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#1 November 14 2019

Johnaudi
Member

Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

Hello,

I'd like to dedicate this thread to discuss travel-related topics in response to these posts, alongside experiences in the selection of the tickets, hotels, visas, time-frame, etc.

Of those not aware of the recent flight additions to Cyprus (Paphos) and Austria (Vienna), by RyanAir, tickets as the following:

Paphos
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
It can go as low as 10€ per flight.
Vienna (Starting on the 29th of March 2020)
Wednesday, Sunday
It can go as low as 36€ per flight.

Important note: Prices do not include any checked-in or on-board luggage (except for a small 10kg handbag with a specific size)

Prior content as of 14/11/2019

The primary purpose of the thread is to help new and old-style travelers through their trip organization, as I've noticed even several people tend to purchase tickets on specific dates and places rather than the more efficient and cheaper alternatives. (or reasons such as "I prefer X airlines", or "that's the cheapest I could find to X country")

I'd like to initiate the topic by sharing my personal experience in simple steps to follow, any advice and criticism are much appreciated as these are merely the fruit of my research and conclusions.

Who is traveling?

To organize any trip or vacation, the age and mental health of the people going is at play.
Several questions to take into consideration:

  • Are the people willing to take long flights (hence, patient)?

  • Does the people's mental and physical condition allows them to take long walks (20 minutes+)?

  • Are they able to wake up very early?

  • Are they able to sleep late?

  • What is their budget?

  • Do they have a visa? And if not, is it easy for them to obtain?

Purpose of the trip

People tend to travel for different reasons; each would have a different objective. For example:

Business trips are usually time-frame enclosed (such as an event, or an exhibition), hence being at the location at the right time is the primary purpose. Being efficient would consider going for the cheaper economy ticket, and usually playing with the departure and arrival tickets, as well as the hotels.
Family Vacations tend to be the most costly in terms of the tickets and hotels rather than entertainment costs. Individual offices may offer you a package deal that may appeal to you, yet most of the time, you can create your own far more enjoyable trip with a self-satisfactory outcome for around the same price.
Friends Vacations are often the cheapest as students (several discounts with your student card/ISIC), at a younger age, you wouldn't mind sleeping in less fancy hotels/Airbnb's, taking the train daily, a lot of walking, doing several activities per day...
Pilgrimage or religious trips are best to be done with offices or religious associations. (although a lot cheaper when done alone, the experience differs)

Planification

Planification for the trip should happen two months before the trip. The cheapest tickets are available between 1-2 months before the flight. Applying for visas should happen as soon as you have an accurate timeframe of when the trip is going to take place. The purchase of tickets and hotels as soon as you get visa approval.

Visa

A nice website to know the countries of which you may or may not need visas for is https://visalist.io/.
Some charming countries to go to with a Lebanese passport (without a visa): Turkey, Jordan, Georgia, Armenia (VOA), Bali (Indonesia)...
A tip for Schengen visas: Apply for the first country you are going to land on, and in case you are traveling to several countries in Europe, apply at the embassy of the country in which you are staying the most.
Note: You must not purchase the tickets nor reserve the hotels before getting the visa approval. They require you to present an itinerary (also known as a fake ticket or hotel) and not the item itself. You do not have to go with the same ticket/hotel after your visa is accepted.

I would appreciate if someone can provide further details on the visa process, and perhaps some tips that may help us all.

Tickets

After selecting the timeframe of which you can travel, it is time to select your tickets. The big question is, where are you going? In case the general case of which it is not specified, I suggest using Skyscanner.
It is preferable (and sometimes cheaper) to select 'Direct flight', as well as faster and safer (in case you miss a flight, or it gets delayed).
Type in 'Everywhere' for the country you're traveling to, select the month of which you are going as well (not the days unless necessary).
In case you're planning to go to one country, select 'Return' as a round-trip ticket, otherwise, 'One-way'.
57f5e46f09.png
You will find several options listed for you; for the sake of this example, I've picked one of the cheap ones which I have got listed, which is Greece. Upon its selection alongside its airport, you will get a monthly calendar with the price of each day available. (in case the price is not listed for a specific date, press on it and press on search)
74af884829.png
After selecting an appropriate flight, study what to do in such a city and how much time is worth staying. (Check the section 'What to do there?')
Recreate the previous scenario, this time going from Athens airport to Anywhere (except if you have a specific country in mind)
1d12757065.png
I selected Germany (Nuremberg), received a price of 50$ on the 12th of January. This is a good deal since that would allow me to stay three days in Athens before heading towards Germany.
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Assuming a stay of 2-3 days in Nuremberg is enough, and a friend wanting to visit someone special in Austria (Vienna), we select Vienna next, yet this scary thing appears:
789cb38581.png
There are no cheap tickets from Nuremberg to Vienna within a week from arriving in Nuremberg. What to do?
In Europe, everything is connected by train/metro; long-distance train tickets should be bought at this stage. I suggest using Omio for the selection of the cheapest ticket. For the sake of this example, I've set leaving Nuremberg on the 14th of January.
6c0e02d5cc.png
162$ for four people leads to ~40$ per person, against the prior 142$ per person as a plane ticket!
Okay, time to head back home.
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18th of January seems adequate, we select and finish with the tickets.
Total tickets for three countries and nine days: 250$

