Another good flight with easyJet

[Final 3 Greens]

I took a flight from ORY to PSA yesterday.

The airbus was in very clean and tidy condition, with a pleasant Francophone crew, who gave good service and we left and arrived on time.

I can't remember when I last had a bad experience with easyJet, who have matured into a great short haul airline. :ok:

[Malone]

F3G,
I have never flown Easyjet but I have never heard any bad comments about them, except the seating issue, but that would be a personal view anyway.
For me, the seating issue is why I wouldn't choose them unless I had to, but that is only my view.
As an aside, a friend of mine, who is very tall said that their seat pitch is very good, I don't know how true that is.
Season's greetings from a fairly chilly GB.
:ok:

[Final 3 Greens]

Hi Malone

Merry Xmas to you, too, from a windy and mild Malta.

I don't like free seating either, but over the years I've got used to it and accept it as part of the deal.

As a personal opinion (and this is only my view) the experience of flying with easyJet is a lot nicer than with Ryanair, which is strange as both companies offer a similar service.

Although I have nothing against Ryanair crew, who work hard for their money, the easyJet CC seem a little more polished and friendly (although I did take a Ryanair flight yesterday, as well and the Pisa based crew were nice - well above average.)

It is interesting to contrast these flights (driven by scheduling constraints) with my normal type of business flights.

Orly was a bit of a bunfight, as a lot of the pax were arguing over luggage allowance (not a usual experience), but Pisa was a delight to use, a breath of fresh air after the big hubs I usually fly to.

[Capetonian]

I fly 8-10 sectors a month with EZY on average when I'm in Europe, most recently yesterday, and have been doing so for over 10 years. I've only ever had 2 problems, both minor, and one beyond the control of the airline and well handled by them.

Most flights are good, clean new aircraft with tidy cabins and competent friendly crew. The whole experience from booking on their website, through managing bookings, to the flight itself, is exactly as it should be. I often find they arrive ahead of schedule, exceeding expectations.

I also dislike the seating scrum, and have tried Easyboarding or whatever they call it, and find it's a waste of money and effort. As F3G says I don't like free seating either, but over the years I've got used to it and accept it as part of the deal, there's more upside than downside to the airline.

I've only flown Ryanair once, never ever again, and my only other direct comparison with EZY in and out of LGW is Aer Lingus, who are better than EZY, but don't offer the same frequency or variety of routes throughout the year.

[ab33t]

Yes they do try but at times are very in flexable about the most arbitory things

[manintheback]

Easy are a decent airline to fly.

As to the seating - simple - just board last, hang back have a beer, coffee whatever take it easy. Then get on, spot the empty middle seat in about row 3 usually, go to take it and find out that persons occupying window and aisle are actually flying together and tried to blag extra space. Invariably one moves and you get the aisle near the front. If not - accept middle seat happily and continue reading book.

[Malone]

Manintheback, hi.
A friend of mine uses this ploy and says it almost always works!
On the comparison with Ryanair, I have never flown with them and, having seen the people waiting to board the Sunday midday flight to Stansted from Riga earlier this year, it is unlikely I ever would, no matter what the price is!!!
When I was in the industry I remember a passenger commenting to me that she had to try their 1 Euro flight but would never do it again as it was "like Easyjet without the service!". This was at the time when Easyjet were going through a bad patch. Again, nothing against the crews, I am sure that they are doing their very best.
Well, off to the Pub for lunch.
:)

[Seat62K]

Since a comparison with Ryanair has already been made, I'd like to speak up in favour of the latter.

I am a very frequent traveller on two routes on which the two airlines compete and prefer to travel with Ryanair if at all possible. This would be true even if all other factors such as schedules and fares were equally appealing.

There used to be four main reasons for this, although my more recent experience with easyJet might mean that I need to reconsider the first:

1. Punctuality.

2. The "boarding experience". I am always in group A and find it unpleasant to have to fight my way through those in group B who seem intent on blocking my way and making it as difficult and unpleasant for me to board as possible. (Andy, are you listening?) Being polite, I find myself repeatedly asking people "Are you in group A?" in two languages because it isn't clear if they have been called forward or are simply morons milling around and blocking others' access to the gate. Not only is the experience typically awful but the anticipation of it is stressful. Compare this with Ryanair's Priority/Non-Priority, especially at airports like Stansted with two orderly queues clearly signposted and with dividing tape.

3. I prefer Ryanair cabin crew.

4. Price. For my pattern of flying/purchasing decisions, easyJet is rarely as good value as Ryanair.

Now that easyJet has abandoned its "miles" credit card scheme, there's even less reason for me to use them.

On the other hand, I do realise that if Ryanair managed to drive easyJet off these two routes I could expect Ryanair's fares to increase. That's in the nature of markets.

