Cheapest method of traveling between Europe and Pakistan

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faisal-777
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Re: Cheapest method of traveling between Europe and Pakistan

Post by faisal-777 »

Hi, the road trip is very non-practical option and would cost even more than a flight. Basically I am trying to explore how having flights with two different airlines can be viable. In this case, the issue is that if I land at let's say Istanbul, i would have to go through passport control to exit, collect my baggage and then board for next flight with Etihad for example. In this way, I can save like 150 euros going one-way. However, need to take into account the fact that I will need a turkish passport to go through passport control. That costs 53 Euros for Pakistanis.

I am actually surprised by the fact that flights originating from major German cities to Pakistan (Berlin, Munich etc) are cheaper than from vienna. Even though the distance from vienna is lesser, the ticket costs about 300 euros more than that from Munich.

Also in going from destinations like Munich, Venice etc one need to take into account of cost of travel to the airports first via road. That is why I am searching for any options that include Vienna as origin.
Once you have tasted flight, you will ever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward - Leonardo Da Vinci
haroon_ek
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Re: Cheapest method of traveling between Europe and Pakistan

Post by haroon_ek »

faisal-777 wrote:I am actually surprised by the fact that flights originating from major German cities to Pakistan (Berlin, Munich etc) are cheaper than from vienna. Even though the distance from vienna is lesser, the ticket costs about 300 euros more than that from Munich.

Also in going from destinations like Munich, Venice etc one need to take into account of cost of travel to the airports first via road. That is why I am searching for any options that include Vienna as origin.
For the first part, well it is simply based on the competition in the airport and the taxes (as someone else mentioned in this post). Let me give you an example, if you book a flight let's say from Munich to Lahore, it can come around €500 but for Munich-Bangkok or Munich-Delhi etc. etc. can be below €500. It sounds ridiculous that obviously there is less distance and so is less fuel, but it all comes to the competition. Also our Pakistani airports aren't airlines friendly due to ridiculous taxes imposed which ME3 are happy to bear but European airlines aren't so there is no competition so the fares will be high by ME3, Turkish, Saudia etc. Also somehow Vienna is expensive airport itself so again the price hike.

For second part, its up to you, as I had suggested one way to save a hundred euro is to either take a train from Vienna to Munich airport which is €44 one way, so return would be €88. Then the airline ticket which you possibly can by for around, let's say, €500, then in total the whole trip will come out to be €588. Now as I had seen that tickets are around €700, you can see a saving of around 110 but an increase in travel time. So again its up to you.

I would suggest that you can go to a good travel agent and ask him a cheap ticket that includes a short hop to big airports like Rome, Milan, Munich, Berlin etc., and see how good you can get a travel ticket, there can be a possibility of having your bags checked from Vienna and you receive in Pakistan without checking in another time. Just check how good options you can find.
t_kaay
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Re: Cheapest method of traveling between Europe and Pakistan

Post by t_kaay »

faisal-777 wrote:Hi, the road trip is very non-practical option and would cost even more than a flight. Basically I am trying to explore how having flights with two different airlines can be viable. In this case, the issue is that if I land at let's say Istanbul, i would have to go through passport control to exit, collect my baggage and then board for next flight with Etihad for example. In this way, I can save like 150 euros going one-way. However, need to take into account the fact that I will need a turkish passport to go through passport control. That costs 53 Euros for Pakistanis.

I am actually surprised by the fact that flights originating from major German cities to Pakistan (Berlin, Munich etc) are cheaper than from vienna. Even though the distance from vienna is lesser, the ticket costs about 300 euros more than that from Munich.

Also in going from destinations like Munich, Venice etc one need to take into account of cost of travel to the airports first via road. That is why I am searching for any options that include Vienna as origin.
Actually you are wrong in your thought. If you were to, as you suggest, transfer at Istanbul from one airline to another, there would be no need to get a turkish visa, unless you are leaving the airport. If your onward flight is the same day, no need for visa.
faisal-777
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Re: Cheapest method of traveling between Europe and Pakistan

Post by faisal-777 »

I asked it from the TAV staff. This was their reply
Dear Faisal MASUD,



Please note that Transfer Passengers(International Transfer Passengers With An International Connection Flight) A boarding card is issued for the passenger (if not issued in the country of origin) at the transit desk of the relevant handling company on the Arrivals floor. The passenger does not go through passport control. Instead, he/she directly proceeds through the transit area into the International Departures area. Baggage will be automatically transferred to the connecting flight upon the passenger’s request. Furthermore, please note that the time between two flights seems to allow the transfer, nevertheless please confirm with your airline company. For this situation you don’t need visa.

If your connection flight is operated by different airline companies and your baggage will not be automatically transferred to the connecting flight each airlines , you have to go passport control to take your luggage so you need to take a visa for this.





Best Regards,
Once you have tasted flight, you will ever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward - Leonardo Da Vinci
t_kaay
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Re: Cheapest method of traveling between Europe and Pakistan

Post by t_kaay »

faisal-777 wrote:I asked it from the TAV staff. This was their reply
Dear Faisal MASUD,



Please note that Transfer Passengers(International Transfer Passengers With An International Connection Flight) A boarding card is issued for the passenger (if not issued in the country of origin) at the transit desk of the relevant handling company on the Arrivals floor. The passenger does not go through passport control. Instead, he/she directly proceeds through the transit area into the International Departures area. Baggage will be automatically transferred to the connecting flight upon the passenger’s request. Furthermore, please note that the time between two flights seems to allow the transfer, nevertheless please confirm with your airline company. For this situation you don’t need visa.

