Day trip to Ireland for £0.02 (four cents)

[cessna152towser]

What a deal! Was this a special promotion for a new route?

If you book far enough in advance you can quite often find penny flights, though usually airport tax, booking fees, etc. are added on and you end up paying at least £20 to £30 each way which is still a very good deal, considering that if booked nearer the departure dates the flights can often cost more than £150 each way. This was a special promotion earlier in the year (which they usually run from time to time) where there were no added taxes or booking fees charged, available only for certain flights booked for certain dates in September and October. In almost all cases the penny flights were only available in one direction on any particular day, the idea being that you would either pay around £15 per item of luggage or if you were a day tripper you would pay a full fare in the opposite direction. For some reason best known to the airline, in the case of Dublin routes only, the offer was also available on an outbound flight from certain airports in the morning and a return flight home the same evening for a penny each way, but only for certain Tuesdays in September and October. Possibly subsidised by the Irish Tourist Board. Certainly this airline have a very commercial outlook. They ask airports to subsidise new routes and even on established routes they pay virtually nothing in airport landing fees and handling charges, on the basis that they attract passengers to the airport who will then spend money in the shops and cafes. All the luggage bins above the seats have advertisements on their lids and their stewards will try to sell you plenty of stuff during the flight. If you want priority boarding to enable you to choose your seat it will cost extra. Yet their 'planes are the latest Boeing 737 - 800 series and their captains are well paid professionals.

[GMan]

Fantastic deal and fantastic shots. Glad that you got to go and really glad that you shared the pictures with us.

[cessna152towser]

Sorry we couldn't meet up with you when we went to Robertson's..but that just means we have to go back for another visit!

Yes, I had a court sitting last Tuesday when you were in Dumfries. Sorry I couldn't meet up with you, but hopefully will see you next time.

Did I miss your Dumfries pics or have you not posted them yet?

[David Dalglish]

Again great photo's Alex, you certainly get about

[beloitpiper]

Wow! You got around! I love Ireland too, and I plan taking advantage of Ryan Air to get to Scotland.

[CelticRanger66]

Great photos Alex!! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

[Phil]

Really good pictures and I loved the street scenes particularly. They were full of life going on. Now I see why you wanted the Armagh kilt. That must have been some hectic day getting up to Armagh and back. I would need a week to do all that!