[Final 3 Greens]

Please let's not knock Ryanair.

I prefer easy, but a lot of people wouldn't be able to travel were it not for the very low fares that FR provide.

Definitely a matter of choice for all of us.

[charliemac]

Mrs Mac and I just back from LPA using FR from / to PIK. 4 hour forty flight versus the 90 mins to 3 hour flights we're used to with FR on shorter routes. Crew were excellent, including very sensitive handling of a powderkeg situation on the outbound where one pax in a group of five chose not to travel after checking in, with luggage stored in the hold. Other four boarded without advising cc of fifth member's decision not to travel. When cc and despatcher discovered that bags and boarding cards did not tally, group leader made himself known, Crew member tried her best to offer a solution of retrieving the bag so that some items could be removed for a child in the group before offloading it.
Group decided in the end not to travel, but they had the choice. Can you believe that they did not advise that a rogue bag was in the hold and that a passenger had chosen not to travel? Yeah, sadly, so can I.
Flights were on time, trumpets were blown in celebration as usual. Crew seemed very relaxed and on top of things. Perhaps the longer flight allowed them to blossom as it were.
Fare £60 each. Seat pitch adequate. On time out and back. No boarding hassles that I witnessed. No frills expected, no frills received. You pays your money etc....
Solid performance all round. Well done Ryanair!

[Gibon2]

As to the seating - simple - just board last, hang back have a beer, coffee whatever take it easy. Then get on, spot the empty middle seat in about row 3 usually, go to take it and find out that persons occupying window and aisle are actually flying together and tried to blag extra space. Invariably one moves and you get the aisle near the front. If not - accept middle seat happily and continue reading book.

Hey! That's my ploy! Stop blabbing or everyone will start doing it.

(When travelling alone, I actually prefer the free seating for precisely this reason - on how many other airlines can you be consistently sure of getting something like 2C or 1D without paying for business class or being a platinum frequent flyer?)

[Crusher1]

A319 with reclining seats can be tight when you're over 6FT, the non reclining ones are just about OK for a short flight.

Priority boarding a waste of money!

[NRU74]

Re Group A and B etc on EZY - I think they have [or are about to] abandon the concept of letting those who check in on line board ahead of those who don't.
I went to Nice Sunday and returned today and my on line booking said Boarding group 2.The young lady checking us through said that all non Speedy Boarders and those without children are now 'equal' as it were.
Why can't they just allocate seats, and if passengers insist on sitting somewhere specific - charge them for it ?

[Anansis]

I use Air Asia from time to time for s/h trips around South East Asia. They used to have free seating (the European scramble for seats is tame compared to what I've experienced over there!). They have recently moved over to assigned seating. Basically, you either pay to choose a seat (they charge extra for the premium seats- front, emergency exit etc..) or you get randomly assigned one at check in. Clever little money earner (Easy and Ryanair take note!).

The only problem is that it boarding takes longer than it used to. People no longer feel the need to queue at the gate an hour before departure then run as fast as they can to the plane. Thats a big problem for a loco doing quick turnarounds- more chance of delays, less chance to make up for delays etc...

Ultimately I think its a chouice between the lesser of two evils. Do you want the comfort of assigned seating or an increased chance that your flight will be delayed?

[ulxima]

EZY is a good airline to fly with when you are out for leisure.
My perception is better than RYR but again, this is a perception. Both airlines offer the same service.
I have flown them twice this year and I did not find any difference.

Ulxima

[Rainboe]

Well EJ bumped me off a Tenerife on a full fare commercial ticket early on a Sunday morning. I was travelling out for duty out of Tenerife next day on another airline. When I asked when they could get me there, they offered 'Tuesday evening Sir, we have a flight then we could get you on!'. Great- bump you off and put you to the back of the queue! Really helped for piloting a flight out of Tenerife Monday lunchtime- thanks guys! Funny thing is when I presented myself back to our ops office at Gatwick, I asked if we would at least get the fare refunded. They told me 'no- they will say you didn't turn up on time and will keep the fare.' Despite the fact I was early in the queue and I checked my PNR code with the 'Service' desk after being told I was bumped. Their 'service desk' is a place for customers to shout and get frustration off their chests.

'Never heard a bad word'? Listen-up! Don't ever trust them. Horrid airline- I would rather fly FR anyday.

[Capetonian]

I have been told, and I don't believe it, that EZY and FR don't overbook, ever. Does anyone know if this is true?

It's clear that the fare is paid and non-refundable, so if a pax shows up late, or not at all, the seat is paid for so the airline doesn't care if the seat flies empty. Logically though one can assume that they would have at least 3% no-shows across all flights, and you would therefore think that they would not be able to resist the opportunity to make a little extra revenue by overbooking just a tad.

