It appears too good to be true – a short hop to Reykavik from Gatwick for £30; a flight from St Petersburg to Stansted for £23 and even one way to Chicago for £140.

Budget travel is no longer just the preserve of the short journey. While Ryanair and easyJet have made their timetable of short hops around Europe synonymous with cheap fares, the number of long-haul operators offering low-cost journeys to more far-flung destinations has grown in recent years.

Aeroflot subsidiary Pobeda Airlines, WOW Air, which is owned by Icelandic, German operator Eurowings and Norwegian Airlines are among those that have emerged, promising to make your money travel further.

But with the promise of great savings come the catches. Checking in luggage is done at a price, getting something to eat on board will typically not be free and booking fees can also add to the cost.

So is taking the cheaper option to fly a long distance worth the hassle? Or will the bill end up being the same – or, worse, exceed the traditional operators’?

A more limited choice



While the price may be attractive, the destinations can be limited.

Pobeda, an airline that already operates in Russia, offers just three UK departures from London Stansted – to Moscow, St Petersburg or Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city.

Eurowings, meanwhile, boasts to be “low-cost, long-distance” but most of the 50 countries that it flies to are in Europe, although it does offer the US, Mauritius, Thailand, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Mexico – provided you are happy to fly via Düsseldorf.

Norwegian goes to New York, Florida and Bangkok, while Level flies long-haul to Boston, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Martinique, Montréal, Guadeloupe and Santiago de Chile – although mostly via Barcelona.

Price

Spending New Year’s Eve surrounded by the historical landmarks of St Petersburg sounds like a good way to ring in 2019. Pobeda is offering flights of just under three-and-a-half hours (at the time of writing) departing from Stansted on Saturday 29 December with a return on 4 January for £223.

For that you get hand baggage only and a pre-assigned seat. If you want a 20kg check-in baggage allowance and seat selection, you need to upgrade to its “Plus” option, which lifts the return price to £268.

And here is the problem that anyone flying long haul on many of the budget flights faces – can you survive with just hand luggage for your holiday? Even with the most imaginative packing and reusing of the same clothes, a few days in Russia in winter would be difficult with a 10kg allowance. As a result, it will be inevitable many will opt to pay more.

The Pobeda option is still a lot cheaper than British Airways, which was offering “Economy Basic” flights on the same days for £436 return. This rises to £476 on “Economy Plus”, which includes free seat choice and 23kg checked baggage – but you still pay for drinks and M&S food.

Working out the best deal



Despite the marketing, “budget” is not always better. Norwegian Airlines offers three departures a day from London Gatwick to New York JFK on its 787 Dreamliners.

A weekend break in New York from Thursday 2 May 2019 to the following Monday costs £420 return on its “LowFare” rate – no food, no check-in luggage, no seat reservation, just a cheap direct flight and 10kg hand luggage. If you upgrade to its “LowFare+” you get 20kg check-in luggage, seat reservation and onboard meals for £520.

However, established operator Virgin Atlantic departs London Heathrow on the same day for just £293 return in “Economy Light” or £393 with “Economy Classic” which includes 23kg of check-in baggage, choice of seat and food and drinks.

If you want to fly from Edinburgh to Toronto on 30 May, WOW Air will go there via Reykjavik in almost 11 hours. The best deal for those who want checked luggage is “WOW Comfy” going out for £348.23 and “WOW Plus” for the return flight on Friday 14 June for £299.70. Including a booking fee of £22.20, the total comes to £670.13.

By comparison, Air Canada will fly from Edinburgh on 30 May via Frankfurt in just under 12 hours. The return flight is non-stop, taking just six hours and 40 minutes and the total price comes in at £596. The more traditional airline works out £74 cheaper, plus you save hours with a direct flight on the way back.

These instances prove the point that while sometimes budget airlines may be cheaper, traditional carriers will be a better option.

Make it work for you



What works best for you depends on when you want to fly, how much baggage you want to take, where you want to sit and when you want to check in.

“Check every extra before booking because there are times when full-service carriers will offer a better overall deal,” says Emma Grimster of TravelSupermarket.com. “Budget airlines may fly to more remote airports, so you have to factor in the cost and effort getting to where you really want to be.”

Savings can clearly be made by bringing your own meals or choosing to sit away from friends or family – but this will not be for everyone. That said, many midair meals are also not for everyone anyway. But if you do want one, WOW offers oriental-style instant noodles for £4.50, tomato Cup-a-Soup for £3.12, and water, fizzy drinks, tea and coffee for £2.33.

Cost over convenience



Price isn’t everything: convenience counts. But even though a traveller may be flying on the cheap, it does not necessarily mean they have to forgo easy travel entirely.

A case in point is a journey to Havana in Cuba next March, departing from Manchester. Eurowings will take you there for just under £600 with 23kg of hold luggage, preferred seating and a meal. You have to fly via Düsseldorf, but most full-service airlines also have stopovers on the route, for example in Paris or Madrid. The flight has a travel time of almost 17 hours while the return is 12 hours.

Meanwhile, KLM departs Manchester with a two-hour, 55-minute transfer time in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and a total travel time of 14 hours 50 minutes. This costs £824.30 with one piece of check-in baggage or £876.50 with booked seats. The return flight is a similar length, which means the more established carrier is £280 more expensive than Eurowings in total, and not much more convenient.

The problems within

Budget long-haul carriers have had their problems recently. Last month Danish airline Primera Air said it was “sad” to announce that, after 14 years in operation, it had ceased flying following “several unforeseen misfortunate events” that severely affected its financial position.

The airline operated flights from Stansted and Birmingham to destinations including New York, Boston, Washington DC, Toronto and Málaga. Flights from Manchester to Málaga were due to start. The closure resulted in thousands of people being stranded abroad and holiday plans were ruined.

Meanwhile, Norwegian Airlines has also been the subject of numerous complaints from consumers. The airline has expanded fast – it is now Europe’s eighth-biggest carrier – but data from the Civil Aviation Authority shows that it also suffers the most complaints.

In the second quarter of the year they were running at 526 per million passengers carried. TAP Air Portugal was the second worst at 430 and Ryanair third at 319. EasyJet’s figure was a healthier 115, while British Airways, Norwegian’s main transatlantic rival, scored 63.

In September, consumer group Which? said Norwegian was the UK’s most delayed airline in the year to June, with 2.4% of its flights suffering a severe long-haul delay. However, on TripAdvisor, Norwegian receives an overall 3.5-star rating from 17,851 reviews, the same as BA and easyJet and ahead of Ryanair.