Southern Blue Traveler: FLIGHTS FOR $3.72 - Why it cheaper to travel in Europe

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Flights for $3.72! This must be a scam, right? No it's true. You can fly almost anywhere in Europe cheap on Ryanair.

I flew from Barcelona to Rome - Rome to Malta - Malta to Girona, Spain for around $80.

I constantly tell people to find cheap flights to Europe, anywhere in Europe, and then fly to your destination of choice. It's much cheaper than taking a direct flight. Traveling through Europe can be much cheap than traveling within the US.

If you watch, you can find flights to Barcelona or Madrid, Spain for under $400. From there, you can fly to your desired destination or multiple destinations like I did. I ended up taking 8 flights (a lot, I know) but the total cost for 5 countries (US - Spain - Italy- Malta - Canada) was around $500.

There is a catch to these budget flights.....You will not get free drinks or food. There are strict luggage restrictions if you don't want to pay. With some of these budget airlines, you have to check in online within a certain time frame. You are charged steep fees if you don't abide by these rules so read the guidelines carefully!

Let talk Ryanair. It is one of the biggest budget carriers but it can be a headache. For instance, they have a complicated luggage policy. Here is the current policy:

Ryanair passengers get 2 free cabin bags, one 10kg bag (max. size: 55cm x 40cm x 20cm) and one small bag (max. size: 35cm x 20cm x 20cm), with our Regular fare.

You can see Ryanair's entire baggage policy HERE.

Here are the bags we used for our trip. These are inexpensive Protege suitcases (They were $15 each) that made it through 8 flights, was thrown down baggage chutes, and pulled through pouring rain. There are a few marks on them but they held up great. We carried small backpacks (seen in the background) as our personal item and never had to pay any baggage fees.

Make sure your bag is not too big or they will make you pay BIG BUCKS! I have added some links below to Amazon luggage that should work with Ryanair.

These bags should also work for any budget airline.

I ordered my bag from Walmart. (See the blue bags pictured above). This particular suitcase has been showing out of stock since last September but here are a few other options from Walmart that would work for budget airlines.

When we started looking for suitable luggage, I kept in mind that I would have to pay up to $100 just to check a bag so I kept that amount in mind. I knew that even if I spent $60 on a suitcase, I would still be saving $40, plus I would be able to use it over and over, saving $50-$100 every time I flew.