If they don't overbook, then why was Rainboe bumped (unless they knew how much he hates them!:))

[The late XV105]

As to the seating - simple - just board last, hang back have a beer, coffee whatever take it easy. Then get on, spot the empty middle seat in about row 3 usually, go to take it and find out that persons occupying window and aisle are actually flying together and tried to blag extra space. Invariably one moves and you get the aisle near the front. If not - accept middle seat happily and continue reading book.

and

Hey! That's my ploy! Stop blabbing or everyone will start doing it.


Oi! Hands off! :)
Whenever I travel LoCo by myself (on average several times a month) that's my ploy too. It's rare that I ever end up below row five and since most LoCos started getting stricter with hand baggage size and number per pax it's even rarer that my laptop bag ends up between my feet as well.

XV

[The late XV105]

If I'd seen this post before my debacle (http://www.pprune.org/passengers-slf-self-loading-freight/399871-same-crap-different-day-ii.html) of the past week, I'd have joined the easy fan club. It now seems that my perception probably existed because I'd never tried to stretch the elastic in the machine only to find that there is none.

Admittedly the majority of the easy staff at EMA are about to be made redundant but that some of them acted as they did by failing to turn up to crew the EMA-PRG-EMA service time after time is unforgiveable (they have a contract of employment as much as I had a contract to fly) as is the way that easy then "managed" the situation. A complete farce.

Add that even allowing for pax volumes easy appear to have been by far the worst affected airline with respect to the recent bad weather and it is clear that here's another example where shareholder value (a pared to the bone operation) has been put before customer value with scant regard that the former won't exist at all if the latter is pushed too far.

[Malaysian28]

Easy are quite good, having flown with them on three ocasions with 2/3 being very good.
The Last time I was with them was BCN-LGW we boarded to plane with no greeting, one Cabin member was slouched over a row of seats by the Emergency Exit and couldnt follow the Safety breifing in the correct way and she came across a abit rude.

Its also a Shame that the TV program Airline degrades them abit with the amount of complaints they recieve (mainly late passengers)

I have also had to optunity to fly with Ryanair, Their cabin crew are quite shy and magically disapear during the flight but none the less just as good in my eyes.:cool:

[jubilee]

Rainbow- Re your post No. 16

Perhaps next time it might pay to use on line check-in.
Regards,
Jubilee

[RB Thruster]

I've flown allover the place with Ryanair, and found them to be "coldly efficient" in their delivery, and have never had or seen any problems.

Easyjet are a similar operation, but tend to be a little more expensive in my experience. They do seem to have developed a slightly softer image though, which MOL seems to have realised, as per the interview currently posted on the flight global website:

"But, when asked about his mistakes, O'Leary appears to regret his approach to customers. "I don't think I've done a very good job on the whole customer image, the customer proposition of Ryanair. Actually the service is phenomenal in terms of fares and our performance on punctuality, lost bags and cancellations. If you look at easyJet, they've done a better job on their image than I have with Ryanair. EasyJet charges much higher fares, it has a deplorable punctuality record, frequent cancellations and frequent lost bags. Yet in any customer sentiment survey easyJet always ranks higher than Ryanair despite the fact that Ryanair carries about 50% more passengers. So I think in terms of customer perception, we haven't done very well, whereas in the customer decision area - in terms of who's buying the tickets and flying with you - we beat them hands down." O'Leary thinks Ryanair would be a different kind of carrier if it had not taken this route: "I think our fares would be slightly higher now, so the good thing about my failure is that it resulted in much lower air fares for consumers."

I suspect that a change to a new softer image may be on the way perhaps after MOL chooses to move on?:D

[WHBM]

I have been told, and I don't believe it, that EZY and FR don't overbook, ever. Does anyone know if this is true?

Sure Ryanair overbook, I took advantage of it. Turned up at Bristol 1 hour before departure with no reservation due to sudden change of plans. Told flight to Dublin was showing full, but "always some no-shows". I asked if they wanted me to wait until the end of check-in time, but was told "can't do that because the Ryanair check-in automatically closes out at that time, here's a ticket, just go ....".

Probably about half a dozen empty seats in the end. Oh, and £150 one way for a 30 minute flight.

[Ziggy22]

Well another vote for Easyjet from me! Have only ever flown twice with them, end of October 09 Manchester-Corfu and 5 days later Athens/Manchester. The flight out was great, only 47 people on the Airbus, left and arrived on time. The flight back was full and there must have been 40 odd people with speedy boarding (including us). The 1st 2 through the gate sprinted to get the extra legroom seats at the front, I strolled on and got 2 seats by the little windows which have a bit of extra leg room. Went to the loo half way through the flight and the 2 sprinters were sat there covered in goosesbumps ;) Paid £40 going and £55 coming back so not too shabby! :) Clean planes and the cc were nice.

