Day Trips with British Airways

I have an epic case of itchy feet.  I want to go to all the places, all the time.  But Matt has it much worse.  He loves loves loves to travel!  Even the not so fun things like airports and flying (I still really hate flying.), he loves this stuff.  This is a man who has a spreadsheet showing every flight he's ever taken (over 600) and exactly how many miles he's flown (over a million).  He's even been known to fly out in the morning and return in the evening, just so he can go somewhere.  In fact, he's taken several day trips like this.  It's usually with his mates because I've been reluctant to suffer two flights in one day.  But I did join him for his latest trip to Hamburg, Germany.  So, I'll let him tell you all about taking a day trip with British Airways and I'll show you some photos from our time in Hamburg.

"Didn’t we have a loverly time the day we went to [Insert City Here]?"

I had the great pleasure of spending 4 years living and working in San Diego, a magnificent part of the USA and a very pleasant place to spend your spare time. But even the greatest cities in the world can get a little boring and from time to time I would find myself craving something different. Fortunately, Las Vegas was less than an hour’s flight time from San Diego, so if it got to half past Thursday and I found I wasn’t looking forward to another weekend in town, I would jump on Southwest airline’s website and book a 737 party plane to Vegas, leaving at 6pm on a Friday.

I now live in London, and spontaneous weekend dashes are much trickier to organise. Flights get more expensive closer to departure as airlines focus on taking as much money as possible from people needing to travel and overlooking those merely wanting to. Hotels in larger European cities can be very expensive at the best of times (certainly in comparison to Vegas hotels). Finally (and this is my opinion here) Brits seem to think of overseas travel as something that needs to be planned and booked months in advance rather than something that can be a spontaneous joy.

A few years back British Airways began to promote day trips to certain European cities, specifically those served by multiple daily flights. They realised that their business customers would rarely be choosing to fly early on a Saturday or Sunday morning, or late on a Saturday night. So they decided to open these flights up to everyone at very reasonable rates, even if they missed out on revenue from someone who absolutely had to travel at that time and would otherwise be forced to pay a higher price. 

These fares are hand baggage only, but who checks luggage when you are going for a day? And if you’re fortunate enough to have status on BA (or are travelling with someone who does), then you can access the lounges at both ends for some pre-flight lubrication. Bloody Mary at 5am? Sure!

I am writing this post on a Monday morning in March, and I am looking for something interesting to do this coming weekend. If I wanted to go to Cardiff for the day on Saturday, the cheapest return by train (according to Trainline.com) would be £74.70. If I flew to Dublin on BA, it would cost £76.61. A few quid more expensive, and it may cost a little more to get to and from Heathrow versus Paddington, (but then again it may not) but BA will give you drinks on the plane which could be quite valuable!

Going to Newcastle for the day on Saturday would be £101 return. Lisbon is £89. Lisbon! You may be deterred by the 2 hour 35 minute flight time, but Newcastle is a 2 hours and 49 minute journey. And did I mention that BA gives you free drinks? And you are spending the day in Lisbon!

Other options this Saturday are Amsterdam (£83), Madrid (£84), Stockholm (£86), Barcelona (£86) and Milan (£89). How about Rome for £100? Or go crazy and exotic with a day out in Aberdeen for £86? All prices include all taxes, in-flight beverages (did I mention these?) and give you at least 9 hours on the ground in each city.

Geneva, Nice, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Brussels are usually available but for one reason or another are not available this weekend. Things like festivals, football matches and concerts will obviously affect availability. I would also point out that low fares to Lisbon (which in my experience is a great place to go) does tend to disappear from late April only to reappear after the Summer holidays.

I’ve now done day trips to Dublin (twice), Madrid, Hamburg and Lisbon and I had a great time each time. A little bit of planning before departure is important, as you’ll have no hotel room to retreat to during your visit. All airports will have taxis to take you to the centre, but check out public transport options before you go. Lisbon and Madrid airports have train stations in the terminals which will take you straight to the centre of town. It’s even possible to walk from Geneva or Nice airports. Get some idea of the general area you’re interested in, go and have fun!

The day trips are available on Saturdays and Sundays, but I find Saturday has the better availability as Sunday night flights home can get a little clogged up. Also, some cities (including Hamburg) aren’t fully open for business on Sundays. It’s a very early start, and a long day so you’ll sleep well that night, but imagine how cool you’ll sound around the water cooler on a Monday morning. “What did you do this weekend, Bob?” “Well funny you should ask…”

Go to http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_gb, plug in the dates and search away! As mentioned, these are hand baggage only fares and they won’t always show up on online travel agents so it’s much better to book directly through BA.  (BTW, this post is not sponsored by BA, but wouldn't that be cool?) 

Bonus marks for people who get the reference in this blog’s title… And apologies to the fine people of Aberdeen!

Matt 

I just love when Matt does these guest posts for me, don't you?  I could listen to him tell stories of his travels all day.  I'm so glad that I decided to join him for one of his day trips.  I definitely see a few more in my future.  As you can see from the photos, we had a great day in Hamburg.  

What about you?  Would you consider a day trip?

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