Note: Make sure you carefully check the baggage policy upon purchasing your ticket.

Flight Delayed/Cancelled?

EU airlines follow a protocol at which refunds you up to 600€ per flight in case it gets delayed for more than 3 hours or canceled. (also refunds necessities in case baggage is delayed or lost)
An easy way to get your money is through ClaimCompass, which I recommend checking out.

Location

I highly recommend Airbnb, a way more comfortable experience, as well as way cheaper in bigger groups. You can get a bigger room/apartment at a better location for a lower price than a hotel.
Note that some countries may have hotels cheaper than Airbnb's (Germany, for example), so it's worth taking a look at both Airbnb and Booking
Tip: If you're going with Airbnb, make sure you ask them about the time you can obtain access to the apartment (check what time you arrive from the airport/train station). An excellent way to receive a discount is to tell them you are a student and whether they can provide a student discount (be honest in such topics). Make sure it's not too far from the place where you'll often be visiting, e.g. the city center.

rolf wrote:

Likewise, you can stay at a hostel (look on hostels.com or other sites), where you could for example rent a bed in a 12-bed dorms for 10 euros a night or even less, breakfast included. Be aware that you will not get the best sleep, it is likely that you would be waken up in the middle of the night by a group of drunken teenagers coming back from a party, or that for example, your neighbor would have very strong smelly feet.
There are also free options although I never tried these. Specifically couchsurfing or workaway where you get a bed and possibly other facilities in exchange of putting in a few hours of work on some project.

Transportation

Google maps is a necessity; make sure you download the map of the city you're traveling to offline.
For countries of which you're staying for a few days, try looking up day passes for buses and train/metro. Example: Greece gives you a 3-day bus and metro pass (including the airport transfer) for 22€. Paris has similar to its Navigo pass (which is extremely useful). This research is country-dependent. Renting a car is also an option.
Never take a taxi from the airport or the metro station to your destination unless necessary. (their prices are exorbitant)
I use Citymapper for the bus/metro transportation, sometimes Google Maps, to double-check.

rolf wrote:

For going from one city to another, you can get good deals on airplanes or trains if you buy in advance. However you can get really cheap deals on coach (eg: eurolines)(if you are willing to spend 8 hours sitting in a bus), or carpooling such as blablacar or mitfahren.de (for Germany).

Communication

Staying communicated with family and friends is important. You can take your mobile phone with you, yet never use your Lebanese SIM in a foreign country. For the EU specifically, you can buy any SIM card (e.g. Vodafone) that gets you an internet connection (which is relatively cheap). The sim will work at no extra cost in any EU country you are visiting according to their roaming policy.

A website to plan which SIM is the most adequate to purchase: https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.co … _with_data (Thanks @samer!)

Language

Google Translate will translate anything, a conversation, signs on the street with its camera feature, etc. Make sure you download the languages you'll need before your trip.

What to do there?

Setting up a day plan may be quite the hassle, thankfully, VisitACity does that for you. You can even select the number of days stayed (defined by the ticket pricing).
4d5bad8dbc.png

Getting ready

Make sure you download a template online for what you may need and serve it as a checkbox list.
Some airlines (including Ryanair) may require you to check-in 24 hours before the flight to avoid paying a fee.
Print all your tickets and reservations on paper just in case!

The following details the prior process applied in my trip to Europe in August 2019.