[PAXboy]

Welcome aboard Ziggy22I strolled on and got 2 seats by the little windows which have a bit of extra leg room. Those would be the over wing emergency exit rows, possibly? Did the CC give you the briefing?

[Gulfstreamaviator]

You have learned the lesson the easy way...Those seats do have good leg room, but because of the doors, sealing and thus less insulation they are colder, and also get ambient air if doors open......by the way the seats next to the emergency exit windows can also be cold due to the method of installation, the insulation is not as good, as a real window.

glf

[Ziggy22]

Yep they were the seats over the wing and the CC did run through the procedure of how to open the window in case :) Wish Easyjet would let you pick your seats like Jet2 do at the point of booking, would get rid of the sprint to the aircraft! :*

[Tigh Wire]

Email doing the rounds promoting easy as a serious business airline. Must be a spoof or at best a bad joke.

[Capetonian]

Email doing the rounds promoting easy as a serious business airline. Must be a spoof or at best a bad joke.

Why?

I am never sure why so many people have to knock easyJet. I've been using them for a long time for business and leisure trips and I find they are up to the standards that I require.

They are no less reliable than many of the full service carriers, although I accept if something does go wrong there is often no back up in terms of another aircraft, and no transfer to another carrier. Service on board on a short flight is no worse than FSC carriers and often a lot cheerier, and I don't mind paying for my lunch, or for that matter to check in hold baggage.

Their fare structure is flexible enough for most cases and is a lot more transparent than some of the gobbledygook of the FSCs, who then interpret it the way they want in many cases anyway.

I use them as much as possible because I feel they deserve my patronage, unlike the bloated complacent arrogant likes of BA, and given a choice, even if BA is slightly less, as sometimes happen, I often still use EZY.

We should also not overlook that the likes of easyJet broke the cartels and forced the FSC carriers to adopt a more flexible approach to pricing. Whether you feel that's right or wrong is another matter, but it is a fact.

Also EZY's website is one of the best, although it's become a bit cluttered since they've gone for 'dynamic packaging', but they are not the only ones to have done so.

[Tigh Wire]

Hi, Captonian, Your second paragraph really answers your question, no back up.,no concern ,not even basic good manners. The rise of LO CO has pulled down the standards of all the once good carriers. Remember the BA GLA-LHR shuttle,Yes ,cost 250gbp 20 years ago, but a proper price for a good service,+ back up A/C crewed & waiting . Just as you are happy with LO CO, I was equally happy with the cartel structure. Excellent service, aircraft & properly paid staff, 20 min check in & punctual departure. Missed or cancelled? The BA girls were on it in a flash, no problem sir we'll get you there pronto with a competitor if necessary. Meanwhile please accept a Drink/meal /hotac etc while we sort it out. It really saddens me, now retired, to see the depths to which things have sunk. GLA a gulag, PIK a filthy slum. The whole experience is simply horrible, start to finish. Try telling LO CO airways that you MUST get to Paris having been bumped or cancelled & see how far you get. Business airline, I think not. Happy new year & best wishes to all in the sunny Cape, wish I was there.

[WHBM]

Email doing the rounds promoting easy as a serious business airline. Must be a spoof or at best a bad joke.
I presume you don't travel by the low-cost carriers on their trunk routes at 07.00 on a weekday morning. 50% of pax in business suits.

A lot of the business comes from routes where they provide different options to the old mainstream carriers. Anyone living east or north of London finds Stansted or Luton much quicker to get to than Heathrow. The same goes for many complete routes to places the majors never touched. It is just as practical to do business day returns with the low-costs as with BA. Low costs do indeed say Tough if you miss them. BA say Tough if you are on a domestic flight when there is any disorganisation at Heathrow and they cancel their whole domestic programme. Honours, or lack of them, in these respects about equal for both sides in my experience.

[Final 3 Greens]

Honours, or lack of them, in these respects about equal for both sides in my experience.

Worth remembering that U2 provide hotac, if necessary, in the event of wx disruption.

BA does not, even on a club ticket held by a silver card holder.

[Capetonian]

Hi Tigh Wire

no back up.,no concern ,not even basic good manners.
I can't agree. I've only had a major delay once on EZY,and that was due to snow, on a flight to BCN where I'd planned to spend the day before flying to MAD for a connection home. They rerouted me to MAD without any argument or extra charge. I accept I was lucky in that they had a flight going there, otherwise I'd have been shafted.

