Free UK Flights?

djdevz

Hi,

I've been searching around for this and can't find much relevant information.

I'm doing a charity event with a society from my University.
The idea is to get as far away from my University as possible without spending a penny.

I was thinking that there must be loads of flights that have a spare seat before take off, does anyone think it is possible to haggle a flight through that?

Apart from that though, any ideas on how to get as far away as possible?

Thanks in advance

phatbear

haggle?

the problem you are going to have is the air passenger duty which every passenger has to pay, and of course you aren't just after a one way flight you would need to come back again.

You could try and write to the airline companies but i reckon you've little to no chance

bagand96

If you can plan in advance then you may be able to contact some airline PR departments to see if you could persuade them to help, they'll of course want some coverage of it to get their name/logo out there.

Turning up on the day may be a lot harder as the staff at the airport won't be able to make that decision. It has happened in the past, I know this sort of competition is a favourite for local radio stations. Although if you rock up at the airport with a radio crew, from a popular station with a big audience, it'll be far easier to persuade the airline that its worth it for the PR benefit.

djdevz

but APD is not going to be much for Europe, I could try and find someone else willing to chip in for me?
But apart from that and the negligible increase in fuel, I can't see why else they wouldn't be able to do that?

Well...apart from the fact that everyone would be catching last second flights to random places for nothing :P

djdevz

bagand96 wrote: »

If you can plan in advance then you may be able to contact some airline PR departments to see if you could persuade them to help, they'll of course want some coverage of it to get their name/logo out there.

Turning up on the day may be a lot harder as the staff at the airport won't be able to make that decision. It has happened in the past, I know this sort of competition is a favourite for local radio stations. Although if you rock up at the airport with a radio crew, from a popular station with a big audience, it'll be far easier to persuade the airline that its worth it for the PR benefit.

Nice idea, I will get in touch with the radio stations around Birmingham.

I saw a forum for professional pilots and enthusiasts, maybe worth a punt to fly with one of them? What do you think?

trolleyrun

djdevz wrote: »

Nice idea, I will get in touch with the radio stations around Birmingham.

I saw a forum for professional pilots and enthusiasts, maybe worth a punt to fly with one of them? What do you think?

If it's the forum I think you've found, then I wouldn't hold my breath. The song "The great pretender" comes to mind. Also, please be aware that pilots don't have any power (so to speak) over tickets/sales.

budgetflyer

A lost cause.Forget it
You will get much further hitch hiking.

signol

budgetflyer wrote: »

A lost cause.Forget it
You will get much further hitch hiking.

Can you get to a GA airport, or flying club, and ask around there if anyone is going anywhere, and hitch a lift in a small plane? ...

If you can persuade a friend to pay, see what £5 / £10 Ryanair deals are on on the day you need, or even look at Megabus's launch deal, £1 to Paris...

signol

djdevz

@signol - A flying club would be an ideal place to look! I'll Google a few and see if I can get any results.

Any other ideas on free flights, or just generally free travel?

Thanks again in advance to all!

djdevz

trolleyrun wrote: »

If it's the forum I think you've found, then I wouldn't hold my breath. The song "The great pretender" comes to mind. Also, please be aware that pilots don't have any power (so to speak) over tickets/sales.

The forum is PPRuNe, hopefully someone maybe flying somewhere and have a spare seat?