My Trip

Greece (Athens): Aug 3 till Aug 5 - Tourism, Food, Beach
Italy (Rome): Aug 5 till Aug 9 - Food, Tourism, Museums, Vatican City, Party
Germany (Nuremberg): Aug 9 till Aug 11 - Beautiful city, Castle, Beer/Food
Germany (Stuttgart): Aug 11 till Aug 13 - Relaxing Park, Zoo, Pig/Mercedes Museum
France (Paris): Aug 13 till Aug 17 - Tourism, Food, Parc d'Asterix
Netherlands (Amsterdam): Aug 17 till Aug 20 - Parks, Museums, Relaxing
Total days: 17
Total tickets per person: 420$
Total accommodation per person: 380$
Total spendings in the trip: ~720€
Average steps daily: ~20,000 steps
Total outcome: Amazing vacation, 3kg lost, german curse words.

Check out @backpackin.trails' trip and guidelines to South-East Asian countries!

I highly anticipate sharing information, tips, experiences, and places to travel. Hoping this guide would provide some new information to the community.
Thank you

Last edited by Johnaudi (November 21 2019)

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#2 November 14 2019

dsoftware.king
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

Thanks for the effort man

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#3 November 14 2019

nosense
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

thanks for the effort, very helpful

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#4 November 14 2019

TheIlluminative
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

What a great thread. Awesome work dude, thanks a lot. Very useful.

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#5 November 14 2019

samer
Admin

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

Thanks for starting this John!

Staying communicated with family and friends is important. You can take your mobile phone with you, yet never use your Lebanese SIM in a foreign country. For the EU specifically, you can buy any SIM card (e.g. Vodafone) that gets you an internet connection (which is relatively cheap). The sim will work at no extra cost in any EU country you are visiting according to their roaming policy.

Keep in mind that countries like Germany often make it hard for your as a foreigner to buy a sim card, especially at stores like Vodafone and Telekom. You'll need to go to more "immigrant friendly" sub-providers like Lebera mobile. Your mileage may vary.

Another tip when it comes to data roaming is eSIM. If you have a phone with a built-in eSIM (e.g., iPhone XR, XS and 11), you can buy a few gigabytes of data for a very reasonable price and use it all over Europe. The best part? You can do everything online, and you don't need to receive a SIM (you're just reprogramming your built-in eSIM).

Read more about eSIM here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESIM
Find the best data packages here: https://esimdb.com/region/europe

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#6 November 14 2019

Johnaudi
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

Thank you, everyone, I appreciate it!

@samer, never knew about esimdb, very interesting! I tried to dig in to find whether there exists a similar website for regular SIM cards yet no avail. In case anyone can help through this, that would be appreciated.

I've purchased a Vodafone SIM card from Greece to use within my trip; it lasts a whole month, has 14GB of local traffic (in Greece), and 5GB of Roaming Free traffic. It cost around 24 euros as far as I can recall. I would have found better offers somewhere else in Europe, yet it was the first country of which I had landed, hence the necessity.

Last edited by Johnaudi (November 14 2019)

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#7 November 15 2019

rolf
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

If you are on a budget, east europe (Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Georgia, etc) is cheap yet somewhat exotic.

Also you went to Germany without visiting Berlin. Dumm.

Last edited by rolf (November 15 2019)

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#8 November 15 2019

Kareem
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

samer wrote:

Keep in mind that countries like Germany often make it hard for your as a foreigner to buy a sim card, especially at stores like Vodafone and Telekom. You'll need to go to more "immigrant friendly" sub-providers like Lebera mobile. Your mileage may vary.

Another tip when it comes to data roaming is eSIM. If you have a phone with a built-in eSIM (e.g., iPhone XR, XS and 11), you can buy a few gigabytes of data for a very reasonable price and use it all over Europe. The best part? You can do everything online, and you don't need to receive a SIM (you're just reprogramming your built-in eSIM).

Read more about eSIM here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESIM
Find the best data packages here: https://esimdb.com/region/europe

I was in Berlin 3 months ago and never had any issue with buying SIM cards. Got a T-mobile prepaid card for 20 EUR from a grocery store and the guy did the activation thing.

Maybe other parts of Germany are more strict.

Last edited by Kareem (November 15 2019)

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#9 November 15 2019

rolf
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

Long term contracts can require a proof of income, proof of residence, etc.

For prepaid, there should be no issue. Just imagine "no, you are an Arab, you vill get no Zim Karte. Das ist verboten!"