The rise of LO CO has pulled down the standards of all the once good carriers.
I would argue that standards have declined as a result of the tighter margins under which all carriers now operate. That this is partly due to competition from the LOCOs is unquestionable, but the LOCOs have brought much benefit to the consumer as well.

Just as you are happy with LO CO, I was equally happy with the cartel structure. Excellent service, aircraft & properly paid staff, 20 min check in & punctual departure.
So was I, but times have changed and the good days are over. There are far larger numbers of people travelling now (yes you can blame the LOCOs for that) and threats of terrorism which didn't exist 20 years ago, or even 15.

Missed or cancelled? The BA girls were on it in a flash, no problem sir we'll get you there pronto with a competitor if necessary. Meanwhile please accept a Drink/meal /hotac etc while we sort it out.
Depending on the fare you'd paid, but generally, yes, service was better. Sadly, times have changed.

It really saddens me, now retired, to see the depths to which things have sunk. GLA a gulag, PIK a filthy slum. The whole experience is simply horrible, start to finish.
I haven't been to PIK for many years, but my last memory of GLA is that it wasn't that bad. LTN and STN are gulags, staffed by knuckle dragging bullies, but is LHR much better?

Happy new year & best wishes to all in the sunny Cape, wish I was there.
Thank you for your wishes, reciprocated. I also wish I was there, I'm not there right now but have only just got back and will be heading south in a couple of weeks.

[DIA74]

I use EZY several times a year and find them okay for short haul. My experience is they have matured over the past several years, especially since absorbing GB.

Before leaving the ground (business or pleasure) my first concerns are that crews are properly trained and speak the same language in case of an emergency, and that the airline has a good engineering back up. I would rather pay more to fly with an airline I feel safe on, even if that means fewer overseas holidays.

My Ryanair experiences have, sadly, been unpleasant at best, worrying at worst. (Once we should have made a missed approach, but the pilot landed, then said "sorry for that landing, but it prevented a delay" - I hoped they had enough time for the brakes to cool on the turn-round. I cannot understand how they are allowed to get away with blatant rip offs, such as wildly inflated card charges. Would you pay that when using your card at Tesco? It also bothers me there are websites featuring Ryanair crew bitching about how they are treated and the corners that are cut. I have not come across similar sites about EZY, BA, CX, VS or KLM (all of which I use).

[Capetonian]

DIA74

I would rather pay more to fly with an airline I feel safe on, even if that means fewer overseas holidays.

Thank you for mentioning this important point. I feel safe on EZY, and their crews generally speak a very high standard of English, and this is important in the event of an emergency where instructions have to be clear and comprehensible. My one and only experience with Ryanair was miserable to say the least and the English from both the FA's and the cockpit was almost utterly incomprehensible. This is borne out by everything I have seen, read, and heard, about Ryanair and I would not feel safe flying with them, for many reasons.

[TSR2]

BA does not, even on a club ticket held by a silver card holder.

I have some friends who recently arrived long haul into LHR and the flight was delayed enough for them to miss the last shuttle of the day to Manchester. BA provided complementary overnight accommodation at a local hotel and seats on a flight of their choice the following day. By the way, they are not members of the exec club and were travelling economy (World Traveller).

[Tigh Wire]

Hi, WHBM, You're right. I don't need to travel at this hour. Much better lying in bed listening to the radio. Just a quick note, up here people in business suits are usually called defendants. Best wishes, Shiney side up etc.

[Tigh Wire]

Hi, Again Capetonian. I think that a basic error was BA etc trying to compete downmarket. You never see the Savoy competing with Travelodge ,or Jaguar taking on Hyundi . They should have stayed above the LO CO level & stuck to what they did best and at the proper price. Now we have no choice in the morass of mediocracy.The result is a declining market and worse the disgraceful treatment of staff,at one time the biggest asset. Flying is rapidly becoming a distress purchase rather than the pleasure it once was. As for the web sites,what a farrago of barrow boy money grubbing time wasting cheat fests these are. I agree that the golden age is over, just glad I was part of it.

[Final 3 Greens]

TSR2

I was talking about a point to point flight (A-B), not a connection. This happened to me twice last year.

As easyJet does not offer A-B, B-C flights, the scenario you mention could not arise and I was therefore comparing a BA A-B flight, which is the valid comparison in the context of this thread.

Presumably the people you refer to arrived and departed on BA flights, that is quite a different scenario and the airline is obliged to assist.

In the case of an A-B flight cancelled due to weather, my experience is

1) easyJet provides hotac and meals
2) BA says 'we'll book you on to tomorrow's flight, where you stay etc. is not our problem, as it is weather related'

[PAXboy]

DIA74I cannot understand how they are allowed to get away with blatant rip offs, such as wildly inflated card charges. Would you pay that when using your card at Tesco?This subject has been turned over many times, the charges are certainly high but they are balanced by the certainly low seat-prices. Tesco charge you more for the basic product and then do a deal with the credit card company to pay the minimum fee.

