Easyjet and Ryanair work for me, too. The pricing structure is a bit arcane - you can get different quotes for the same trip if you log in to their website twice in the same day!

Ryanair have a deal with Hertz which means that you can hire a Focus with aircon for around €30 a day, which enabled the missus and me to visit my sister, who lives near Tours in France, for a total of £250 for five days. This compares with £100-£190 for the Tunnel or Ferry, plus petrol, plus tolls - it takes four hours instead of twelve, and someone else does 90% of the driving.

As we live near Stansted, a lift to the airport kept the parking cost down to £8, but otherwise the parking is definitely the bugbear.

Beware the so-called "Stansted Express" train service to the airport from London, though. For a couple of weeks in May they were using a bus, and the line is notoriously unreliable at the best of times. It's run by West Anglia Great Northern Railways, universally known as "We Ain't Going Nowhere"!

Alan