At first glance, a return flight to the US for €100 looks like an offer you don’t need to think twice about.

There’s just one catch, though: it departs from Dublin and I live in Prague.

This is just one example of the many special offers we’ve featured on our homepage.

Before I can board a long-haul flight, I have to buy another ticket, usually book accommodation as well, and leave a buffer in case of delays. The original 100 eur , the final cost can end up being several times higher.

Even so, these kinds of deals make sense to me. I’ve undertaken dozens of such trips myself and, apart from actually saving money compared to the standard price, I also get the most valuable traveller’s bonus: the chance to visit another city along the way!

I’m using specific examples from Prague here, as that’s where I personally set off from. However, you can calculate the actual cost in the same way from Bratislava, Budapest, Vilnius or any other city in Europe.

The price in the headline is just the start

When it comes to prices for similar promotions or error fares, we almost always quote only the main flight from the departure airport to the final destination.

This is because it’s usually quite difficult to calculate exactly how much the final journey will cost – our readers will be travelling from different airports, and the need to book connecting flights for specific dates can also make a big difference.

I often take advantage of these offers myself, so I add to the final cost everything I would otherwise pay for a standard flight from my home city, i.e. Prague.

• Main flight + connecting flight + necessary accommodation + transfers + luggage and other surcharges = the actual cost of the trip

As well as money, I also consider time, comfort and risk, but these are difficult to quantify.

What to include alongside the main flight ticket

The connecting flight in both directions

With super-cheap deals, it’s a bit tricky.

If you follow us regularly, you’ll know that extra-good deals or error fares sell out or get corrected quickly, so there isn’t much time for a detailed comparison of connecting flight prices.

I simply go for the first date I can afford. And I sort out transport to the departure point afterwards.

And that can be quite tricky.

Take, for example, special-offer flights to Dublin – where you can often find great deals to the US – which you can get for a few dozen euros, but usually only for a very limited number of dates.

Conversely, the standard price of flights to Dublin tends to be very high and can easily exceed the cost of the main flight you’re organising all this for.

Accommodation before a long-haul flight

An overnight stay is almost essential, particularly if your long-haul flight departs in the morning or mid-morning. Depending on your return journey times, you may also need an extra night’s accommodation after your return.

Hotel prices are calculated per room, so the total cost depends on the number of travellers. For solo travellers, accommodation can significantly reduce the savings, whilst a couple can split the cost.

That’s why I always check hotel prices near the departure airport before buying a flight ticket.

And in European cities in particular, it’s quite common for a single night in the cheapest hotel to easily cost more than 120 eur.

I book hotels through Booking.com and always opt for free cancellation, in case of flight time changes or flight cancellations.

Transport between the airport and the hotel

I add the cost of a train, bus or taxi from the airport and back to the hotel price.

A cheaper hotel in the city centre may not be good value if it means I have to pay for two expensive transfers.

With some combinations, you also need to factor in travel between two different airports.

This could be a small amount, but it could also run into tens of euros.

👉 On our website, we describe our own experiences with transport from airports around the world.

Luggage and other surcharges

I check the baggage rules separately for every booking. The main long-haul ticket may include a cabin bag, whilst a cheap connecting flight may only allow a small bag under the seat.

So, I usually only have to deal with the difference in hand luggage – if a standard cabin bag is included on the long-haul flight, you’ll generally need to add around 30 eur extra for the connecting flight within Europe.

In the same way, I factor in mandatory airport check-in, seat selection or other services that I don’t want to do without on that particular journey.

Food and other expenses whilst travelling

During longer lay-overs or overnight stays, I also spend money on food and drink. This isn’t usually the biggest expense, but with two connecting flights and several long lay-overs, it can add up to a significant amount.

I do not include everyday expenses that I would incur at my final destination anyway. I only take into account costs incurred specifically because of departing from a remote airport.

I do admit, however, that this is really more of a minor detail.

Time and extra days’ holiday

A separate connecting flight can add a whole day to the journey in each direction. If I need to arrive the evening before my flight and don’t return home until the day after my arrival, I end up using up as many as two extra days simply because of a cheaper ticket.

I do not convert my time into an exact monetary amount.

But I do ask myself whether the resulting saving is worth the longer journey, more planning and possibly an extra day’s holiday.

The risk of separate flight tickets

The connecting flight and the long-haul flight are on two separate bookings. If I miss the second flight because the first one is delayed, the long-haul airline will not usually rebook me free of charge.

A problem can also arise several months after purchase.

All it takes is for one airline to change its departure time, and what was originally a convenient combination ceases to work.

I do not factor this risk into the price as a specific amount. However, I do take it into account when determining how much of a saving I require from a similar combination.

The cheapest option isn’t always the sensible one

When calculating, I don’t use the cheapest theoretical option, but the cheapest option I’d actually be willing to go for.

A connecting flight arriving a few hours before a long-haul departure may seem perfect. However, a single delay could mean losing the entire main ticket.

For an expensive long-haul journey, I therefore usually plan to arrive at the departure airport the day before.

If I want to travel on the same day, I only choose connections with a generous buffer and the option to take an alternative flight – personally, I allow at least 5 hours between flights.

Example: A flight from Dublin to the US for €100

To illustrate this, I’ll use a special-offer return ticket from Dublin to the US for 100 eur, which we found in August 2026.