The only point of decision is the bottom line. If you chose to shop at Tesco and agree with the price they are asking for the products - then it is a fair price. Likewise for FR. I expect that the small print of the agreements between the card company and the merchant and their agreement with you, allows for such charges to be made.

[ulxima]

Tight Wire +1 :ok:

F3G

Worth remembering that U2 provide hotac, if necessary, in the event of wx disruption

Not really. I was in Basel, Friday 18th Dec, return flight to Gatwick. Flight Cancelled.
Sent to Zurich for the evening flight. I reached Zurich on my own.
Evening flight cancelled. It was a mess all over Europe and we know it.
Well, airport operator handed me a paper and it sounded like: You've made your bed, now lie in it!
I made my way home and I managed to arrive on Saturday evening at 10pm (KLM flight from Schiphol). I am now waiting for the refund. I will let you know.

Capetonian

I find they are up to the standards that I require

This is a good point :ok: and I fully agree with you.
It should be obvious your standards are different from mine, from F3G, from whoever. This should answer your "why?".

Nevertheless I pay a great tribute to EasyJet and RyanAir and I use them as long as I find convenient to do it (which does not mean that the fare is the lowest one as I consider many other "personal" factors).
Both fantastic airlines and very very safe to fly with.
I tend to prefer EasyJet, but this is only a personal taste.
If they would have been available 20 years ago, I would have been travelling all over Europe having a lot of more fun.

Ciao
Ulxima

[Final 3 Greens]

Ulxima

Sorry to hear of your experience - it's horrible to suffer like that.

This link may help you gt a refund of any overnight costs - from what you write, I can't see why you were not given HOTAC.


The relevant text from easyJet's T&Cs are....

easyJet.com - Carrier's Regulations (http://www.easyjet.com/EN/Book/regulations.html#delays)


2. If your flight is cancelled as a result of extraordinary circumstances

If your flight is cancelled as a result of extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even though we took all reasonable steps , including but not limited to:

* Air Traffic Control
* Weather
* Civil unrest
* Terrorist alerts and Security alerts
* Strike Action
* Unexpected flight safety shortcomings

easyJet will not compensate you further other than providing you with one of the following options (“Re-routing and Reimbursement Options”):

You will be offered:

1. Re-routing to your final destination at the earliest opportunity; or

2. Re-routing to your final destination at later date at your convenience and subject to availability; or

3. A refund of the fare paid for the journey not made. Additionally, where relevant, we will offer a return flight to the first point of departure at the earliest available time.

In addition, you will be offered free of charge two telephone calls, or telex or fax messages or emails.

Where you choose to be re-routed at the earliest opportunity:

1. You will be provided with meals and refreshments (or vouchers) in a reasonable relation to your waiting time; and

2. If an overnight stay is required because the reasonably expected time of departure is at least the day after the time of departure previously announced, easyJet shall offer you hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the hotel (within reason).

[Capetonian]

Capetonian
It should be obvious your standards are different from mine, from F3G, from whoever. This should answer your "why?".

Of course by saying 'they are up to the standards I require', I laid myself open to the charge that maybe my standards are very low. In fact they are not. I have flown long haul in F and C (and in MiserY unfortunately) with most of the world's major carriers and I am pretty discriminating.

What I expect is, more or less in this order, safety, reliability, punctuality (I consider up to an hour or so delay to be acceptable), a clean tidy aircraft, and a feeling that the company cares about retaining my goodwill and custom. I also expect a reasonably simply booking and modification process, and some contingency plans in case of a problem.

So far, and perhaps I have been luckier than others, easyJet have only once let me down, after hundreds of flights, and that was not a major event and was caused by a poorly trained junior employee with a bad attitude.

[papabravowhiskey]

OK, here's another story: Sunday 20th Dec, Easyjet LGW-MPL. We checked the Easyjet website before travelling having seen the number of flights that they cancelled on previous days: the flight was still scheduled to go. We arrived at LGW and went through security; our flight was still showing on the screens, though with a half-hour delay. 1.5 hours before the original take-off time, a PA was made specifying a series of Easyjet cancellations, ours not included. One hour later; suddenly the screen changed to show our flight as "cancelled". We went down to the "Menzies" desk (I had retained the info from the previous cancellation PA). The staff were handing out "Your Rights" photocopies: we noted the term that all rights were abrogated by weather-related cancellation. We had to wait over half an hour just for someone to decide to escort us back groundside. We had to wait with incoming passengers to clear Passport Control (not a short queue; Borders Agency staff were wondering what the heck was going on, since according to them there is a procedure to be followed which could have got us through rather faster). Another passenger from our flight was trying all this time to get through to Easyjet Customer Services/Bookings (remember, this is an 0870 number) on his mobile: he finally got through after many retries and holds. He was trying to find ONE seat to the south of France: he was told that there was nothing available before Christmas. We needed FOUR seats.

