Cheap flights to Malaga/Faro in October..?

G'day all,

Have been trying Ryanair, Aer Lingus, BMIbaby and Easyjet's websites, looking for return flights to either Faro or Malaga from the 20th to the 24th October, but haven't had much luck so far (even though it's the week before the school break... )

Can anyone suggest any other likely sources? We would ideally like to fly ex-Shannon, but Cork or Dublin would be an option. Wouldn't mind changing flights somewhere like Gatwick/Stansted, either, as long as the whole day isn't lost!

I've also tried search engines like Expedia & GoHop.ie, but I'm only seeing silly prices there (like €500+ per person with a change at London, or about €1100 for direct flights...! :eek ) And I've seen other offers through travel agents, but they're all for 7-day packages, which I can't manage work-wise.

Try buying a London-Malaga Ticket separate from your Shannon-London Ticket

Try Easyjet Stansted-Malaga - connecting with Ryanair from Shannon
also try
BA or Iberia - Heathrow-Malaga - connecting with Aer Lingus from Shannon

Should come in just under €300 all in

Alternatively Aer lingus to Dublin-Malaga on your dates seems to be around €270 all in ... depends on your view of the relative merits of transferring in London vs. driving to Dublin.

Malaga isn't a cheap destination at any time really .. you'll be very hard pushed to find 9.99€ seats to Malaga ever. It's a busy route and there seems to be no problem filling flights to there on a regular basis.

Thanks for that, my Evil friend...
I know, Malaga is never really that cheap.
Would love to fly in to Jerez, it's much nearer where we want to get to — since the demise of Buzz, only BA and Iberia seem to fly there...
I'll try the Ryanair/Easyjet "combo" you suggest — waiting around Heathrow or Stansted for a few hours sure beats driving from Limerick to Dublin airport!

Hello Good doctor(s)
Try Budgetair.ie

Good suggestion Tall chappy .. hadn't thought of them .. don't seem to have flights on the days required but they do have good prices on other dates. The site is where budget travel sell seat only on their Charter flights .. only drawback with some of these flights is they aren't that frequent (not daily) and may be at odd hours of the night - but the prices do seem keen .. they certainly undercut Ryanair/ Aer lingus to Malaga if the times are convenient.

Thanks again, guys.

Yes, they do look pretty good value, even if they don't suit our dates this time. I've bookmarked the page for future use...

But — I spoke too soon about Jerez not being an option! After a bit more poking around, I discovered that Ryanair fly there from Stansted, and pretty cheaply, too! Stg£39.99 plus taxes, comes to about €80 return — cheaper than the Malaga option, and saves me a couple of hours driving to Cádiz.
The whole trip comes in at about €230 each, all in ('though we'll also have to fork out for an overnight in or near Stansted... don't suppose you've any recommendations under that heading?)

As for the overnight stay, will Stansted let you stay in the airport open lounges.
Last Flight to Stansted from Dublin arrives at 22.50 by the time you de-plane and collect your bags it will be nearly midnight.
First flight to Jerez is 07.00, check in is probably 06.00
A few drinks (even coffee !) and forty winks on the chair, a bit of a freshen-up in the toilets and it will be time for check-in.
Thought of this type of thing when thinking of travelling to the Ireland away games. I have not tried it myself....

Think I might try that, all right — bring something to read ...and maybe a hip-flask to keep the cold out!

Seems a bit mad to be heading off to a hotel — presumably by taxi, that late at night — to fork out for a few hours in a bed and then have to leg it back out to the airport for a dawn check-in. It'd be different if we had the kids with us...

What ever happened to that old homeless chap they found had been living in Charles De Gaulle airport for about two years — anyone remember the story?

that old homeless chap

that would be Merhan Karimi Nasseri:

see here:

[broken link removed]

Overnighting in Stansted

Dr. M
stayed in a B&B 5 min taxi ride from the airport - called Phoenix Lodge (www.phoenixlodge.co.uk) in Bishop's Stortford - basic but what you want and the owner provides croissants, yoghurt, orange juice, tea and coffee in the room if he knows you have any early start in the morning - not as cheap as it could be (because of the FX rate) but at £30pp it's still a good price to pay for not having to hang around the airport for 6/7 hours
d

Re: Overnighting in Stansted

Thanks, guys.

Doogo, thanks for the reference, but I still reckon my good wife and I might "sleep rough" in Stansted, for the sake of five hours... 2 x £30 pps + 2 x taxi fares to and from the airport still adds up to a fair few bob, and — despite the advancing years — I'm still of the variety that would rather stay up all night (and "crash" by teatime the next day) than get two or three hours' kip and then have to wake up out of it...!

Daniel, I love the bit about him having an Irish national basketball team T-shirt — you mean we have one? — and loads of doopers in the bank that he can't be bothered checking up on. D'you think aul' Charlie should offer him a p.a. job..?