Payless

Perhaps because of the often-mentioned economic crisis or because more and more people are willing to compromise their comfort so that they can buy a more affordable flying ticket, budget airlines grow more and more popular among travelers. Unlike some years ago, when buying a low-cost flying ticket in Bulgaria was a matter of great luck, today a number of budget carriers fly to Bulgaria, not only to Sofia International airport, but also to Varna, Burgas and Plovdiv airports.

What exactly is a budget airline?

These are airlines whose prices are often more than 50% cheaper than those of regular carriers. This is so because these companies usually use only one type of airplanes (to minimize staff training and maintenance expenses), there are no seat reservations (i.e. travelers can sit wherever they like) and all seats are economy class. Moreover, low-cost carriers usually fly to smaller airports with smaller landing fees, charge for all kinds of extras like food and drinks, and have greater baggage limitations.

Tips for flying with a low-cost airline

Although most budget carriers only have online booking as an option, some airlines also have phone lines where you can call and book a flight through one of their flight agents. However, quite often such calls could turn out to be quite expensive as you might also be charged additionally for the services provided by the flight agent. So always book your ticket online- it is often faster and cheaper. Stay up-to-date for all new flights and special offers budget carriers have by signing up for their newsletter which will keep you posted on the latest and lowest prices. Some flights are not shown on the airlines’ websites so we recommend that you call PaylessBG and our travel agents will inform you about the prices of budget carriers. You can contact us during business hours on +1800-890-3731.

Always carefully weigh out your baggage in advance. Low budget airlines often have strict baggage limitations and if your luggage weighs more than it should- the additional fees are quite high. Different airlines might have different policies so always check carefully what the baggage limitations of the company you are flying with are.

Sometimes, when you purchase a ticket online you get a list of ticked paid extras you have to carefully un-tick them so that you don’t end up paying for things you don’t really need.

When purchasing your online ticket, you will always be notified about the additional fees which are included in the price. Sometimes buying two one-way tickets is better a bargain than buying one round-trip ticket. It is possible that the company would change the time of the your second flight if you’ve bought a two-way ticket, so buying two one-way tickets could not also be cheaper but also more comfortable.

This year in September low-cost airline Ryanair starts operating flights from Bulgaria to Great Britain. The flights will start from the new Plovdiv airport in Bulgaria. The are more surprises in September, as private Turkish budget carrier Pegasus Airlines will start operating flights from International airport Sofia (Bulgaria) to Sabiha Gökçen airport which is in the Asian part of Turkey.

The budget airlines flying from/to Bulgaria are:

Wizz Air, Aer Lingus, Air Berlin, Air Transat, Cimber Air, Condor, Corendon, easyJet, GermanWings, Jetairfly, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Smart Wings, Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium, Thomsonfly, Transavia


The flights from Sofia airport (SOF), served by the aforementioned budget carriers, are:

• Albania- Tirana (TIA)
• Austria- Vienna (VIE), Innsbruck (INN)
• Belgium- Brussels (Brussels Intl airport and Brussels S. Charleroi airport)
• Bulgaria-Burgas (BOJ), Varna (VAR)
• Cyprus- Larnaca (LCA), Paphos (PFO)
• Denmark- Copenhagen
• France- Paris (Paris Beauvais airport and Paris Charles de Gaulle airport)
• Germany- Cologne/Bonn (Cologne-Bonn airport), Dortmund, Frankfurt (Frankfurt Hahn airport and Frankfurt am Main airport), Berlin (Berlin Schönefeld airport, Berlin Tegel airport), Dresden, Hamburg, Hannover, Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe-Baden airport), Leipzig (LEJ), Munich (MUC), Nuremberg (NUE)
• Great Britain- London (all airports), Manchester
• Greece- Athens
• Ireland- Dublin
• Israel- Tel Aviv
• Italy- Bologna (Bologna Forli airport), Milan- all airports, Rome (Rome Fiumicino airport), Venice (Venice Treviso airport)
• Lebanon- Beirut (BEY)
• Macedonia- Skopje (SKP)
• Netherlands- Eindhoven (EIN)
• Poland- Warsaw (WAW)
• Romania- Bucharest (Bucharest - Otopeni airport)
• Spain- Barcelona (BCN), Madrid (Madrid Barajas airport), Valencia, Palma de Mallorca(PMI)
• Sweden- Stockholm (Stockholm Arlanda airport)
• Switzerland- Geneva, Zurich (ZRH)
• The Czech Republic- Prague

The flights from Varna airport (VAR), served by the aforementioned budget carriers, are:

• Belgium- Brussels (BRU)
• Bulgaria- Sofia (SOF)
• France- Lille (LIL)
• Germany- Cologne/Bonn (Cologne/Bonn airport), Düsseldorf (DUS), Saarbrücken (SCN)
• Great Britain- London (Gatwick airport and Luton airport)
• Hungary- Budapest (BUD)
• Netherlands- Amsterdam (AMS)
• Norway- Oslo (Oslo Gardermoen airport)
• Poland- Warsaw (WAW)

The flights from Burgas airport (BOJ), served by the aforementioned budget carriers, are:

• Belgium- Brussels (BRU), Liège (LGG)
• Bulgaria- Sofia (SOF)
• Denmark- Copenhagen (CPH)
• Germany- Cologne/Bonn (Cologne/Bonn airport), Düsseldorf (DUS), Weeze (Düsseldorf) (NRN), Saarbrücken (SCN)
• Great Britain- London (Gatwick airport and Luton airport), Manchester (MAN)
• Hungary- Budapest (BUD)
• Ireland- Dublin (DUB)
• Netherlands- Amsterdam (AMS), Eindhoven (EIN)
• Norway- Oslo (Oslo Gardermoen airport)
• Poland- Katowice (KTW), Poznan (POZ), Warsaw (WAW), Wroclaw (WRO)
• The Czech Republic- Brno (BRQ), Prague (PRG)

Pros and Cons of Budget Airlines

As most things, low-cost airlines also have their pros and cons. The phrase “you get what you paid for” is completely valid in this case.
First we start with the cons:

Sometimes the airports budget airlines work with are quite far away from the actual city. For example, Stockholm Skavsta airport is 65 miles away from Stockholm and Frankfurt Hahn airport is 75 miles away from Frankfurt.

Very often when your flight is cancelled you will have to call the company yourself and rebook your flight or get a refund. Speaking of refunds, most low-cost carriers have a strict “no refund” policy in case your flight is cancelled.

Struggling for a good seat could be quite unpleasant as most budget carriers do not offer seat reservation.

Baggage limitations could happen to be a big problem, especially if you’re planning to have a long stay. We already mentioned the high additional fees for extra luggage.

When you have to make a connection to another flight don’t expect the budget airline to transfer your luggage- you have to take it yourself and check in like for two separate flights.

If this did not put you off from flying with low-cost carriers- here are some of their pros:

It’s all about the price- let’s be honest- given the choice between a $300 flight with a normal airline and a $100 flight with a low-cost carrier- most of you will not think twice. After all, it is all about getting from A to B for the lowest price possible. Often budget carriers would sell tickets at ridiculously low prices such as $10, for example.

Booking a flight online is fast and easy and you don’t have to pay for any extras unless you want to.

Low-cost carriers are incredibly useful for people who want to spend their holidays traveling to different locations. What is special about low-cost airlines is that often their one-way tickets are much cheaper and this would make your holiday much more affordable.

As budget airlines are relatively new to the market, most of their planes are new.