EasyJet - it ain't all that bad
Discussion
Was forced to take a last minute flight to Vienna yesterday as I was late to check-in to my usual service.
Had to go with EasyJet, which filled me with dread and horror.
Have used Gatwick quite a bit recently, and without any shadow of a doubt, the longest and most miserable looking queues have been at their Orange counters. I actually felt sorry for those holiday makers.
But to my pleasant surprise, the flight was not too shambolic, the staff seemed to know what they were doing, and apart from a toddler screaming for the whole 2 hour flight, I didn't have too many grumbles.
So, I may book with them on a more regular basis.
Are there genuine horror stories with these guys?
Had to go with EasyJet, which filled me with dread and horror.
Have used Gatwick quite a bit recently, and without any shadow of a doubt, the longest and most miserable looking queues have been at their Orange counters. I actually felt sorry for those holiday makers.
But to my pleasant surprise, the flight was not too shambolic, the staff seemed to know what they were doing, and apart from a toddler screaming for the whole 2 hour flight, I didn't have too many grumbles.
So, I may book with them on a more regular basis.
Are there genuine horror stories with these guys?
used them last Monday from Gatwick for the second time in 3 years. Massive crowd at the gate and due to this the door of the aircraft was closed about 15-20mins after it should have been. We missed the take off slot so had to wait 30mins on the aircraft at the gate (which was moved back). After that, captain/pilot announces that the tug that was connected to the aircraft has now disconnected and gone to another aircraft, so we've missed another slot. Anyway, bla, bla, bla we were stuck at Gatwick for 1hr 45mins with no real credible explanation as to why an aircraft wich was 20 mins late closing it's doors was still on the ground 1hr 30mins later.
If they allowed seat selection at booking/checking-in time, boarding would be much, much quicker and their schedules would be met more frequently. This feature costs peanuts to implement, so no excuse on costs.
They weren't particularly much cheaper than other airlines on the same route, just the time was a little better. In the end they worked out far more expensive taking into account the delays, animal treatment at the gate and generally incompetent staff.
I've booked my return with another airline.
If they allowed seat selection at booking/checking-in time, boarding would be much, much quicker and their schedules would be met more frequently. This feature costs peanuts to implement, so no excuse on costs.
They weren't particularly much cheaper than other airlines on the same route, just the time was a little better. In the end they worked out far more expensive taking into account the delays, animal treatment at the gate and generally incompetent staff.
I've booked my return with another airline.
Edited by Silver993tt on Friday 18th December 20:34
s at Ryanair.EasyJet are one of the better cheap airlines, provided you realise that you have a hell of a lot less flexibility, arrive late and you won't get an easy swop to a later flight. The worst is the Irish airline who appear to charge for every possible extra. Having said that the bigger carries are reducing their quality of service IIRC BA are stopping all food except breakfast on shorthaul.
BryanR said:
They ain't so bad. It's worth paying the extra 8 quid for 'speedy boarding' as you get a fast entry check-in desk, and get let onto the plane first as well, so you get the pick of the seats.
Speedy boarding? That's hilarious at some of the Medirerranean airports when they have no gates direct to the aircraft. The look on the faces of the people who have paid for this as they get loaded onto a bus followed by everyone else on the same bus 
Even funnier when the doors on the bus open on the opposite side of the 'speedy' boarders so they are at the back of the queue at the aircraft stairs
Edited by Silver993tt on Saturday 19th December 06:29
I will never fly with Easyjet again due to the fact that not ONCE but TWICE I was given the wrong gate number by the check-in desk. I was late on both occasions due to business meetings which lasted longer than usual so I was literally running straight to the check in desk and then to whichever gate they told me. On the first occasion the d*ps**t behind the desk told me it was gate 25. So I ran to gate 25 straight after going through customs. I get to gate 25 and there is literally nobody there and NO plane by the gate !!!! I then see there are people boarding at gate 26, so I go there and ask them why is there no flight FR*** to Florence at gate 25. They look puzzled and suggest they look it up on their computer at the gate. They then tell me to hurry as in one minute the gate closes at Gate 3 !!!!!!!!!!! GATE 3 !!! I felt like I had done the London Marathon by the time I had got on that plane ! This has happened twice now and I shall never get on an Easyjet flight again ! I was in such a hurry that my mind was not telling me to look at the arrivals/departures screen....I was just taking EasyJet's word for it.