There was at no point any offer of any kind of help, never mind hotac, and as for booking on another airline, forget it! Groundside flight sales was under seige and evidently unable to help, telling people to go on the Internet.

We went back to my relative's home and got on the Internet: Easyjet's on-line system was fine if you wanted to change the booking (apart from the fact that there were no seats available) but VERY unfriendly if you wanted to claim a refund. As we have had previous need to use their "help" system, my email address was known to the system but it would not let us submit the claim with that email address: we eventually had to set up and use another address just for this claim. The only acknowlegement that we received was an automated one saying "please don't contact us again because we are receiving large volumes of requests" with no indication of a timescale for being dealt with. We have still not received any follow-up communication from Easyjet and no refund. I have been reading with interest the various reports about why this scale of cancellation was necessary, but one thing sticks in my mind: on that day, Ryanair cancelled 20-30 flights IIRC; Easyjet cancelled over 200. And no, the flights WEREN'T "cheap".

Regards
PBW

[clarazamo]

I had the same problem trying to fly from Gatwick to Madrid on the 22nd of December. Easyjet ground crew informed us that, since no alternative flights were available with them to Spain until after Christmas, we could buy a flight with an alternative carrier and then ask for reimbursement. I double and triple checked with them and they were clear about this point: as long as it was an economy/tourist flight they would reimburse it.
I spent more than 500GBP on a new ticket (Gatwick-Dublin-Madrid was the only way to get to Spain) and now all they are offering is reimbursement of the Easyjet original ticket (about 100GBP).
This is totally outrageous.
Does anyone have some advice about what I can do, please?

[ulxima]

F3G
Yeah, I was aware of EasyJet policy which sounded good and fair, IMHO, and I felt comfortable with it. That's why I had been using EZY, though not so often.
Unfortunately it seems that for some reason it applies only in the UK (maybe, given PBW experience!)
If any EZY employee who read this forum could give some explanations, I would appreciate it.
Yesterday I was in Basel again. The evening flight to LGW had been cancelled and the 3:15pm left at 8ish.
There were passengers left there with no HOTAC, no meals, no calls, nothing but a ticket for the next available flight (the following day).
A colleague of mine was on the evening EZY flight and I told him to join me on LX486 (BSL-LCY).

Capetonian
I am sorry, I did not mean your standards are low "tout court" :)
I fully back your expectations which are mine too.
Even the word "low" is in some way not right.
Well, if I pay less I just expect less.
If I pay more, or I am a program Elite member, I expect something more (within reasons and when necessary).
Yesterday I think I got what I was expecting for.
I was flying business class, my fellow colleague economy.
I asked the FA if I could leave my luggage in the business overhead and join my colleague in the economy if he managed to find a row of two available. Yes, I asked for a downgrade.
It ended that my colleague got an in-flight upgrade and we made our trip together.
I am honest, I would have never asked for a downgrade on long haul :E
I think each of us can have bad stories on airlines and/or alliances which are very good on average and viceversa.
For instance I have not been flying Lufthansa for 9 years now and I remember when I was a Senator (9 years ago I would have been a HONish :}). I've simply banned them from my choice and the reason is they did not meet my expectations when needed and when it was necessary. But it does not mean they are a bad airline to fly with. It is just my own single experience.

Ciao
Ulxima

[papabravowhiskey]

Just as an update to my previous posting:
I received an email today (7/1/10) indicating that the refunds - of both the cancelled lights and the unusable returns - are now under way. :D
The downside is that today we were supposed to be going MPL-LGW with Easyjet (having found an alternative route out) ... flight cancelled around 11:30 local time for a 15:35 take-off flight.:{ Our onward flight from LGW-MAN with BA has also since been cancelled. No seats out of MPL are available before Monday:eek:. Hence we have now booked ourselves on CCF-LPL on Sunday with FR.:bored: Easyjet has changed its customer services system in the intervening days with the effect that requesting a refund of the original tickets is now a three-click process instead of the tedious and flawed process that we had to use last week.:ok:

Easyjet has cancelled around 140 flights thus far today ... FR is admitting to 38 cancellations.

PBW

[ulxima]

Easyjet has changed its customer services system in the intervening days with the effect that requesting a refund of the original tickets is now a three-click process instead of the tedious and flawed process that we had to use last week.


