Flybe Experience-Europe's largest regional airline

March 2020 Update: Sad to read that Flybe has gone bankrupt.

Flybe claims to be Europe's largest regional airline. Flybe operates in about 15 countries in Europe, flying around 81 airports ferrying 8 million passengers an year on short haul flights. Flybe has 3 types of aircrafts- Bombardier Q400, Embraer E750 and E950 all single aisle, 4 seats a row smaller planes.

I had two flights with Flybe during my UK trip. Their tickets are cheap, but not as cheap as RyanAir. For my dates and destinations, Flybe was the cheapest operator, so I booked with them.

Belfast to Edinburgh
Belfast airport seemed to be dominated by Flybe-the display board was full of Flybe flights. Mine was a short 50 min flight to Edinburgh, on Q400. Check-in counter person took a few minutes to locate my booking on his system. Flight had a small delay but arrived almost on time.

In flight food options were decent. I bought a cup of soup for 2 pounds. I thought 2 Pounds is not bad, but later found that same brand's soup ready-mix is available for 1.59 GBP for a pack of 4. Still I think Flybe's inflight menu is reasonably priced.

 I was also thinking of trying rice noodle but it had traces of alcohol.

 Flybe legroom in Q400. Seats don't recline.

Flybe's Q400 turbo props are coloured in bright purple while the Embraer fleet seem to get white colour.

Edinburgh to Cardiff
Was on Embraer E750
Flight was on time, in flight menu was slightly different- couldn't find Tomato soup! Got an aisle seat assigned this time. Again, seats don't recline. In-flight magazine is nice.

Gates are announced only last minute in UK's airports so we won't know where to wait. But usually will have enough time to get to your gate once announced, even if you're in another part of airport.

During this flight gate staff were asking people to check if their bag fits the size checker box.

Some points to note:
Their cabin bag size checking tool is same for both Q400 and Embraer which doesn't make sense. Embraer has slightly bigger overhead cabin and can take bigger bags. Why force passengers cough up 35 GBP extra claiming their bag won't fit the cabin, based on Q400's cabin sizes? Also to note, they don't accept cash at the gate- card payment only.

Air Lingus on the other hand has different sizes for different aircrafts.


Overall my Flybe experience was good. Do try them when in Europe.

London Southend Airport- what to expect?

London Southend, Airport code SEN is a small airport some 40 miles from London city. Many budget airlines operate flights out of this airport.

Things you should know if you're flying out of London Southend Airport

• Train to Southend central from London city will cost about 11 GBP
• Bus to Southend airport is available from Southend on sea city centre, around 2.5 GBP. Buses may not go inside airport- you may have to walk final 500 meters.
• A train station is also available right opposite the airport.
• Southend Airport is about 3 miles from Southend on sea city centre.
• Southend Airport does have a few shops but otherwise bare minimum facilities.
• No free drinking water, no sleep-able sofas, nothing much to do.

Holiday Inn is available if you wish to stay next door to airport, else budget accommodation is available in Southend on Sea.

RyanAir Experience-London Southend to Dublin

Flew Ryanair again after 3-4 years. Ryanair is popular for its ultra low cost flight tickets and also notorious for charging for anything and everything. You can read my previous comprehensive review of Ryanair here.

Recently as I was scouting for cheap flight to visit Dublin from London, Ryanair came up as lowest- some 13.5 GBP without bags for a late night flight. The catch was that the flight is from London Southend Airport, some 40 miles east of London and it was a late night flight. I had few options from other airports closer to city, but I decided to fly out from London Southend, mainly because I felt that Southend on Sea is a nice place and I might as well visit it before flying out.

So besides the 13.5 GBP ticket, I spent 11 GBP to reach Southend Central from London, about 1600 INR to spend a night, 2.5 GBP bus to Southend airport etc. So real cost of travel is much more than what I paid to Ryanair, but then I got to spend a day in Southend on Sea, which will qualify for a separate post.

On the 13.5 GBP ticket, I am allowed only 1 cabin bag. Checked bag costs 40 Pounds more, airport check-in costs 10 pounds more and so on. Thankfully I could manage with cabin bags alone. On a per mile basis, Ryanair's 13.5 GBP for 400 miles is one of the lowest transport costs during my trip. Check below for a comparison.

I was suggested by a friend to get print out of the boarding pass else they may charge extra for that. (London to Dublin is an international flight and they need to do visa check for non EU citizens, so I was told to bring printout- otherwise not necessary for domestic flights).

Scouted Southend on sea market to find a shop that would print out my boarding pass- cost me 2.2 GBP. But eventually realized that it is not required- Ryanair check-in counter will issue a printed boarding pass for free as long as I have done web check-in.

Anyways, I reached well in time for the flight, crowd was very less- there were only 2 Ryanair flights that evening- one to Copenhagen and another to Dublin, so cleared all airport formalities within minutes. Staff were nice.

