Published: 2 June 2026
Is It Really Cheaper to Fly to London via Europe Than Taking the Train?
We have all seen those news articles where someone (typically an influencer or TikTok user) has claimed how they have saved a fortune on their domestic travel itinerary by booking two separate hacker flights via a European city rather than taking a direct train.
We tested the theory by comparing 59 days of fares between Newcastle and London.
Our Newcastle to London case study
Our research compared the cheapest price of a single journey throughout June and July from Newcastle to London with:
- LNER – East Coast Mainline train service to Kings Cross (circa 3 hour journey)
- British Airways – Direct flight from Newcastle to Heathrow (circa 1hour 10 minute flight)
- Hacker flight – Two separate flight bookings (ie Newcastle to xxx European city and xxx European city to any London airport)
Tools used were the LNER app Deal Finder (LNER), Google Flights (BA) and kiwi.com (hacker flights). Prices were all taken on the afternoon of 2 June.
To ensure that we had a fair comparison, we compared the lowest available fares for each day (from 3 June to 29 July) for each of the methods. We excluded hacker flights that required an overnight stay at the connecting airport (although we did include post-midnight arrivals into London).
Flexible or first class train tickets were not included. These generally cost significantly more (and in any case, the flight ticket comparisons were for non-flexible economy seats).
What is a hacker flight?
A hacker flight involves booking two separate tickets, usually via a European city, rather than taking a direct train or flight.
Is It Ever Cheaper To Fly Than Take The Train?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, our pricing analysis for the next 59 days between Newcastle and London showed that on no occasion the flight was a cheaper option than the train. The average lowest train fare per day was £38, compared to £100 for a BA flight and £68 for the “hacker flight”.
8 June, only 6 days after the research was done, showed the smallest gap in prices between a £54 “hacker flight” (Newcastle > Dublin > Stansted) and the £47 direct train. The absolutely cheapest hacker flight was £49 for Newcastle > Dublin > Luton on 20 June.
The cheapest daily LNER fares ranged from £28 (20 June) to £51 (3 & 4 June). Of course there will be many occasions where LNER charge much more than this, especially at peak times, but for the purposes of the article (and a fair comparison with the airlines), we just took the lowest price on each day.
One interesting point to note that whilst the direct BA flight is significantly more expensive than the other two methods for the next 3 weeks of the booking horizon, after that time BA is broadly the same price as a hacker flight, without the length of time taken or the risk of misconnecting. For flights more than 3 weeks out from booking, BA actually averages £69 on Newcastle to London, with many days at £56.
“I don’t want to spend all day getting to London”
Of course people do not necessarily want to spend all day sitting in a terminal in a random European airport, so we also looked at the same itinerary from Newcastle to London but restricted it only to same day arrivals in London before 1pm.
For a pre-1pm arrival in London, the average lowest priced daily train fare on LNER was £46, 20% more than the overall cheapest train on that day, reflecting the premium that passengers will pay for an earlier arrival to their destination. BA typically charge 42% more but hacker flights are actually 84% more expensive if you want to arrive before 1pm. If you are booking more than 3 weeks out, hacker fares offer no saving compared to a direct flight on BA.
Why the Travel Myth exists
These stories gain traction as train fares, especially at peak times, can be extremely expensive when booked late on, whereas budget airlines are sometimes happy to offload last minute spare seats at very low prices. News articles also often ignore accommodation costs, airport transfers, baggage fees and the risk of missed connections.
Warning on Hacker Flights
If you book an indirect flight on the likes of BA/KLM/Lufthansa which involve a layover at Heathrow/Amsterdam etc on the same ticket, the airline will protect your connection – meaning that if your inbound flight is late or cancelled, they will still get you to your final destination.
Hacker flights are totally unprotected – meaning that if you are flying (say) Manchester > Malaga > Gatwick and your first flight is delayed, you could end up stuck in Spain with no help from your airline, even if your second flight is on the same carrier.
Takeaways
- Of course, it is always hard to compare different methods of travel. We compared the cheapest daily available fares but if you want to travel at peak times, you will pay substantially more
- Random events, such as big football matches, can cause a spike in fares which may make a hacker fare more attractive
- The train of course gets you into Kings Cross, Heathrow airport is well connected to the centre but getting a flight into Luton or Stansted can mean a longer transit to your final destination
- Newcastle to London is a competitive route with multiple train operators and a direct flight. Other routes with less competition may see higher prices.
- When you book is important. Low train fares are typically only released 12 weeks before departure so it is likely that if you are wanting to book now for travel 4 months ahead, a hacker fare will likely be cheaper than the train
- Having a Railcard can further reduce the cost of the rail fare.
