The Cheap Flights That Aren't: When the Airport Transfer Costs More Than the Flight

£35 to fly to Stockholm. £48 to get from the airport into Stockholm and back. That's the whole problem in two sentences, and it isn't the only one. A cheap fare is only cheap if the airport is actually near where you're going.

Every number below is from our own flight board and cost data. Fares are the lowest our board has for October and November, and most are estimates rather than live fares, so check the trip page. Transfers are return, per person.

1. Stockholm: £35 flight, £48 transfer

Arlanda is 40 km out. The Arlanda Express does it in 20 minutes for €28 each way, and it's a lovely train, but it costs more than your flight. The cheaper way in is the Flygbussarna coach to Cityterminalen, from SEK 129 one way booked online. Slower, cheaper, still not cheap.

Stockholm on Fri 20 Nov: the full day, costed

2. Oslo Torp: £41 flight, £38 transfer

This is the one that catches people out. Torp gets sold as Oslo. The bus to Oslo takes 105 minutes and costs about €22 each way. That's three and a half hours of your day on a coach before you've seen anything.

3. Paris Beauvais: £32 flight, £28 transfer

Beauvais is Paris the way Luton is London, if Luton was 75 minutes away by coach. It's about €17 each way, and two and a half hours of your Paris day goes on the motorway.

4. Brussels Charleroi: £36 flight, £28 transfer

The shuttle to Brussels is 60 minutes and about €17 each way. Two hours there and back, for a city centre you can walk round in an afternoon.

5. Frankfurt Hahn: £34 flight, £24 transfer

Hahn isn't in Frankfurt. It's 105 minutes away by bus, about €14 each way. If you want Frankfurt, fly to Frankfurt, even if it hurts.

6. Milan Malpensa: £30 flight, £22 transfer

The Malpensa Express takes 50 minutes and costs €13 each way. Not the worst on this list, but your £30 flight is really a £52 flight before you've had a coffee.

What we'd actually do

Look at the whole day, not the fare. That's the entire point of how we cost trips: flight, transfer, local transport, lunch and dinner, all in one number. A £60 flight into an airport 20 minutes from town can easily be a cheaper day than a £30 one into somewhere 105 minutes away.

And time matters as much as the money. Every hour on a coach is an hour you're not in the city, and on a day trip you haven't got many to spare.

See every day trip, fully costed

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Photo credits. Beauvais: Remi Mathis, CC BY-SA 3.0. Malpensa Express: Chris Down, CC BY 4.0.