[Weekend Break] to Stockholm, Sweden

In these series of articles, I write about the cost of taking a city break for two days without the need to take annual leave. For the initial batch I write about the cost of taking a flight for two days (leave Friday evening and back Sunday) and plan it so that it does not require the average office working to take annual leave.

The prices are bases for a solo traveller and the objective is to keep the cost of a ticket and hotel as low as possible without veering into hostels or budget airlines. This is therefore meant to act as a starting block and can be increased to more premium offerings at your discretion.

Note – this is not a product review but an analysis of past experiences to give an approximation as to what can be considered “a good option”.

Estimated Costs

Flight – £76.24
Hotel – £146.00
Airport To & From – £34.98
Total – £257.22

Cost of a flight:

Booked with Money

The cost of a flight to Stockholm is £76.24 Economy or £345.25 in Business when flying BA (departing LHR (London Heathrow)) during the summer months. Note that the economy price was quoted in fare class O and if booked in fare class N will be circa £114.00.

Ryan Air and SAS options are available depending on the time of year and Alliance. If points is not of concern to yourself, SAS offers at-seat USB charging for economy passengers but BA does not have this offering as yet.

Booked as a Reward

The analysis below shows the redemption for a British airways flight.

Off Peak Travel

Peak Travel

*RFS = Reward Flight Saver
** ROI is only an approximation and is dependent on price of flight

The best likely return booked far in advance would be the Club Europe off-peak at Approx. 2.32p per Avios while peak economy sees the lowest return at 0.55p per Avios.

For an economy ticket, as the return is so low, it would be better to save the Avios and use cash and accrue the Avios for future use. The ROI for business class offerings is not the best either but at 908 miles this puts it at the upper ends of Zone 2 on the redemption map meaning it could be of value.

Cost of a hotel

The hotel price naturally changes and can vary significantly. If you are loyal to a hotel brand this section will be of little benefit however there are savings to be had, but being a Scandinavian country they are slightly above the normal price.

Tips though:

• 1 – Try book as near to the central station as possible; depending on the time you land there is an express train or bus that takes you into the city and terminates at the central station.
• 2 – there is a trend amongst the Stockholm hotels (particularly in the more economical properties) is to not include a window in the room. Depending on your needs, there could be some savings here if you elect to not have a window.

To and From the Airport

London side their obvious choice is the Heathrow Express over the London underground or Heathrow connect – when booked in advance. The 90 day advanced ticket will cost £12.10 one way when departing on a weekday and £5.50 standard or £7.50 business first one way on the weekend.

In Stockholm the Arlanda Express (20 minute train) standard return is 570 SEK or an eye watering £50.00 (depending on the exchange rate). In my view it is a little extreme when compared to the cost of the flight. While there is what is called the “early bird” discount, there is a time limit on how far advanced it can be booked and can only be booked in singles at 195 SEK or 390 SEK return or £34.00 return.

Alternatively, the Flygbussarna (express coach) only costs 99 SEK one way or £198 SEK return (When booked online) 119 and 215 SEK respectively when booked at the counter. The bus is takes approximately 45 minutes one way. Assuming you paid 198 SEK for an online return, this would cost about £17.38 depending on exchange rates.

Conclusion

If you were to book the above at the lowest possible rate, you would be able to go to Sweden for two days broken down as followed:

Flight – £76.24
Hotel – £146.00
Airport Travel – £34.98
Total – £257.22