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Call me an airline snob, call me an over-privileged student, call me what you will, but I don’t mind admitting that I was a little wary about flying with easy jet when we booked back in December. I’m used to flying BA, I like flying BA, and I would never stop flying BA normally, but when Easyjet offer £40 returns to Barcelona, it’s hard to say no. My initial trepidation was due to the fact that I’d never flown budget before. While I’m not against change per se, the saying “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” does spring to mind – never having had any problems with decent airlines meant I wasn’t in any rush to change my way of travel. Still, we got there and back in one piece, as did our luggage, and you can tell I survived by the fact I’m here writing this, so it can’t have been all that bad.
We checked in at Liverpool about an hour and a half before the flight left, even though they will accept you arriving as late as 30 mins before take off. Many people try to get there early though, since Easyjet, like Go and Ryanair, is a ticketless airline. When you check in you are given a plastic boarding card with a number on. This doesn’t say where you will sit, but instead dictates when you’ll be able to board – numbers 1 to 30 for example, are called through first. Once on board you can chose where you want to sit from the seats remaining. We were numbers 92 and 93 I think, but even by the time we boarded there were lots of seats left, and we had no trouble bagging a stretch of 3 for the two of us (and my carry ons and airport shopping). Coming back we had lower numbers but the plane was more crowded so there were fewer seats – not really a problem though since we still managed to sit together.
On board no food is provided (probably a good thing considering the usual mush you get) but you can buy “snacks” from their little trolley that comes trundling past. In the seat pocket in front of you (just below the tray which may, or may not, be folded away – what a good air hostess I’d make) they have the safety leaflet (remember ladies and gentlemen, take off your high heels before you puncture the life saving slide) and a sick bag. They don’t generally have an in-flight magazine in there since the person sitting in your seat on the last flight has pinched it (or legitimately taken it since it's "yours to take away!!!” as the lovely Bea exclaimed to us). What they do do though is come round during the flight handing out spare copies to anyone who wants one (most of the passengers since no entertainment on board means a somewhat boring trip at times). The magazine wasn’t that good but did have useful info about every destination they serve, a thrilling (not) interview with Antonio Banderas and some health and exercise tips I might follow. One day.
The check in allowance is a generous 25kg per person, and although technically you are only allowed on piece of hand baggage, as usual I got away with more. The planes are normal size although the seats seemed either lower than normal, or closer together, meaning that I had to huff and puff to get my usual bag down on the floor – it didn’t slip in gracefully like it does with BA.
The prices are not as low as you might imagine. On most routes they have a set number of seats at each price, so book late and you’ll pay more. We paid £40 each return which was nice and cheap, but prices can be nearly £180 return to Nice and Palma, meaning budget might not be the most economical option. Also, while they do sell meals and drinks in flight, the prices for these are pretty steep – over a pound for a mini can of coke, and more if you pay with Euros since they have a 2-1 rather than 1.5-1 exchange rate. If you do want to pay with Euros, you also have to note that they’ll only take the 1 and 2 Euro coins, and notes, and nothing smaller.
Both in Barcelona and in Liverpool on our return the luggage was quickly whizzing its way around the carousel to greet us, so full marks for the little retrieval people (although since they generally work for the airport and not the airline, this is not simply a reflection on Easyjet’s speed and skill). The flights were on time enough – landing 5 minutes behind schedule on the way there, and the staff were friendly and professional enough if a little too orange for some people’s tastes.
One thing that did bug me (and naturally enough something that might have been unique to my flight, and something I couldn’t change anyway) was the other passengers. Budget flights have no doubt opened up air travel to many of those who could not afford it before, but did they have to make it so darn obvious? I wasn’t allowed to behave like some of them were on my first flight, and I was 8 at the time, so surely they have no excuse. Realising how old some of them were, how drunk, and how hen-weekendy was quite worrying.
The verdict? Not all that bad, but it was by no means the best flight I’ve ever taken. I’d fly with them again to save 100 quid or so, but if there’s only a tenner or so between them and BA, the latter would win hands down. |
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