Not good news if you prefer BA to Easyjet

blue · Post by **blue** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 10:51 am

My daughter flew out to Faro on Easyjet last January & she said that not only was the plane full of drunks (albeit happy) but people were standing at the back end of the plane smoking openly!

Bruce Wallis · Post by **Bruce Wallis** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 11:37 am

Not that I would ever doubt your daughter....but I know Easyjet has an "Easy reputation", but bearing in mind the active smoke detectors on board, especially THAT end of an Airbus 319, and the tightness of regs surrounding in flight smoking. I find that story very difficult to believe. If that was the case, if reported both the senior Steward and the Captain would have been disciplined and probably sacked.
In spite of surface impressions, Easyjet have stringent regs, and a safety record 2nd to none.
And no...I neither work for , or have any connections with Easyjet

blue · Post by **blue** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 12:19 pm

Well, my daughter has no reason to lie she has nothing against Easyjet & enjoyed the flight.

Misty · Post by **Misty** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 12:39 pm

Surely if people had been smoking on a flight there would have been complaints. I would definitely have made a complaint. Not only that, it probably would have found its way to the UK's reliable news sources too

laserblazer · Post by **laserblazer** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:35 pm

The only thing that comes to mind is that the crew considered it would be more of a risk to be confrontational and the smokers were dealt with on arrival. If the plane was full of rowdy drunks they might have had their hands full already. If that is the case then the culprits should be given a lifetime ban from all airports, a hefty fine or jail and named and shamed.

Bruce Wallis · Post by **Bruce Wallis** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:41 pm

But....and Misty's point is very valid here.....that would have been plastered all over the media...and it wasnt.
I work in the media...and even if it wasn't official, even if Easyjet had tried to keep it quiet, (which in PR terms would be suicidal!) some bright spark would have tried to make a few quid by selling the story to one of the tabloids.

fmm · Post by **fmm** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 1:13 pm

A friend of mine is a pilot for BA. She has warned me NEVER to fly using Ryan Air. However, as far as EasyJet is concerned, she uses it when she wants to fly in Europe.

Other good points about EasyJet:

Providing your bag is of a normal size, your hand luggage can weigh as much as you can carry. None of this poxy 5kilo rubbish you get with the others. I can take enough clothes (and a laptop) to last me 2 weeks in the summer in my hand luggage.

The flights are nearly always on time. We fly 18-20 times a year. Only had one "proper" delay - and that was only 1.5 hours.

The seats DO recline (although this should also come under the bad points as well!)

If you are taking only hand luggage, then you can print your boarding ticket out before you fly and don't have to queue to check in. This means that you only have to be at the airport about 50 minutes before you take off (allowing 15 minutes to get through passport control which will fasttrack you if you are running late).

It also gives you priority boarding (not speedy boarding as you have to pay for this).

I had a problem with my mother's lost luggage and they were being slow sorting it out. I sent an email to Stelios, who replied within 10 minutes and they sent a cheque out immediately.

Their food and drink on board is OK and not too expensive. They also don't mind you bringing your own food on board.

They are much cheaper than anyone else, and offer flights on a Friday which some of the other airlines don't do.

Bad Points

I get fed up with paying for speedy board when I fly with my son, and still get run over when everyone runs onto the plane.

There is not massive leg room, but is fine for a 2.5 hour flight.

Wish List
Frequent flyers points or some sort of points scheme.
Proper segregation of the people who have paid to have speedy board. Most of the time they are people who need the extra time to get themselves on board and their luggage stowed. Therefore, a 2 second head start when the front doors are opened is not quite enough!

Hmm - my bad points are not very long, so I think I must be fairly satisfied!

Misty · Post by **Misty** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 3:24 pm

I have to agree with fmm and would definitely say that not all budget airlines are the same. I hope to never fly ryanair, but easyjet are great imo. I also hate bmibaby (anything bmi for that matter).

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 4:03 pm

I agree, I hate Ryanair. On our last trip to Venice the queue for excess baggage payment was longer than for check-in !

However, I disagree with you about BMI - I use them frequently from Manchester to Chicago & also in the past to Las Vegas & Washington & their service & value for money I have found to be excellent.

e-richard · Post by **e-richard** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:30 pm

Regarding FMM's wish list:

Proper segregation of the people who have paid to have speedy board

Last time I left Faro and boarded the bus with a preprinted boarding card:
a) I was put together with the speedy boarders (SBs)
b) All SBs were ushered to the front of the bus
c) When the bus arrived at the plane, they opened the front doors before the other doors.

So, how good is that ?

On the other point, you do need to remember that Frequent flyer points have a monetary value (free flights), which we all pay for when we buy tickets.

fmm · Post by **fmm** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:55 pm

I agree that at Faro they ensure the speedy boarders get off first - however they gave us less than 3 seconds start over the rest of the bus which (when you have a 6 year old and 2 lots of hand luggage) is not quite enough to get to the steps in good time!

tbbr · Post by **tbbr** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:01 pm

If you have young children with you you DO NOT need to pay the extra for speedy boarding as you always get called in the first groups anyway.

One way they could deal with it is to block of the first few rows of seats for the SPEEDY boarders who have paid a little ( Very little ) extra.

fmm · Post by **fmm** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:07 pm

Not any more. EJ now say that unless your child is under 2 (or it may be 3) then you are a normal passenger. Sometimes they still call you first, but there is no guarantee. And the order is:

Speedy board
Priority board (children and those with mobility problems)
Internet check in
Group A
Group B

laserblazer · Post by **laserblazer** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:42 pm

When we returned last Thursday Speedboarders, families and disabled went on a smaller coach which dropped us off at the front steps. The main coach arrived a few minutes later at the rear. We were half way up the stairs at this time but still got good seats without a fuss.

At Bristol we were asked if we needed help getting off but said we would be ok. We were last on the bus and first off. However, even the people right at the back beat their luggage to the carousel by a long way.

Rossidog · Post by **Rossidog** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:44 pm

I have not flown with Easy Jet for some time now, mainly because I refuse to fly into East Midlands - what a tatty dump. However, I must say that I have never had a bad flight with them, and was never delayed - ever.

As a protest, I once flew Monarch into Birmingham. The flight was excellent, but wont be going back there again. It makes East Midlands look like Las Vegas.

The only bad experience with the budget airlines was with Jet 2 from Manchester returning from my Christmas Hols last year. The problem was with excess bagage. The rules are clear, yet people had squashed allsorts into their luggage. I am sure that Chester Zoo was missing a few hippos judging by the bulging cases and the effort required to heave them onto the scales.

The resulting arguments were unbelievable, but the poor girls on the checkout were right. Pay for the excess or leave it. Having arrived at the airport over 3 hours early to drop off a hire car, the delay caused by the passengers at check-in meant that we had to sprint to the gate and boarded immediately. Many people arrived on the plane well after we did.

Not the fault of the airline or its staff - the passengers were to blame.

With regard to the seat debate, not sure what to think. As long I get a seat I am happy, and I am sure that if some couples are split up after two weeks being cooped up together in a bargain studio apartment in August with no air-con and only Sagres and Alco pops to keep them going, aircraft safety will be greatly increased.