Cheap Flights to Austria (Salzburg) from Stansted/Luton

Lost_in_Grey_Matter

Hi all,

My better half and I are getting married in Austria this September and need to ship out no less than 20 family members with us from either Luton or Stansted out to Salzburg.

So far we have only found Ryanair who fly that route, but at the moment thier price is around £220 inc taxes per person (over £4000 all together!).

Any advice on which other airlines might fly this route?

Also......how long before the departure date can we expect Ryanair's prices to come down (if at all)? - in other words how long do we have to hold our nerve in order to try to get the flights cheaper?

Many thanks

bonehead50

If you could get to Gatwick, 77.80 all in.
9th-16th
With British Airways

Lost_in_Grey_Matter

Sorry forgot to add that we already have a date for the wedding and a hotel booked out their- getting married on the 6th and flying dates are 5th-9th.

The problem with Gatwick is the fact that it is a bit of a trek away, and we are going to have problems getting everyone their (we live in Welwyn, Herts) because all the people we would normally ask to drop us off at an airport are coming with us! As said before, we want to keep it as little hassle as possible due to the shear number of guests, and their varying ages (from 1years-71years!)

We would consider Gatwick if anyone knew of a coach that went there or a shuttle or something? Just to keep things as easy and stress free as possible (does anyone know the cost implementations of hiring a private coach for 20?)

Bargain_Girlie

Thomsonfly go to Salzburg from Coventry - 67 pounds each inc. tax 4th - 9th Sept. Still got the problem of getting to coventry though.

good luck

Lost_in_Grey_Matter

Thankyou, but I am afraid our dates are set because of the hotel booking for the wedding- the extra expense of paying for 20people to stay another night at the hotel would counterbalance the flights

We have found a reasonably cheap coach hire, so would consider any airport within a 1.5hr drive of Hertfordshire now, instead of just Stansted- I hope that will widen our options. A lot of airports we are looking at dont fly to Salzburg in the summer- any ideas why? I was under the impression that in Sept especially it was very busy due to the big Mozart thing?! :shrug:

Lost_in_Grey_Matter

Am getting verry worried about these flights now- if it were just us two then I would hold out and wait for the prices to come down, but because there's 20 of us I am worried we arent going to get them all at the same price on the same plan! What's the best way to do this, asap, or wait it out and keep checking?

coral

I think that you are too early for ryanair. They seem to be selling them on all dates at the same (high!) price. About 3 months before hand the yield management starts to kick in & they will start selling seats on the less-filled flights cheaper.

You might need to make several bookings as if you search for 20 passengers it will show the highest price, whereas you might be able to book 4 passengers at £50 & then 6 at £75 etc.

Would be tempted by the BA flight TBH - with 20 passengers it will be a lot easier with assigned seating & free drinks etc (though this prices up at £130 at the mo?!)

Wouldn't worry too much yet (I know thats easier said than done) - very early to be looking at flights for September.

alanrowell

Have you considered Easyjet to Munich, as it's only about 90 minutes drive to Salzburg. Currently it's showing as £80 per person in total if you book all 20 seats in one go

Lost_in_Grey_Matter

We did consider flights to Munich, but we arent actualyl staying in Salzburg, we are staying in Bad Gastein which is 90km south of Salzburg, and so a real trek from Munich.

We have had a look on skyscanner and it seems that one particular week we want (typical) is much higher prices than the rest of Sept and even August- something must be going on (heard about some Mozart thing, maybe that?) We are trying to get the hotel to move our wedding and stay a week foward, that way we shoulod be able to secure cheaper flights, even if we book now, and the hotel prices are still the same that time. Will also increase the chances of nicer weather.

The idea of getting married abroad was to take the stress off us, but this is getting daft!