BryanR said:
They ain't so bad. It's worth paying the extra 8 quid for 'speedy boarding' as you get a fast entry check-in desk, and get let onto the plane first as well, so you get the pick of the seats.
Funny you should say that ! On a recent flight with that said Irish Airline I decided to obtain 4 priority passes so we got the seats we wanted. I could not believe my eyes with what I saw the stewards/stewardesses doing 5 minutes before boarding....they were selling the Priority passes to the rest of the passengers and by the time they had finished, there was only 3 people out of the WHOLE flight without a priority pass !!! Louis. said:
I could not believe my eyes with what I saw the stewards/stewardesses doing 5 minutes before boarding....they were selling the Priority passes to the rest of the passengers and by the time they had finished, there was only 3 people out of the WHOLE flight without a priority pass !!!
http://www.ryanair.com/en/questions/contacting-customer-serviceAsk the above if it's company policy, or a kind of unofficial christmas tip policy
What is the spiel with not issuing seat numbers? Why the feck do the cheap airlines not do it? It must be a very simple and inexpensive step to introduce.
I was quite uncomfortable with the prospect of finding somewhere suitable to sit, especially since the half-wits who got onto the plane early and decided to sit in seats next to the aisle, leaving the window and middle seats unoccupied. Was this some attempt to dupe boarding passengers to think the seats were taken?
I was quite uncomfortable with the prospect of finding somewhere suitable to sit, especially since the half-wits who got onto the plane early and decided to sit in seats next to the aisle, leaving the window and middle seats unoccupied. Was this some attempt to dupe boarding passengers to think the seats were taken?
Louis. said:
BryanR said:
They ain't so bad. It's worth paying the extra 8 quid for 'speedy boarding' as you get a fast entry check-in desk, and get let onto the plane first as well, so you get the pick of the seats.
Funny you should say that ! On a recent flight with that said Irish Airline I decided to obtain 4 priority passes so we got the seats we wanted. I could not believe my eyes with what I saw the stewards/stewardesses doing 5 minutes before boarding....they were selling the Priority passes to the rest of the passengers and by the time they had finished, there was only 3 people out of the WHOLE flight without a priority pass !!! Mile High Club on the ground or something.. Pfft.
DrYazz said:
What is the spiel with not issuing seat numbers? Why the feck do the cheap airlines not do it? It must be a very simple and inexpensive step to introduce.
I was quite uncomfortable with the prospect of finding somewhere suitable to sit, especially since the half-wits who got onto the plane early and decided to sit in seats next to the aisle, leaving the window and middle seats unoccupied. Was this some attempt to dupe boarding passengers to think the seats were taken?
Because despite what some people have posted above it would take twice as long to board the plane as it does now. Can you imagine the rabble getting on that plane, everyone sitting in diffent places and everyone pushing past to get to 'their' seat. No, that would be worse, not better. I was quite uncomfortable with the prospect of finding somewhere suitable to sit, especially since the half-wits who got onto the plane early and decided to sit in seats next to the aisle, leaving the window and middle seats unoccupied. Was this some attempt to dupe boarding passengers to think the seats were taken?
The only way allocated seating would work would be if they gave you a seat number as you boarded through the Gate, first passenger through is 1A, second is 2A, third in 3A etc etc.
Nothing wrong with Easyjet and I've been using them for years as it's really the only way into Northern Ireland and no real problems beyond those you have on other airlines and in the end, it's a damm cheap flight so I don't really care. If I had a million quid and could a afford a better airline then I'd take one, as it is Easyjet works well for me, job done.
MiniMan64 said:
DrYazz said:
What is the spiel with not issuing seat numbers? Why the feck do the cheap airlines not do it? It must be a very simple and inexpensive step to introduce.
