For many years, the idea of flying between major cities on your European itinerary was unthinkable.
Anyone trying to do so quickly was told that Europeans did not travel like Americans or Canadians. They used the world's best rail system to avoid Europe's sky-high airline prices. They rented cars and enjoyed the marvelous countryside. It was good advice at the time, and it's still pretty sound in many situations.
But Europe's discount airlines are now firmly established as an industry, even as some of the smaller operations come and go in the marketplace.
A few years ago, I needed to get my family of four from western Europe across eastern sections of the continent to Riga, Latvia. Overland travel between, say, Berlin and Riga is not all that convenient.
When I started pricing airfares, my casual interest in flying within Europe took a very serious turn.
An expensive and uncomfortable rail trip also would extract precious time from our European visit. I was not looking forward to entertaining young children on a nine-hour motor coach ride, either.
Flights from Berlin to Riga take about an hour, and the cost I found on a random search was astounding.
