious and spend nothing whilst onboard, then Ryanair does end up with the likelihood of you doing some word-of-mouth advertising for them... as you just have done!

(I wonder if a very small part of their calculation for very low fares such as these is the possibility that some passengers may buy multiple flights to cover various eventualities, meaning that for no shows it ends up being a straight fiver in Ryanair's pocket for carrying fresh air as there's no need to pay out APD.)

I really don't have a problem with that. I can walk to the airport in an hour or bus it in 15 minutes for my £4.99 flight. I'll be there. Everyone else can do what they want.

 

[AlterEgo]

Doesn't even cover the £13 APD! If you stick to being parsimonious and spend nothing whilst onboard, then Ryanair does end up with the likelihood of you doing some word-of-mouth advertising for them... as you just have done!

(I wonder if a very small part of their calculation for very low fares such as these is the possibility that some passengers may buy multiple flights to cover various eventualities, meaning that for no shows it ends up being a straight fiver in Ryanair's pocket for carrying fresh air as there's no need to pay out APD.)

The idea is they hope to make it off you in the end. Usually by ancillaries like baggage, seats, priority boarding, a hotel, etc.

In my case I did purchase a seat but only because I will film the flight. I think that was only £3 on top.

 

[Joe Paxton]

The idea is they hope to make it off you in the end. Usually by ancillaries like baggage, seats, priority boarding, a hotel, etc.

In my case I did purchase a seat but only because I will film the flight. I think that was only £3 on top.

Oh yeah I totally get that... O'Leary's theory is that passenger's are bargain hunters at time of flight purchase, but then many of them are far more free-and-easy about spending once on the plane (and quite possibly beforehand, being upsold a seat and/or priority boarding). I think that's quite a reasonable theory especially for holidaymakers - indeed I saw a great example of it recently on a FR flight with a father 'splashing out' on multiple drinks and snacks for his three children and buying a Ryanair scatchcard or two.

But amongst the £5 flyers there will be those bargain hunters who really are doing it on the cheap, and at best only buy a drink - so Ryanair do make a loss on them. The value they bring to the party is surely that of word-of-mouth advertising, and of course the hope of repeat business when said flyers might pay a higher (and profitable) fare.

 

[AlterEgo]

But amongst the £5 flyers there will be those bargain hunters who really are doing it on the cheap, and at best only buy a drink - so Ryanair do make a loss on them. The value they bring to the party is surely that of word-of-mouth advertising, and of course the hope of repeat business when said flyers might pay a higher (and profitable) fare.

Indeed. I almost never buy on board and usually self-cater. The real money for Ryanair, I think, is in urgent travel - there are a number of routes on which they have a monopoly.

Last year an uncle of mine passed away in Derry and my father had to stump up about £150 return for the flight in order to attend the funeral (which is still not actually that bad!). On every flight that I have paid peanuts to sit on you can bet there are a couple of dozen passengers who have paid a significant premium like that.

 

[fowler9]

Oh yeah I totally get that... O'Leary's theory is that passenger's are bargain hunters at time of flight purchase, but then many of them are far more free-and-easy about spending once on the plane (and quite possibly beforehand, being upsold a seat and/or priority boarding). I think that's quite a reasonable theory especially for holidaymakers - indeed I saw a great example of it recently on a FR flight with a father 'splashing out' on multiple drinks and snacks for his three children and buying a Ryanair scatchcard or two.

But amongst the £5 flyers there will be those bargain hunters who really are doing it on the cheap, and at best only buy a drink - so Ryanair do make a loss on them. The value they bring to the party is surely that of word-of-mouth advertising, and of course the hope of repeat business when said flyers might pay a higher (and profitable) fare.

I don't get your point and I don't mean that rudely. I think everyone knows that if you buy carefully you can get an absolute bargain and if you aren't careful it will cost a bit more.

You get a lot of people, and I don't mean you, saying that if you shop carefully you can get a better deal off one of the legacy carriers, well Lufthansa, Air France, BA, KLM etc. don't even fly from Liverpool so you are instantly looking at train fair and additional travel time to Manchester etc.

 

[TheAlbanach_]

Flew back yesterday to Edinburgh via Heathrow from Brussels. Again on a A319 and B767. Oddly same crew on both flights! Waited almost an hour at the stand at Brussels for a take off slot despite boarding on time. Again not a lot of people paid for anything on board, I was at the back of the plane and it got to me very quick. Got a coffee and it was quite good, some sort of filter coffee! Flight back to Edinburgh was the last one of the day and was totally full, very smooth flight despite the weather at London! Next trip is on Ryanair, will try the coffee since people here are raving about it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jetlagged]

Coming back to the 30 minute LPL - DUB flight for £4.99. I get the argument about selling to you on board to increase revenue, but surely they are barely at the cruise before they are on the way back down again. Not much time there for coffee and scratch cards I would have thought.

 

[AlterEgo]

Coming back to the 30 minute LPL - DUB flight for £4.99. I get the argument about selling to you on board to increase revenue, but surely they are barely at the cruise before they are on the way back down again. Not much time there for coffee and scratch cards I would have thought.

The vast majority of the stuff Ryanair can flog you is neither food nor drink.

From memory they sell:
Parking
Fast track security
Seating privileges
Priority boarding
Hotels
Insurance
Airport transfers
Extra bags
Car rentals
Holiday packages

Some of those are pretty big ticket items in the scheme of things.

 

[atillathehunn]

The vast majority of the stuff Ryanair can flog you is neither food nor drink.

From memory they sell:
Parking
Fast track security
Seating privileges
Priority boarding
Hotels
Insurance
Airport transfers
Extra bags
Car rentals
Holiday packages

Some of those are pretty big ticket items in the scheme of things.

Also the key one: your repeat business!

I was reading analysis on the shifting nature of the short haul market recently. One of the key indicators they are chasing is proportion of passengers who are repeat passengers. Previously this was fairly low, but easyJet had seen a boost recently.

Ryanair will be chasing the same. They got you on their flight, for a good price, and possibly made a loss, but not only will that plane probably have overall made a profit*, they're thinking of you as a passenger over your lifetime as well. This time they got you at <€10 but now they have your information, they can contruct a model on how to get you next time. Sometimes the information they get from you in the booking process is worth more than the other auxilliary information. Their dynamic pricing models are very, very good. I've worked behind the scenes on this sort of website. They will be looking at where your mouse and eyes are on the booking page, to find out where the possible elasticities are.

*because this flight is to Dublin, their base, the economics might be different. It might have to go back for maintanence or paperwork requirements or crew requirements, therefore the economics are a bit different.

 

[fowler9]

Anyone got any advice on how long before departure to get to Terminal 1 in Manchester before a 17:40 departure to get through security etc. in early September.

 

[berneyarms]

Anyone got any advice on how long before departure to get to Terminal 1 in Manchester before a 17:40 departure to get through security etc. in early September.

If it's a short haul flight I'd aim to be there 90 minutes ahead of the departure time.