In the UK I tried Lycamobile and GiffGaff and it doesn't get any easier.

Last edited by rolf (November 15 2019)

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#10 November 15 2019

xerxes
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

I have heard that Germans might give you a hard time when trying to buy a sim card, however I was able to buy a sim card in Dresden with no issues (T-mobile).

Note that if you buy sim card from one country in the EU it is valid and can be used across europe as long as you have credit.

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#11 November 15 2019

sero
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

what an awesome trip Johnaudi!
When i travel on vacation i prefer to stay at one area, take my time to discover it,  instead of hoping fast into several places.

A note for SIM cards in Europe. Many operators have a data only bundle. You get a SIM card with 4G but without a phone number.
I find this great as its cheaper than the one with a phone number, and its very easy to get and activate (no papers or whatsoever)

Last edited by sero (November 15 2019)

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#12 November 15 2019

duke-of-bytes
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

this is too crowded for new travellers .. better visit 2 or 3 countries at most
and looking at your time , this is too tiring to enjoy

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#13 November 15 2019

Johnaudi
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

duke-of-bytes wrote:

this is too crowded for new travellers .. better visit 2 or 3 countries at most
and looking at your time , this is too tiring to enjoy

It really depends on the person I guess, we've had plenty of time to relax.
We even had time (and energy) to go workout at the gym around 6 times on the whole trip!

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#14 November 15 2019

samer
Admin

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

Johnaudi wrote:

I tried to dig in to find whether there exists a similar website for regular SIM cards yet no avail. In case anyone can help through this, that would be appreciated.

I've used this wiki before to find prepaid SIM cards with data abroad: https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.co … _with_data

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#15 November 16 2019

Johnaudi
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

samer wrote:

I've used this wiki before to find prepaid SIM cards with data abroad: https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.co … _with_data

Thank you! This was exactly what I was looking for. =]
Added to thread.

Last edited by Johnaudi (November 16 2019)

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#16 November 16 2019

rolf
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

If you are on a real tight budget, here are some more tips:

Like I said previously, some destinations such as Cyprus or Romania are pretty cheap depending on the season. Go on skyscanner.net, and make a search, in "from" enter "Beirut" and in "to" enter "anywhere", then as a date select a whole month, and you can see the cheapest flights to anywhere in a particular month. It can get really cheap using this method.

Your biggest expense would be accommodation, normally - unless you are addicted to partying or something. These vary a lot from one city to another. For example, in Germany, rent in München (Munich) costs almost twice the rent in Leipzig or Halle.

Airbnb should give you an idea of prices and availability wherever you are going, and they also have an option for searching "shared rooms".

Likewise, you can stay at a hostel (look on hostels.com or other sites), where you could for example rent a bed in a 12-bed dorms for 10 euros a night or even less, breakfast included. Be aware that you will not get the best sleep, it is likely that you would be waken up in the middle of the night by a group of drunken teenagers coming back from a party, or that for example, your neighbor would have very strong smelly feet.

Warning: Be very careful with cheap hostels and hotels in London. London is very expensive. Everyone thinks that it is a developed city, and it is. However you might see some hotels that have prices that are too good to be true. That is because you will be sharing your bed with bedbugs and cockroaches. When it comes to London, most of the stereotypes are true, for the better and for the worse.

Whatever you pick, be sure to do a bit of research in advance, because sometimes cities have events, festivals, etc. that can cause almost all accommodation to be booked out or over-priced.

There are also free options although I never tried these. Specifically couchsurfing or workaway where you get a bed and possibly other facilities in exchange of putting in a few hours of work on some project.

If you are into this traveling style, you should pack lightly (big backpack preferred). Also note that laundromats can be expensive, depending on the area.

The upside is that you can meet many young travelers from all over the world, and this style of traveling also generally grants you more freedom to make last-minute changes.

For going from one city to another, you can get good deals on airplanes or trains if you buy in advance. However you can get really cheap deals on coach (eg: eurolines)(if you are willing to spend 8 hours sitting in a bus), or carpooling such as blablacar or mitfahren.de (for Germany).

That's it really. For food, the cheapest option is buying cheese and bread, etc. from the supermarket. Some hostels have shared fridges where you can store your food and hope that it does not disappear. You can occasionally find discounted food in supermarkets, or for example pizza-by-the-slice shops if you go just before they close, same things with markets (they will be trying to get rid of it - just ask).