If your connection flight is operated by different airline companies and your baggage will not be automatically transferred to the connecting flight each airlines , you have to go passport control to take your luggage so you need to take a visa for this.





Best Regards,
So it would all depend on the airline you fly with and if you can get your baggage checked right through from origin.
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raihans
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Re: Cheapest method of traveling between Europe and Pakistan

Post by raihans »

check with Kuwait Airways if your destination is Islamabad or Lahore, usually they are cheaper than ME3
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faisal-777
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Re: Cheapest method of traveling between Europe and Pakistan

Post by faisal-777 »

raihans wrote:check with Kuwait Airways if your destination is Islamabad or Lahore, usually they are cheaper than ME3
Thanks, yes they are cheaper if flown from Munich. In some cases, the transit time is very long in their case.
Once you have tasted flight, you will ever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward - Leonardo Da Vinci
Umar777
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Re: Cheapest method of traveling between Europe and Pakistan

Post by Umar777 »

Take Flydubai from Bratislava (BTS) in slovakia. They fly 3 times a week from there. Bratislava is just 70km away from vienna. There are many bus lines serving both cities, especially from central vienna direct to Bratislava airport.

I checked some flights from 18.10. to 11.11.
They would cost €333.50 with the bus ticket included from vienna main train station all the way to DXB. Return with all taxes directly on the flydubai website.

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t_kaay
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Re: Cheapest method of traveling between Europe and Pakistan

Post by t_kaay »

Umar777 wrote:Take Flydubai from Bratislava (BTS) in slovakia. They fly 3 times a week from there. Bratislava is just 70km away from vienna. There are many bus lines serving both cities, especially from central vienna direct to Bratislava airport.

I checked some flights from 18.10. to 11.11.
They would cost €333.50 with the bus ticket included from vienna main train station all the way to DXB. Return with all taxes directly on the flydubai website.

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But then he has to get from Dubai to Pakistan which isn't cheap.
Umar777
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Re: Cheapest method of traveling between Europe and Pakistan

Post by Umar777 »

t_kaay wrote:
Umar777 wrote:Take Flydubai from Bratislava (BTS) in slovakia. They fly 3 times a week from there. Bratislava is just 70km away from vienna. There are many bus lines serving both cities, especially from central vienna direct to Bratislava airport.

I checked some flights from 18.10. to 11.11.
They would cost €333.50 with the bus ticket included from vienna main train station all the way to DXB. Return with all taxes directly on the flydubai website.

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But then he has to get from Dubai to Pakistan which isn't cheap.
In his first post, he clearly asked about this type of routing.
faisal-777 wrote:I am currently looking for any method in which one could save some bucks traveling between europe and pakistan. The ME carriers cost almost 700+ euros for round trip. Is it possible to fly on one airline to dubai/abu dhabi and then take any low cost carrier like shaheen/airblue to pakistan? Virtually it looks possible but would one need to go through passport/custom controls while changing terminals etc?
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faisal-777
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Re: Cheapest method of traveling between Europe and Pakistan

Post by faisal-777 »

Umar777 wrote:Take Flydubai from Bratislava (BTS) in slovakia. They fly 3 times a week from there. Bratislava is just 70km away from vienna. There are many bus lines serving both cities, especially from central vienna direct to Bratislava airport.

I checked some flights from 18.10. to 11.11.
They would cost €333.50 with the bus ticket included from vienna main train station all the way to DXB. Return with all taxes directly on the flydubai website.

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Thank you for the suggestion. I considered it and found it to be costing same as Turkish taken from VIE-ISB. Since FlyDubai doesnt go to ISB, so I set BTS-LYP (Faisalabad) and it showed me BTS-LYP 344 EUR and LYP-BTS 402 EUR.

Thanks all for your help. Ive figured out that if I plan my trips well in advance, I should purchase a return ticket from Pakistan, which costs not more than 550 EUR compared to 750 EUR purchased from here. For that, I'll have to go once to Pakistan on single ticket, and the cheapest option found was VIE-IST (80 EUR, 5x flights a day), get a Turkish e-Visa (53 EUR) and get Etihad from IST-ISB (230 EUR). Overall trip costs around 350 EUR, which is still cheaper than purchasing a single ticket with one airline, they are not less than 550 EUR.

Once again thanks all !
Once you have tasted flight, you will ever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward - Leonardo Da Vinci
t_kaay
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Re: Cheapest method of traveling between Europe and Pakistan

Post by t_kaay »

Umar777 wrote:
t_kaay wrote:
Umar777 wrote:Take Flydubai from Bratislava (BTS) in slovakia. They fly 3 times a week from there. Bratislava is just 70km away from vienna. There are many bus lines serving both cities, especially from central vienna direct to Bratislava airport.

I checked some flights from 18.10. to 11.11.
They would cost €333.50 with the bus ticket included from vienna main train station all the way to DXB. Return with all taxes directly on the flydubai website.

Image
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But then he has to get from Dubai to Pakistan which isn't cheap.
In his first post, he clearly asked about this type of routing.
faisal-777 wrote:I am currently looking for any method in which one could save some bucks traveling between europe and pakistan. The ME carriers cost almost 700+ euros for round trip. Is it possible to fly on one airline to dubai/abu dhabi and then take any low cost carrier like shaheen/airblue to pakistan? Virtually it looks possible but would one need to go through passport/custom controls while changing terminals etc?
Yes he asked about that type of routing but the point I was trying to make was the cost of additional flight from Dubai to Pakistan wouldn't result in any saving compared with going another route. Anyway, it seems my point has been proved by his latest post. Have a good trip faisal.