Europe Hub for flights to USA

jrussell58

Can anyone tell me if a short haul flight to Europe and then to the USA cost less than direct from the UK? and if so how is it done.

alanrowell

This is a "how long is a piece of string" question.

Too many factors to be able to say that it will or that it won't. In some cases it will work, in others it won't.

Only you would be able to work out if on a particular day from a particular airport to a particular airport will work in your particular case.

Couple of bits of advice though

1) if you decide to book a separate flight to a hub airport ensure that the flight is to that hub airport and not another in the area
2) if you decide to book a separate flight to a hub flight in order to cut the APD you pay then ensure that you leave yourself LOTS of time to make the connection as invariably you will be passing through immigration, collecting luggage, going through customs, changing terminals, doing check-in, going through security etc etc - and you need to allow for "things going wrong".
3) APD is not payable on flights INTO the UK, so consider booking an open jaws / multi-city ticket returning to the UK but departing form elsewhere - this saves one lot of worry for the return leg.

merlinormartin

Going to Orlando seems to work out cheaper via Amsteram

Old Moneysaving thread

whatmichaelsays

I've connected to flights in Paris, Dublin (using a cheap Ryanair flight from Leeds and connecting to another long-haul airline) and Amsterdam in the past. Sometimes the overall flight cost can be cheaper, sometimes it can be more. I generally prefer doing it that way now but then again, I would rather saw off my genitals with a rusty pocket knife than travel to/through Heathrow.

Voyager2002

If you can afford a holiday in the USA, you can afford to pay the proper price, including the tax. By "being clever" you risk missing a connecting flight and losing everything.

dmg24

Voyager2002 wrote: »

If you can afford a holiday in the USA, you can afford to pay the proper price, including the tax. By "being clever" you risk missing a connecting flight and losing everything.

Unless of course you book the intra EU leg on the same ticket.

Voyager2002

dmg24 wrote: »

Unless of course you book the intra EU leg on the same ticket.

OK, but in that case presumably you pay UK tax on the whole journey.

whatmichaelsays

Voyager2002 wrote: »

If you can afford a holiday in the USA, you can afford to pay the proper price, including the tax. By "being clever" you risk missing a connecting flight and losing everything.

It's not always about the tax though.

As I've said, I'll often try and fly from Dublin or Amsterdam - doing so allows me to fly from my local airport and saves me from the fresh hell that is Heathrow. I can fly to Dublin and stay overnight in an airport hotel for far less than the cost of a train ticket to London (on top of the likely hotel stay).

dzug1

jrussell58 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me if a short haul flight to Europe and then to the USA cost less than direct from the UK? and if so how is it done.

It is often cheaper - even as, or especially as - a through ticket.

Reason is that airlines operating out of European hubs want a slice of the UK market. As they have the disadvantage of a longer journey time they have to give good discounts to attract passengers. They will probably sell a London - Amsterdam - Seattle ticket, say, for less than the cost of an Amsterdam - Seattle one.

jamesbrownontheroad

jrussell58 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me if a short haul flight to Europe and then to the USA cost less than direct from the UK? and if so how is it done.

The savings make the most sense if you are traveling business class, because of the higher rate of APD on business and first class fares ex-UK.

aerostar

I recently was checking flights for a friend to get to South Africa. From Heathrow it was around £800 return, from Amsterdam it was a bit over £575. So a cheapie to Amsterdam and back, would have saved a lot of money....and guess what.. the flight from Amsterdam was via London, and then on the same BA flight that the London fare was based. Also found similar via Paris.