And please share any other discoveries that you make.

This advice is mainly for Europe. If you got to Africa, for example, you can surely travel for cheap, but the specifics would be different.

Last edited by rolf (November 21 2019)

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#17 November 16 2019

Johnaudi
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

Thanks @rolf! Added some sections to the thread.

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#18 November 16 2019

rolf
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

You are welcome, @Johnaudi.
Thank you for starting and maintaining this.

Last edited by rolf (November 16 2019)

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#19 November 17 2019

Guitaret
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

Guys, I know this should be on a different thread but I am open for a group vacation in the next 2 months. Is anyone up for it?

About me:
I want to go on a vacation soon, I am not experienced and I prefer I go with friends/group but my attempts failed with the people I know.
I am open to any idea or any trip plan we can come up with (knowing that the coming winter will limit our options badly).

You may say I'm a dreamer but I am up for a group trip with my fellow geeks, if not, I would be grateful for suggestions for a solo traveler.

Yes to all the below

Johnaudi wrote:
  • Are the people willing to take long flights (hence, patient)?

  • Does the people's mental and physical condition allows them to take long walks (20 minutes+)?

  • Are they able to wake up very early?

  • Are they able to sleep late?

  • Do they have a visa? And if not, is it easy for them to obtain?

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#20 November 17 2019

rolf
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

Guitaret wrote:

Guys, I know this should be on a different thread but I am open for a group vacation in the next 2 months. Is anyone up for it?

Where to? Do you have any ideas?

As for suggestions, let me just say that if you buy your ticket now, you can fly all the way to London (through Cyprus) in late January or February, for $80. From there on, you can hop around Europe using Ryanair / Easyjet.

Last edited by rolf (November 17 2019)

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#21 November 17 2019

Johnaudi
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

A lot of my group/friends are having financial issues lately, hence are not able to participate in any traveling any time soon. (Although 2 of them are still for for new year's/early jan)
We were planning to go back to Amsterdam via Transavia for new year's, but being just 2-3 people, accommodation becomes extremely expensive. Expanding our group would allow us to divide the daily payment furthermore, as well as allowing us to meet new people.
Yet due to the economic crisis lately, it becomes relatively hard for me to find someone willing to invest in a trip.

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#22 November 17 2019

rolf
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

The upside of the crisis is that flights from Lebanon are dirt cheap as airlines try to fill the seats.

As a bonus you get to use your dollars at a fair rate and you can withdraw and come back with a wad of euros or even dollars (there are USD cash machines in London). Plus a well needed rest.

For new years eve, Berlin can get pretty crazy. Just a suggestion.

I hope that someone else will be interested by group travel however 3-4 is already a good size.

Last edited by rolf (November 17 2019)

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#23 November 17 2019

Guitaret
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

rolf wrote:
Guitaret wrote:

Guys, I know this should be on a different thread but I am open for a group vacation in the next 2 months. Is anyone up for it?

Where to? Do you have any ideas?

As for suggestions, let me just say that if you buy your ticket now, you can fly all the way to London (through Cyprus) in late January or February, for $80. From there on, you can hop around Europe using Ryanair / Easyjet.

Europe, USA (preferable not an Arabic country or Turkey)
I am open to anything, I like visiting new places and try new food, any attraction but I am not a big fan of partying even though I don't mind doing it on social occasions.

Johnaudi wrote:

A lot of my group/friends are having financial issues lately, hence are not able to participate in any traveling any time soon. (Although 2 of them are still for for new year's/early jan)
We were planning to go back to Amsterdam via Transavia for new year's, but being just 2-3 people, accommodation becomes extremely expensive. Expanding our group would allow us to divide the daily payment furthermore, as well as allowing us to meet new people.
Yet due to the economic crisis lately, it becomes relatively hard for me to find someone willing to invest in a trip.

As long as it is before the end of the year because my annual leaves expire then.
We shall be in touch privately to get info.

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#24 November 18 2019

nas93
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

Thank you a ton for this exhaustive write up, I'm planning a trip to Vienna on NYE and this came in the right time.

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#25 November 20 2019

NuclearVision
Member

Re: Vacation outside Lebanon on a budget

Is the ryanair cheap fares deal actually legit??? Did anyone try it? A friend told me that it couldnt be true, since beirut airport takes a fee for your ticket, and it just cant be.
So anyone actually bought a ticket and took ryanair flight?

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