Flying South to Austria in October - the way to go

Journeys End in Austria - Autumn Leaves

Over the last few years we've used budget airlines Ryanair and EasyJet countless times. The reason we usually fly ‘budget’ is purely price – low price. Of course it’s not just the airline fare - there are all the other travel costs that need to be considered when choosing who to fly with. You could argue that that the recent low fares have been subsidising all the other services like, for example long term parking at Stansted, and has also been compensating us for the inconvenient flight times. Parking for 3 weeks will cost over £100 even if you book in advance. Flying at 6:30am means getting up at 3 in the morning and writing off the day. 

The price gap to Flag Carriers has now narrowed

Today, because of punitive taxes and budget airline fare increases, the price differential between budget airlines and the so-called flag carriers has reduced markedly. It can be now more cost-effective to fly BA or Lufthansa to Austria. Well, North Austria anyway. We have to fly to Munich and catch the southbound train but it still can be cheaper and more pleasant.

For us, Heathrow is easily the closest Airport and we can get a lift or a bus so that cuts out the fuel costs and the parking. If you book in advance the ‘Flag’ Airline Fares are pretty similar to Budget Airlines. A return to Munich on Lufthansa need not cost much over £100. Then it’s just the Train fare to find, between £40 and £80 pounds return from Munich to Bad Hofgastein. Of course the other bonus is that hold baggage is free. Instead of being limited to 10Kg of ‘carry on’ we have a relatively massive 23Kg each. £60 return for a 15 Kg bag on Ryanair is a heavy price to pay to use the hold. Naturally TW takes most of both our allowances but, on this trip, she did kindly leave room for my necessities in Austria. The necessities being two packs of porridge, a large box of Jelly Babies and a combination bicycle lock.

Taking Off

Having grown accustomed to the ways of budget airlines the flag flying experience does feel much more relaxed. Already checked in and with seats allocated, we simply dropped off our bags and headed off for a coffee. Then, off to the gate, no waiting for the priority boarding queue to empty first, no measuring of the hand baggage. We were soon on board via a gangway! No need to walk down the steps and across the tarmac and then climb up the airliner steps, no scrum for the best seats. Just sit back and enjoy the complimentary coffee and the free Sunday paper. We were given a breakfast sandwich and could understand the announcements. Nobody tried to sell us anything.

Back on land

The train links from Munich Airport are pretty good, it’s just a short undercover walk to the station. We then had to take the S-bahn to Munich Ost where we could pick up a direct train to Bad Hofgastein. The S-bahn was like a commuter train and the 30 minute ride was pretty uneventful, apart from a certain little dog. TW said “that dog is dribbling”, I said “it’s probably hungry” TW said “wrong end”! Aaah! I moved the bags. Funny the things you remember when travelling.

Snow on the mountains in October
but  the Geraniums are blooming

Bit a of wait at Munich Ost but that gave us time to buy sandwiches. Our train arrived five minutes late and we found a couple of seats for the three hour ride. Seat reservations on trains can be a bit of a minefield, not sure if we are unlucky but most times when we reserve seats the actual train layout is totally different and we have to take pot-luck. In this case we were force to sit in a First Class carriage? Anyway the conductor didn’t mind and was happy with our tickets. By the way, if you print your own ticket at home they want to see the credit card you used for the booking. Lovely countryside as we drifted, in a leisurely fashion, through Bavaria and into Austria. Not a particularly fast train, nothing like the TGV’s in France but comfortable enough and time to absorb the ever changing scenery.

Have to say our migration south this time was very pleasant and, for once, I’m not dreading the journey home. Hope we don’t meet the incontinent dog again though!