by Ben Groundwater - Ben writes a weekly blog for the Sydney Morning Herald. Click on the link above to be taken to his work.
There have been a few dark moments when I've questioned the wisdom of using budget carriers. These usually come when I'm sitting in the crowded departure lounge at London's Gatwick Airport, fighting for elbow room in the queue as I prepare to make the dash for a decent seat on my Sleazy Jet flight.
Really, there's plenty to whinge about when it comes to the likes of Ryan Air, Jetstar, or any of the 20 squillion low-cost Asian carriers.
If they don't do allocated seating, it's a nightmare getting on. Service usually ranges from bad to worse. You have to pay extra for a soggy egg sandwich. There's no entertainment. The buck's party behind you keep throwing their empty beer cans over the seats. Blah, blah, blah.
These are all valid comments, but as far as I'm concerned, budget carriers are the greatest thing to happen to international travel since Lisa Robertson.
(Incidentally, I was talking to a crew manager from a very big airline the other night, and he was telling me that that sort of thing goes on a lot more than most people realise. Why do first class travellers get to have all the fun?)
Anyway, back on topic. Living in a place like Australia, the best thing about budget carriers is the new accessibility we have to foreign countries. You don't have to be on a Mac Bank wage to, say, spend two weeks in Japan, or a week in Vietnam, or even a few days in Phuket.
It's opened up long distance travel to a whole new market - although that's not always a good thing when you consider some of the knobs that are now running around various tourist destinations.
For a travel obsessive like me (and most of the readers of this blog), it's just brilliant knowing that I don't have to save for years to go on an amazing holiday. A few months of hard toil and I'm off to Osaka. A few more months and, thanks to Oasis Hong Kong, I'm off to London.
The downsides that bug other people don't really get to me at all.
I don't care that there's a bit less leg room - I'll put up with the discomfort if it means I can fly on the cheap. I don't care that the food is rubbish - it is on most of the main carriers anyway. I don't care that Jetstar flights to Melbourne feel like they've landed somewhere near Canberra. I don't care that I don't get to watch a rerun of Friends. I don't even care that the local football team are all queueing up at the back so they can go have a spew in the toilets.
Chances are, I've probably just paid about 20 squids to get from London to Prague. You just can't argue with that. The best thing to do is just close the eyes, jam some headphones in the ears, and think about that first pint of Pilsner Urquell.
There is one side to budget carriers, however, that is cause for concern, and was unfortunately raised by the tragedy in Thailand last week. Budget travel is great - but do some airlines take a "budget" approach to safety as well?
I don't claim to be an expert on Asian airline safety standards, but the events of last week do make you think. And worry.
I don't know about you, but to know that an airline is taking every safety precaution possible, I won't complain about shelling out a few extra bucks on my ticket. We pretty much take airline safety for granted over here, but I do get an extra dose of the jitters when whichever one-engine airline I'm flying with in Asia hits a bit of turbulence.
Low-cost travel is one thing - but I'd pay anything to make sure I make it to the other end.
Do you use the budget carriers? Got any horror stories, or do you think they're the way to go?
Hope you're enjoying the Backpacker blog. There'll be a new one up on smh.com.au every Wednesday, for a bit of light relief to remind you of why you went to work in the first place: to save up enough money to get the hell out of here! If there are any good travel topics you think I've missed, drop me a line at bgroundwater@fairfax.com.au.
The true cost of budget carriers
