The cost of flights to Barcelona can vary depending on the season and the airline. As you would expect, it is cheaper to fly during off-peak season.
Peak season is during the European summer months – May to August – although the locals often head to the beach in August. This means the city is not as busy as you would think it would be at that time of year.
EasyJet was the first budget airline to popularise the UK-Barcelona routes and took the model of inexpensive, low-service air fare in the US, and stripped it back even further. There are no free drinks or meals – not even a free sweet – and the seats are not what you would call roomy. But the flights are generally short, only lasting a couple hours on average, so these drawbacks are not a big problem. One thing about budget flights is that they are very first-come-first-served oriented. These flights often do not have assigned seating, so if you want certain seats, or need to make sure you have multiple seats next to each other, arrive early to claim them and you'll be allocated a number which priorities boarding – low numbers board first and therefore claim the best seats.
These days things are different though. While you can certainly choose to fly on the traditional airlines – and they offer more facilities, especially if you travel business class – they tend to remain more expensive than the no-frills airlines, although not always. Part of the success of Barcelona as a short stay tourist destination was that its post-Olympic renaissance coincided with the introduction of the low-cost business model to the UK and Ireland, meaning that the destination was both attractive and travel affordable.
The cheapest flights will require at least one change of plane. From the United States, this will often be either in London or Dublin. The next stop will generally be Madrid, Barcelona or Alicante. These are the airports that have the cheapest fares.
Martin Wynn
