It irks me when I see people putting their bag in an O/L several rows in front of them, so they can try and barge their way off a few rows early on landing.
I had the good fortune to get downgraded from C class to an equivalent row on an all-economy aircraft (only a quick hop over the Gulf), only to find all the bins full.
It's a tribute to Qatar's respect for their frequent flyers and business passengers that the CC simply removed a bag that wasn't meant to be there to make space for mine.
Furthermore, the chancer five or six rows back that had tried it was dismayed to see his bag go all the way to the back of the plane.
Slightly off topic but this has been seen in Lanzarote Airport:Ryanair problems?
LCC problem I would say. The problem with this is that the LCCs will permit this only where they have been pressured by law, or that particular airport. Take GVA-BRS, for example. At BRS 'somebody' has pressured the LCCs to accept the extra Duty Free bag, so they do - with lots of notices to that effect in the DF shops. But in GVA this isn't the case. One bag only, no exceptions.
This really irks my wife who travels with old DF bags, so she can put her handbag into one before boarding. In BRS she gets away with it. In GVA she doesn't.
For another thread perhaps, by why do LCCs never carry enough small change? I'm referring specifically to squeezy-UK and UK pounds!
In response to your last question: at ezy, each Cabin Manager is given £60 when promoted to carry as their float, half of this is carried in euros. Now multiply that £60 by the approximate number of Cabin Managers employed, say 2000, that gives the airline £180,000.00 out of circulation, losing value by the day. If you were an airline maager, trying to squeeze every penny of profit, would you give more float, say double the amount, £360,000.00?
This amount of change, further, doesn't go very far if the first three pax pays with a £20 note, hence the crew tend to not have enough change on their first flight.
In response to your last question: at ezy, each Cabin Manager is given £60 when promoted to carry as their float, half of this is carried in euros. Now multiply that £60 by the approximate number of Cabin Managers employed, say 2000, that gives the airline £180,000.00 out of circulation, losing value by the day. If you were an airline maager, trying to squeeze every penny of profit, would you give more float, say double the amount, £360,000.00?
This amount of change, further, doesn't go very far if the first three pax pays with a £20 note, hence the crew tend to not have enough change on their first flight.
Let's see if I understand this. On the first flight out the Cabin Manager has £30 and €30~40. There are two trolleys - one from the front, one from the back. So each has £15. No (expletive deleted) wonder they never have any change.
With interest rates (much) less than 1% I don't buy your argument. The number of lost sales (I once abandoned my order when they didn't have change - and I didn't trust them to give me a reasonable exchange rate on my Swiss credit card) would well exceed any loss.
Sounds (again) like somebody putting the airline first, and the customer second.
Sounds (again) like somebody putting the airline first, and the customer second.
That's an interesting perspective. History is littered with the corpses of companies who gave great customer service but didn't do their sums properly.
If the cabin crew make their budgeted amount of sales to passengers who offer the correct money, I can't imagine the airline losing sleep over passengers who don't get to spend their high-denomination banknotes.
Let's see if I understand this. On the first flight out the Cabin Manager has £30 and €30~40. There are two trolleys - one from the front, one from the back. So each has £15. No (expletive deleted) wonder they never have any change.
Have you ever carried that amount of coinage?
If £60 isn't sufficient. what amount is? £100? £150?
£2,304.27p is sufficient. I have spent 5 years and £1,235,648.02p on my research and this will ensure all change can be given correctly. Thank you to the government changing money and coinage research agency. Luckily they paid me £25.03 for the research so I think I got a good deal.
But the biggest unit of UK currency would be the £2 coin.
I have been ezy cabin crew for nearly 7 years and I struggle to recount any instances at all where an order was abandoned because of insufficient change. If this was an issue, the airline would certainly do something about it; onboard sales are a very important revenue source.
Besides, we almost always manage to get all the change due by the end of the service. If that is not the case, a PA is made to pax to help out (I don't personally like the need for this intrusion, it definitely doesn't sound good and is less than great service). But as for lost sales, I doubt that's an issue.
By the way, I'm not defending any sides here, merely offering the explanation to ExXB's question.
Why should a passenger need to carry that much coinage?
He doesn't. A snack and a coffee or soft drink will set you back less than ten quid. A five pound note and five in pound coins should do the trick. Where's the big deal?
With interest rates (much) less than 1% I don't buy your argument. The number of lost sales (I once abandoned my order when they didn't have change - and I didn't trust them to give me a reasonable exchange rate on my Swiss credit card) would well exceed any loss.
I'm an Easyjet CM. We do very occasionally run short of change but more often than not it is £5 notes. Actual coinage is usually fine.
Abandoning an order on the grounds that the crew are short on change has never happened to me and to be brutally honest it seems like you cut your nose off to spite your face. You'd have got your change, the crew weren't going anywhere lets face it. Also, on your card you could surely have gained an idea of the rate you was getting. Plus, with a drinks/snacks order which is typically low value, the exchange rate wouldn't have mattered anyway.
Making a mountain out of a mole hill if you ask me. Yes occasionally crews run short of change but for 99.9% of passengers it doesn't bother them at all provided they get there change by the end of the flight.
Why should a passenger need to carry that much coinage?
There's a lesson in this for me - I wasn't clear enough. May I rephrase?
Have you ever carried that amount of coinage? Do you know how much it weighs?
Quote:
If £60 isn't sufficient shouldn't the airline(s) decide what is?
The airline has decided - It's £60. Apparently there is a belief that this isn't sufficient. It seems reasonable to ask what might be considered sufficient if that is the case.
Maybe I misunderstood Bodim. I thought s/he meant that the trolleys had a total of £15 in notes and coins, not just in coins.
I apologise if I was making a mountain out of a molehill, but on many squeezy flights I have taken the crew makes various attempts to address the issue - requesting exact change where possible, making announcements requesting change, promising to return with your change (and making a note on a handy napkin), etc.
Because this is such a frequent occurrence, at least on flights I have taken, I thought squeezy might have seen this as a hassle for their staff and an inconvenience to their customers. From responses it appears I was mistaken.
In my particular case I was at the point where the trolleys met in the middle of the cabin, I only had a £20 in UK currency, (which I had gotten from the ATM at Geneva airport, no other notes dispensed there) they would not take Swiss coins only notes, and I only wanted a beer. Neither trolly had enough change. They would take my Credit Card but would bill me in pounds not francs meaning high transaction fees. So I said, thank you but no thanks.
ExXB - I do not think EZY management will be losing much sleep over the lost profit on your beer. In my experience [only 10 or so sectors per year] I have never experienced any problems with lack of change on EZY flights - occasionally there may have been a slight delay in getting the correct change, but never a lost sale. However, on my less frequent flights with a certain Irish lcc, it seems to be the norm to run out of change quite early in the flight: I always get the impression that there is no such thing as a £5 'float' let alone one of £60.
