In April of this year I booked two return tickets with BA from Gatwick to Faro, 18 Dec. to 4 Jan at a cost of £298.20. Last week I compared this with a 'cheaper' price from Easyjet. Like for like, EJ came out at £325.

So, how come EJ can claim to be a 'cheap' airline? I suppose it's based upon how you interpret 'cheap'. I know how I interpret it.

To be honest, I have for quite a while now, given up on these so called ‘’No Frills cheap airlines’’ and now book with BA or whoever is a decent airline going to where I want to go. Unfortunately, I still have to use Easyjet for trips to Northern Ireland as BA no longer fly that route.

I think if you book early then EJ is often cheaper.

Unless you live close to one of the major airports served by BA the comparsions are meaningless.
We can be at Bristol in 40 mins, parking costs much lower than Gatwick and a far less chaotic.
Bristol is not the cheapest EJ airport by any means and BA would have to be £150 less to make us even think about the 5 hr round journey etc to get there.

With EJ, there are very very few cheap seats at peak travel times (Xmas/New year is peak), and these can only be bought within a day or two of seats being released. In fact, if you wait a while, you may even be able to pay over £700 to fly with EJ at Xmas

On the other hand, if you are flexible, and do not travel peak times, EJ can work out at 40% - 60% cheaper than BA.

Take a week in November. Look for the cheapest outbound/cheapest inbound on each airline, and this is what we get for 2 people, including luggage:

BA cheapest: £242
EJ cheapest: £140

Much as I love BA, and would prefer to travel with them, 6 such flights a year can save a total of £600 or more.
Thats a lot of beers !

You do of course have a very good point E-Richard, and so does EMM on the regional airports issue. But, quite a few of my friends along with myself have just got fed up with these airlines charging for this that and the other where you end up paying about ten times more than the original flight price with all the add ons that we would rather just be charged a one off price and be done with it, irrespective of the cost difference between the airlines.

On the Gatwick to Faro route I have almost totally switched to EasyJet albeit with a lot of regret. As long as the bookings are made earlyish and not at peak times then the savings are big.
On my latest trip from Gatwick I was initially cursing EJ when as I was standing on the bus to drive to the plane they announced that did not have a pilot !!!
After trooping back into the gate we had to wait while a sustitute pilot drove around the M25 from Luton.
However they won me back when, on both outward and return flights and they used an airbridge at Faro and they actually had hot food including bacon rolls!
The other problem that I find from Gatwick is that BA flights are at less convenient times whereas EJ have the full range because of the timetable taken over from GB airways.

I agree the change to the airbrdge at faro has removed that sometimes hot and crowded bus trip also the boarding process seems to be smoother with less pushing and shoving.

Lets hope that EJ keep access to the bridges in high season.

Yes, the demise of GB airways is much regretted even as you say the times where a bit iffy. Incidentally, the other week flying to Belfast from Gatwick by EJ, they called forward all the ‘’Speedy boarders’’ after they had been processed, she shouted out ‘’ OK the rest of yis’’ queue mad rush, very funny as the flight was full.

EJ fly at good times from Liverpool and are cheaper than the other carriers who fly out of Manchester.
The fact that my daughter is a CC trainer for them makes no difference whatsoever

laserblazer wrote:I think if you book early then EJ is often cheaper.

I got my quote the day they emailed me to tell the flights were available.

EMM wrote:Unless you live close to one of the major airports served by BA the comparsions are meaningless.

Not for me. We (nearly) always travel to the airport the day before and stop overnight in a hotel. We treat that day as part of our holiday and enjoy a nice drive to wherever without having to worry about traffic delays.

Eevn more so if you add the cost of a hotel etc.

EMM wrote:Eevn more so if you add the cost of a hotel etc.

But unless the airport is on my doorstep (which in December it is not) the 'extra' costs are the same. Are you being deliberately obtuse or is it a natural talent?

No I leave that to the experts.