EuroBillTracker

We don´t have so many low-cost-airlines in Finland, so comparing prices is easy.

Besides Ryanair and Germanwings, Blue1 is the only airline that could be in some way qualified as low-cost. The reason I qualify them as such is that they offer good rates for one-way-tickets. For return tickets, the price is almost the same than with SAS or Finnair.

Actually, Blue1 "belongs" to SAS ...

TwilightZone wrote:Only problem is that you´ll have to spend some hours in London because the schedules aren´t optimal.

Who cares ... if you can hunt some serials ...

Yes that is also an option.
Eindhoven ==> London ===> Eindhoven = 2x 19,99€
London ==> Tampre ==> London = 2x 29,99€
2x 29,99 = 59,98
2x 19,99 = 39,98
Total = 99,96
Train ticket to Eindhoven 2x 7,70 = 15,40

Total price from my home till Tampre = 115,36

Don't forget the airport tax Ralf! Those tickets will cost closer to EUR200 I would guess

Is that expensive?

Unfortunately they are. The cheapest Ryanair flight I could find for the summer was 29.99GBP each way. With a return fliht would be 84.22GBP, which is EUR161.22. And that's only from London to Tampere - you need to get to London first

I checked the prices for airline Blue1, and depending on the dates ( It showed prices only until march) , you can fly Amsterdam-Helsinki-Amsterdam for under €200 all taxes included, so that would seem very reasonable for people living near Amsterdam. No need to get to a airport far away. Prices for Brussels-HEL-BRU were somewhat higher.
Another thing to notice : for Blue1 flights one also get Star Alliance points (SAS, Lufthansa, Austrian ...) .

There is a bus going straight from Helsinki Airport to Tampere (it´s fast, because it doesn´t go through downtown Helsinki ) and it costs ~18€ (9€ for students). Of course if you want to do some sightseeing you can take the bus downtown (3,4 €) and then go later by train to Tampere (~22€ , 11€ for students for InterCity train, some trains cheaper/ Pendolino more expensive).

If you book a connection flight with Ryanair leave 3 hrs in between!
Why that is important?
Expl: you book a flight Eindhoven Stansted 6:00 6:50
and one Stansted Tampere 8:30 10:30

Just imagine Ryanair changes the first flight 1hr back(and they frequently do that), so that you arrive at 7:50, then you will miss the second flight (you have to be at checkin 40 minutes before departure, no exceptions).
So, if you know that by advance you might call the callcentre and ask them to change your second flight. Well, they will tell you that you can change only the first flight (which has been rescheduled), of course that doesn´t help you at all, if there is no earlier flight.
So either you just dont fly and the money is lost, or you have to pay to change your reservation which can be very expensive!
This risk always exists with Ryanair "connecting" flights, but it is largely reduced if you leave a lot of time between your flights!

On the website of www.travelstreet.com I found Amsterdam - Helsinki for 160euro, exclude tax. From there we can take a train so that we see more of the country.

Giberski

Ah this is much easier than Tampere! SN Brussels Airlines is the cheapest carrier from Brussels AND they offer a direct flight! It's a very good flight time to Helsinki but the return trip is rather early in the afternoon.

bhoeyb wrote:

Ernst wrote:And don´t get confused, "Frankfurt Hahn" is over 100 km west of Frankfurt. About 200 km from Liège....

I will never use "Frankfurt-Hahn" airport again in my whole life. I still have a bad feeling what happened last time going to that "tiny airport in the middle of nowhere" -I still feel sorry to Ellinoora and Heidi - they missed their flight.
I can tell you, Brussels South (Charleroi) is the centre of the world comparing with Frankfurt-Hahn!

I don't recommend the Ryanair either, though it's cheap (i know that now after buying the flight tickets twice back home)

The Frankfurt-Hahn airport was quite far far away from everything, and if it's not a problem getting there (remember me and bhoeyb warned you guys before ) then it wouldn't be a problem either here in small Finland. The Ryanair airport is quite well located here in Finland and very near Tampere, only 11 km from the center of the city.

@bhoeyb don't feel bad about the airport trip, nowadays we can laugh together for the road blocks and the trip accross the mountains as we see eachother again next time

jovada wrote:I voted no, because it's either expensive or difficult to get there from Belgium it seems :)
I really want to see Finland, though... Let's see what the other locations have to offer!

If you're a student, it's 20€ more expensive. Otherwise 40€. Helsinki-Tampere is some 1½ hours, so that shouldn't be a problem, either.

German Television also warned before Ryanair. They said Ryanair would cancel flights without reason. And the only solution Ryanair offered was to wait another week for a return flight.

My experience with Ryanair was that they kept changing the flight times, a few hours later or earlier. I booked very early (got the flights very cheap), maybe that's the reason. I got at least three e-mails wanting me to confirm that I accept the change. It was no problem, because I had enough time to change flights and in the end I didn't even use those flights (I found a better way to get back home).

As previously stated, it's very unlikely I come, because I'm going to be busy.
But moreover, I checked how much a flight to Finland would cost, and I find nothing under €310 !
And by car, it would be an exhausting journey : www.viamichelin.com tells me I'd have to drive 2003 km through France, Luxembourg, Germany, ferry to Denmark, then to Sweden, then ferry again to Finland, in 28h !!!