I was quite uncomfortable with the prospect of finding somewhere suitable to sit, especially since the half-wits who got onto the plane early and decided to sit in seats next to the aisle, leaving the window and middle seats unoccupied. Was this some attempt to dupe boarding passengers to think the seats were taken?
Because despite what some people have posted above it would take twice as long to board the plane as it does now. Can you imagine the rabble getting on that plane, everyone sitting in diffent places and everyone pushing past to get to 'their' seat. No, that would be worse, not better. I was quite uncomfortable with the prospect of finding somewhere suitable to sit, especially since the half-wits who got onto the plane early and decided to sit in seats next to the aisle, leaving the window and middle seats unoccupied. Was this some attempt to dupe boarding passengers to think the seats were taken?
The only way allocated seating would work would be if they gave you a seat number as you boarded through the Gate, first passenger through is 1A, second is 2A, third in 3A etc etc.
Nothing wrong with Easyjet and I've been using them for years as it's really the only way into Northern Ireland and no real problems beyond those you have on other airlines and in the end, it's a damm cheap flight so I don't really care. If I had a million quid and could a afford a better airline then I'd take one, as it is Easyjet works well for me, job done.
With Easyjet there is an instant mob at the gate when there is any sign of boarding. They board 'speedy' boarders first but they can't get through the scrum that has formed without a lot of pushing and shoving. The rest won't budge since they want to get best choice of seats after the 'speedy' boarders are on. Unfortunately, the rest of the mob make a run for the seats closest to the front of the aircraft and block access to the middle and rear sections.
It really is the worst possible strategy for boarding any aircraft. It's simply a bunch of animals getting transported without any organisation whatsoever.
I will never fly with an airline again that doesn't provide seat allocation which speeds boarding no end and also provides some civility to the travel experience. Also, Easyjet weren't particularly cheap, about £25 less that a national airline I could have taken if it were not a more convenient departure time. Overall it was a much more expensive and horrible experience.
Edited by Silver993tt on Saturday 19th December 15:27
DrYazz said:
What is the spiel with not issuing seat numbers? Why the feck do the cheap airlines not do it? It must be a very simple and inexpensive step to introduce.
I was quite uncomfortable with the prospect of finding somewhere suitable to sit, especially since the half-wits who got onto the plane early and decided to sit in seats next to the aisle, leaving the window and middle seats unoccupied. Was this some attempt to dupe boarding passengers to think the seats were taken?
do you have allocated seats on a bus? some people just dont get the cheap airline model. i have flown ryanair / easyjet the last 5 flights and have never failed to not get the exit seats with extra legroom and have never paid for speedy boarding etc.I was quite uncomfortable with the prospect of finding somewhere suitable to sit, especially since the half-wits who got onto the plane early and decided to sit in seats next to the aisle, leaving the window and middle seats unoccupied. Was this some attempt to dupe boarding passengers to think the seats were taken?
"I was quite uncomfortable with the prospect of finding somewhere suitable to sit" really is it that hard?!
MiniMan64 said:
DrYazz said:
What is the spiel with not issuing seat numbers? Why the feck do the cheap airlines not do it? It must be a very simple and inexpensive step to introduce.
I was quite uncomfortable with the prospect of finding somewhere suitable to sit, especially since the half-wits who got onto the plane early and decided to sit in seats next to the aisle, leaving the window and middle seats unoccupied. Was this some attempt to dupe boarding passengers to think the seats were taken?
Because despite what some people have posted above it would take twice as long to board the plane as it does now. Can you imagine the rabble getting on that plane, everyone sitting in diffent places and everyone pushing past to get to 'their' seat. No, that would be worse, not better. I was quite uncomfortable with the prospect of finding somewhere suitable to sit, especially since the half-wits who got onto the plane early and decided to sit in seats next to the aisle, leaving the window and middle seats unoccupied. Was this some attempt to dupe boarding passengers to think the seats were taken?
The only way allocated seating would work would be if they gave you a seat number as you boarded through the Gate, first passenger through is 1A, second is 2A, third in 3A etc etc.
That's the problem with easyJet now, especially when boarding through an air bridge - people get on and sit in the first available seat.
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