The following prices are specific to the dates I found for my trip in November, when I had a free time slot available.

In the end, I didn’t buy the tickets because they literally vanished before my very eyes. That’s just how it goes with these sorts of special offers.

Item	Item
Return flight Dublin–USA	100 eur
Return connecting flight Prague–Dublin	96 eur
Additional hand luggage on the connecting flight	26 eur
Overnight stay before departure	125 eur
Transfers between the airport and the hotel	5,50 eur
Meals and additional incidental expenses	20 eur
Actual final price	373 eur

So a flight ticket for €106 actually costs me at least €373.

It may still be an excellent deal, but I need one more crucial piece of information to make a decision: how much does a comparable ticket from Prague cost?

If I can get to the same destination from Prague on a single booking for 550 eur, I’ll save around 200 eur.

And that’s an amount I’ve assessed as worthwhile, so I was keen to buy the tickets.

If the difference were, say, just 50 eur, I’d be giving it a lot more thought.

You might also be lucky with a connecting flight and end up paying as little as 50 eur.

The same ticket for €106 can therefore be an exceptional deal for one traveller and a practically worthless offer for another.

But above all...

An extra night as a great bonus

So far, I’ve only been looking at the figures and the extra costs. But I’m, above all, a traveller through and through.

So an extra night – or even several extra nights – in Dublin, Milan, Lisbon, Madrid or wherever a cheap long-haul flight takes me is not a waste of time for me.

But a significant bonus.

I simply combine two trips into one.

And that’s what I like most about trips like this.

Even though I probably wouldn’t have planned a trip to Dublin on my own, circumstances ‘force’ me to do so, and I discover a place that I might otherwise have unjustly overlooked.

That’s how I came to love Milan and Oslo, for example.

I first travelled to both cities simply because of a cheap flight to the US and Argentina respectively, and since then they’ve been among my favourite places in Europe.

What I compare the offer to

I don’t compare a special-offer flight with just any expensive connection I happen to find. I try to find a genuinely comparable journey from Prague:

• to the same city or an airport of similar distance
• at a similar time of year and for the same duration
• with the same luggage allowance
• without the need to buy an additional separate ticket

I take standard prices into account. If tickets from Prague are regularly sold for 550 eur, it isn’t fair to compare an overseas deal solely with the current price of €800 and claim that I’m saving nearly €700.

What matters is not the current price tag, but the amount I could realistically pay for a comparable journey from my home airport.

The number of passengers can affect the result

Some costs are calculated per person, others per room or for the whole group.

Connecting flights, luggage and most transport tickets are multiplied by the number of passengers.

A hotel room or a taxi, on the other hand, can be shared between two people.

Departing from a remote airport can therefore sometimes work out better for a couple than for a solo traveller. For a family, on the other hand, connecting flights, extra luggage and more complicated journeys can significantly increase the total cost.

I therefore always carry out the calculation for the actual number of travellers, not just for one person.

Compare hotel prices worldwide

How much of a saving is worth the hassle to me

Everyone has a different threshold.

Some people are willing to book two separate flights to save a few dozen euros, whilst others prefer a more convenient journey from their home airport.

I generally make my decision as follows:

• savings of up to50 eur per person – flying from a distant airport is only worth it to me if I specifically want to visit the city of departure.
• Savings of50 eur to 150 eur per person – I base my decision mainly on timings and the length of any holiday I might need to take, but it’s starting to look interesting!
• Savings of over200 eur per person – if I’ve got time off and really want to go to the destination covered by the special offer, I usually go ahead and buy the ticket.

💬 How about you? At what amount do the savings become worthwhile for you?

What to check before buying

Before I buy a ticket from a remote airport, I always consider the following questions:

• Roughly how much is a connecting flight in both directions?
  • I can almost always get to Milan or London reasonably cheaply. Lisbon, Madrid or Istanbul are a bit trickier…
• Do I need accommodation before departure or after my return?
  • This is particularly important if I don’t want to visit the departure point.
• What luggage allowance is included with all bookings?
  • The main differences lie in the size and number of pieces of hand luggage.
• Do I have enough time to spare?
  • This is very important – these will always be non-connecting flights that I’m putting together myself.
• What should I do if the flight schedule changes?
  • I need to be prepared for the possibility that I may have to buy new connecting flights.
• What is the actual price of the whole combination?
  • That’s what matters most in the end.

What are the best deals we’ve found?

To round things off, here’s a selection of the best past special-offer flights. Just to give you an idea of what we’re actually talking about.

• USA and Canada from Dublin for 106 eur
  • In this case, the transport to and from Dublin might have exceeded the price of the main flight, yet it still made sense overall
• Brazil from Lisbon for 157 eur
  • Connecting flights to Lisbon are usually quite expensive, but at the same time this represents a huge saving, as flights from Europe to Brazil are typically very pricey!
• Latin America from Amsterdam for 187 eur
  • Again, the connecting flights are relatively expensive, but overall it’s a brilliant deal (I used it for a trip to Peru)
• New Zealand from Paris for 300 eur
  • Probably the best deal I’ve ever personally taken advantage of. The relatively expensive connecting flight to Paris was more than made up for by the incredible price to the other side of the world.