Flight departed some 10 minutes late but reached almost on time. I just managed to get out of Dublin airport, locate the bus stop for last bus to my final destination and get into the bus with minutes to spare. Bus Journey from Dublin airport to home cost me 14 Euros, as against the 13.5 GBP flight ticket. Anyway, had the flight be late by few more minutes, I was looking at spending 50-60 Euro on taxi or find a hotel nearby for overnight stay.

Nothing much has changed w.r.t Ryanair flight experience- the bare minimum setup- safety card printed on back of headrests, non reclining seats etc. I was assigned a middle seat because I refused to pay for seat selection. Anyway since the flight was of one hour only, I could survive without any issues.

Ryanair was in trouble recently with Pilot strike etc- but such issues have affected every airline- even BA & Lufthansa pilots have gone on strike- overall airline remains a good choice if you want to save on air fares and can travel light and without any luxuries. Of course, if you can afford, if you need more luxury and comfort, there're other airlines you can try.

Will be trying a new airline next week- Flybe.. Stay tuned.

Hamari Seat Kaisi ho- Hindi Poem

Wrote this Hindi poem sitting on my seat to London- on Qatar Airways Airbus A330 exit row seat from Chennai to Doha.. Do enjoy the poem.

Hamari seat kaisi ho
Jo enidhi ko mila waisi ho

Aage leg room aisi ho
Football maidaan jaisi ho

Baaju ke seat bhi kaali ho
Unki tray table hamaari ho

Baaju ke seat bhi khaali ho
Armrest bhi poora hamaari ho

Paas hi exit darwaaza ho
Kabhi khulne ki zaroorat na aane ho

Aage jump seat main koi baithi ho
Jinke muskaan aur seva pe hum abhaari ho

Hamaari seat kaisa ho
Jo eNidhi ko mila waisa ho!

Won a few Lufthansa goodies: #CelebratingChennai

A month ago, Lufthansa ran a campaign on twitter to mark 25 years of servicing Chennai. The contest required participants to explain why they would like to visit a specific destination in Europe.

I took part and wrote about visiting Copenhagen, Denmark- which I had flown on Lufthansa in 2016.

After few weeks I was told I am one of the 25 lucky winner.

Winner declaration

Hi, Thanks for participating in #CelebratingChennai Your entry has been selected and you are one of the 25 lucky participants who has won LH branded merchandise gift hamper. Congratulations!
Please DM your email ID so that we can mail you the details.
Thanks! Team Lufthansa

— Lufthansa India (@Lufthansa_India) August 19, 2019

Earlier this week I got the above goodie bag. An ipad case, a lunch bag carrier, a small backpack and a key chain- probably worth around 10-15 Euros total.

Someone named Ramesh Nyfa won the grand price of return ticket to Europe. Others got goodies like shown above.

The reason I liked this contest is because it is old school- winners were selected based on the merit of their write up and not some random pick. Most online contests these days are designed to gain maximum leverage from participating individuals- they are asked to like, follow, RT, tag their friends and do a dozen other things to promote the post and then hope that they get to win something- probability of win is too low in such contests as main intention is to gain followers and visibility for the brand, not to really give away anything. I stay away from such contests as it is usually not worth the time and effort spent giving publicity to the brand against the probability of winning.

Lufthansa contest on the other hand was merit based and genuine. Hope there will be more contests like this.

Similar: Lufthansa Premium Economy Experience

Mumbai-South Africa-Seychelles Multi City for 29k

Mumbai people take note- if Africa is on your radar, here's a nice deal

You can cover South Africa and Seychelles in one trip, for under 30k. For select dates, Air Seychelles multi city ticket is available for cheap fares as shown below.

30k is not super cheap considering the flight duration, but we don't see too many deals to Africa from India so this is good deal to explore two countries in one trip if Africa is on your mind. Visiting South Africa and Seychelles separately will cost 2x more. You can go all the way to Japan from Mumbai for 30k

Point to note:

• Above is non refundable ticket. No date change, no refund.
• Full service airline. Meals, seat selection and baggage is included.
• South Africa visa is needed for Indian passport holders, costs about 3000 INR and takes 5 to 15 working days. Seychelles is visa on arrival
• Available for above date in November- you've enough time to process visa, possibly available for various other dates in 2020 as well.
• Can be booked on Air Seychelles website or on 3rd party site. But official website wasn't showing low fares. Beware of some convenience fee, possible discounts etc on top of amount shown able. (The 2500 discount shown above is for HDFC Credit card only, MMT charges Rs 899 convenience fee in final stage)
• Skscanner showed few other European websites like eDreams, Gotogate selling same itinerary for a few rupees less. But online feedback on these websites were not very encouraging with allegations of charging extra later etc. So might be best to deal with Indian travel websites like MMT or Easemytrip etc

I wanted to book above but didn't have enough time to process South Africa visa between my last trip and this one. Might try for 2020. I tried for other destinations in Africa like Tanzania etc but didn't get anything under 30k INR- you can try if you wish- Some African countries like Etiophia, Kenya, Tanzania etc give visa on arrival for Indians.

This information is tip off from Amar Singh Solanki of Lily Holidays

Related: Best things about Seychelles