Cheap Flights from Derby to Brussels

slenderkitten

Hi all

I am having a nightmare finding a cheap flight i used to fly with ryanair Birmingham to Düsseldorf (weeze) but they dropped this route two weeks ago; used to be around £50 just taking hand luggage.

So now i need to find an alternative route that is cheap, i also have to factor in train costs from derby to whichever airport (sometimes have separate train free from the cities station to the airport).

I am only going for weekend Friday - Sunday - may consider going in the week if it's cheaper i will be staying in Brussels with my boyfriend.

My preferences are:-

Birmingham (can book train fare is as inclusive to airport - has a free shuttle service)
Leeds
Manchester
East Midlands

as stated above i am staying in Brussels, i have been given a list of airports i could try as

Brussels - Charleroi
Amsterdam
Dusseldorf - Weeze

Can anyone assist me (dont' shoot me but i am terrible with booking trains it confuses me lol)

I have looked at cheap flights website but they don't seam to be that cheap imo. i am only familiar with ryanair who else should i look at?

Also which website should i look at for cheap or bargain train fare?

Thanks in advance.

scragend

Have a look at Jet2.com from Leeds-Bradford to Dusseldorf (Dusseldorf proper not Weeze) - they seem to have some good fares.

I don't know when you are planning to go but I tried it for 6th - 8th May (avoiding the holiday weekends so as not to distort the prices) and I could get a return for £8.98 + £60 taxes + £10 online check-in = £78.98.

Obviously that's more than the £50 you were paying with Ryanair (but Jet2 is less "cattle class" than Ryanair - every airline is for that matter!) and you would then need to factor in the trains, but it's a start.

dzug1

You might consider Eurostar - you can book through from Derby or try for cheap advance tickets to London and back, either with East Midlands trains or megatrain. It's not going to be that cheap - mid week might be more reasonable though

All your airports have services to Brussels - with BMI in most cases. Not the budget part of the airline though and not cheap. Your problem may also be arriving back late Sunday evening with no way of getting home until next day.

slenderkitten

dzug1 wrote: »

You might consider Eurostar - you can book through from Derby or try for cheap advance tickets to London and back, either with East Midlands trains or megatrain. It's not going to be that cheap - mid week might be more reasonable though

All your airports have services to Brussels - with BMI in most cases. Not the budget part of the airline though and not cheap. Your problem may also be arriving back late Sunday evening with no way of getting home until next day.

Eurostar are at lease £150 i cant justify that kind of money for only a couple of days,

Doshwaster

Hmmm - tricky. BRU is not a cheap airport to fly into (blame all of those Eurocratson expenses). Easyjet fly to Brussels from Liverpool and also to Amsterdam from Liverpool, Luton or Stansted but that's quite a long trip from door to door.

Alternatively, tell your boyfriend to meet you somewhere more convienient

richardw

BTW https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3128174

apt

If you are willing to fly midweek Ryanair has flights in May and June from Leeds to Weeze for £6 single.

TimothyEBaldwin

slenderkitten wrote: »

Eurostar are at lease £150 i cant justify that kind of money for only a couple of days,

They certainly are much cheaper Derby-Brussels tickets available from Eurostar. I doubt you will find cheaper flights once train and bus fares at both ends of the journey, international postage for train tickets, and accommodation costs are included.

For example the £6 Ryanair flight from Leeds Bradford to Weeze on 11th May will cost:
Train to Leeds: £12.50
Bus to Leeds Bradford Airport: ?
Flight: £6
Cost of paying Ryanair: ?
Bus to Kevelear railway station: ?
Train to Krefeld Hbf: ?
Trains to Brussels: €29
That arrives in Brussels Nord at 9:27pm, Brussels Midi at 9:35pm.

To return you would need to leave Brussels Midi at 8:28am, compared to Eurostar you would need to stay an extra night in Brussels in order to spend the same number of days in Brussels.

Look at these websites for train tickets:
Derby/London - Brussels:
www.eurostar.co.uk

Derby - Britain:
www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk
www.megatrain.com

Weeze, Düsseldorf, Schipol etc to Brussels:
reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en - has timetables for most European trains, and most German buses.
www.nshispeed.nl/en
www.b-europe.com
www.thalys.com
www.tgv-europe.com

For Belgium domestic trains there is no reason not to buy from the ticket office on the day, you can check times and fares at: www.b-rail.be.

For times of British trains and buses check: www.transportdirect.info

slenderkitten

thanks for the replies i dont know you managed to find cheaper derby to brussels on eurostar as i checked twice before never been able to find anything cheaper. i am also surprised by your train charges to bradford, no idea how you found them that cheap. i always select them as return, i do know about offpeak return but it depends on what time the flight is. i looked on bmi baby i found one for £120 it'll only cost me £6 to get on the bus to get their too as its from east midlands; think i'll go on this.

thanks for the help though

richardw

EMA-BRU flights are operated by bmi so perhaps join their Diamond Club for some frequent flyer points http://www.flybmi.com/bmi/en-gb/loyalty-programmes/diamond-club/diamond-club.aspx

There's also a bmi credit card http://www.flybmi.com/bmi/en-gb/loyalty-programmes/credit-card/credit-card.aspx