The New Breed of Long-Haul, Low-Cost Airlines

Comparing long-haul, low-cost carriers to other airlines that bill themselves as “full-service,” you’ll often get the same newer planes like the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350, sometimes with the same seats and entertainment screens. To an extent, airline food is airline food, and many folks already pack their own meals even on full-service airlines.

These carriers can be a great deal if you go into them with the understanding that you’re paying low-cost fares, so you should expect a low-cost experience onboard. Overall, set your expectations low, remember how little you paid, and then you might be pleasantly surprised.

By and large, long-haul, low-cost airlines focus on four specific markets: transatlantic, transpacific, southeast Asia and Australia. That’s where the flights are long enough to be long-haul, but where passengers are numerous enough for the airline to make money.

This type of airline usually makes news for all the wrong reasons: did you hear about that one airline that charges for power sockets, and doesn’t allow you to bring your own food? How about the one with 12-hour flights with no seatback entertainment screens? The overnight flight with no included meals? Or the airlines that put an extra seat in every row to really pack people in?

But for the savvy traveler, the low prices can be a steal. Do be sure you’re not caught out when it comes to exactly what kind of ticket you’re booking, and what kind of seat you’ll get, though.

Some airlines like Frenchbee and AirAsia X pack an extra seat into every row of their airplanes, which means they’re really narrow. Some, like Zipair and Scoot, don’t have inflight entertainment, even in business class. Scoot even charges for power sockets in economy!

There are great deals to be had out there, whether you’re aiming for the absolute cheapest flight or you are interested in a low-cost premium economy (or in a couple of cases, low-cost business class) experience.

But how do you what you’re going to get?

Check each airline’s website carefully for what is and isn’t included in each ticket type, as well as pricing and other details, such as:

-Food. On long flights, you may have to buy a second meal even if the first one is included, while pre-ordering can be much cheaper.

-Seat selection, including being seated together as a family or group, and what extra-legroom or extra-comfort options are available

-Soft drinks and sometimes even water

-Alcoholic beverages

-Hand luggage weight and size

-Checked baggage weight and size

-Inflight entertainment and WiFi

-Power sockets (yep!)

-Pillows and blankets

-Whether the airline prohibits bringing food on board (no, really)

-Which airports and terminals they use. It might not be the main airport in the city, or a low-cost terminal with limited shops and restaurants.

-Whether connections are “protected.” If your inbound flight is delayed, is it on the airline to rebook you, or are you on your own?

-Bundles of inclusions, like a package that gives you seat selection, a checked bag and a meal

Each one is slightly different from the next, and by and large they concentrate on flights to and from a particular home-base airport.