This sounds good.
It took some time to me to find the way for claiming the refund online.
However, when I finally suceeded in reaching the right page, the claiming process was very straightforward.
Just fill the online form, attach scanned receipts for overnight expenses, meals other relevant expenses and send.
Whether or not the accept the whole claim is another story. We will see it.

Ciao
Ulxima

[ulxima]

I have just received this e-mail from EZY and I like to share it with you.

Dear Customer
</SPAN>You have recently requested some assistance from our customer services team at easyJet.
As you are aware, there have been exceptional weather conditions throughout Europe for a number of weeks. This has caused many customers to contact our customer services team and we have received over ten times the usual volume of emails. From our records, we have seen that we have not yet responded to your request and this is below our usual next day standard.
Responding to our customers as quickly as possible is a top priority for us, so we are already doubling the size of our customer services team to meet this demand. We're also looking at other ways we can speed-up replies.
To help us respond quickly, can we ask if you could avoid sending follow-up emails to check the status of your initial contact? Further emails increase the backlog that we need to deal with, slowing down replies overall. Please be assured that we will respond to your original email just as soon as we can.
We would like to thank you for your patience during this difficult time.
Yours sincerely
easyJet Customer Experience Team

I think all those who filed the online refund form should have received it.
It is an automatic message (I did not send any follow-up e-Mail since 24th December when I applied for the refund) and it does not add anything in concrete terms.
However it keeps my feelings positive towards this airline.
Let's see how it will develop.

Ciao,
Ulxima

[papabravowhiskey]

Yep, we got the same email this morning. I have looked at the "t w i t t e r" feed over the past few days (no, I don't use t w i t t e r, but others have been contacting Easyjet Customer Care via this route and it is interesting to get a feel for what has been going on) and get the impression that Easyjet has been pretty much swamped on all fronts for the last week or so.
Seems like the only things melting in the UK at present are Easyjet's scheduling, rostering and customer relations systems.

PBW

[groundbum]

just fired off my letter to Easyet asking for my 250euro per passengers for our cancelled flight from Manchester 21st Dec. Was one of only three flights cancalled that day from T3. All others went off. The other 2 cancelled flights were BA to LHR so I reckon they consolidated some and moved others to BD flights etc.

Passengers need to ask for compensation etc so Easyjet realise running such a tight ship that falls over so easily in the face of bad weather is not in the long run such a great idea. And no I didn't pay 50p for my tickets and expect national carrier prestige service!

G

[Capetonian]

A couple of weeks ago I emailed easyJet with some comments about the Speedy boarding + process at Liverpool, and the £3 'speedy security' charge levied by LPL airport (of course I know that's not their fault but they are a major customer and therefore have some influence).

I received the following reply from them (my email to them is at the bottom). It shows that they do read feedback and that they do care. This letter, even if part of it is standard cut and paste, stands in stark contrast to replies I've received in repsonse to complaints to British Airways.


Dear xxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you for contacting us.

I am sorry for any inconvenience you may have experienced due to the flight disruption and I would like to sincerely apologize for the long delay in response to your e-mail. This has been caused by high volume of e-mails that we received as the result of recent weather disruptions. We can assure you that this is not of our usual standard.

As I am sure you can imagine it is wonderful to receive positive feedback once in a while. I have passed your e-mail on to the Cabin Crew Manager, so that the member of staff involved can benefit from your praise.

We aim to deliver good service at low cost to our passengers and it is fulfilling to hear that we are achieving this.

Meanwhile, your feedback about handling of passenger at the Liverpool Airport is appreciated. In today's travel environment we are looking at every channel where we can better align our products and services to meet your travel needs. Your feedback about our operation is very important as constructive criticism such as yours lets us know what we need to do to serve you better in the future. We have specialized departments whose goal is to work with every issues to improve service. Please be assured that I have registered your feedback with them for information and internal review.

Further, I would like to inform you that £3 for fast track security is charged by the Airport Management and not by easyJet. Along with the above feedback, I have also forwarded your valuable comments regarding the fast track security fee to the Airport Management, which will help them evaluate their services.

You are a valued customer and I hope that we can be of service to you again some time in the near future.

I do hope I have been able to answer your question fully, if I have not, please click here and we will be more than happy to assist you further.

Yours sincerely,

xxxxxxxxxxxx
Customer Experience Champion



Customer (xxxxxxxx) 23/12/2009 03.27 PM
Despite the severe disruption of the last few days, the flight operated with only a slight delay and the cockpit crew kept us fully informed. Thank you.

However, the airport at Liverpool was chaotic. There was only one check in desk for Easyboarding Plus, and I think it is wrong that passengers are blackmailed into paying an extra £3 for fast track security because of the inadequate arrangements. I appreciate that to a degree this is beyond your control but you are a significant customer at the airport.