EasyJet - 4
Join Date: Oct 2005
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It will benefit families who will pay to sit together in the Summer months.
But those who book last minute will end up with no seat choice and may well be driven to full fare carriers.
Also the dedicated Speedy Boarding check in I am well prepared to pay for.
Do away with this and I am off to BA or Air France for my travels.
Binder
But those who book last minute will end up with no seat choice and may well be driven to full fare carriers.
Also the dedicated Speedy Boarding check in I am well prepared to pay for.
Do away with this and I am off to BA or Air France for my travels.
Binder
Join Date: Sep 2001
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I find traveling with FR and EZY a dream as providing I get to the gate first
Most of our passengers want allocated seating and have done for a long time so IMO Easyjet are giving those passengers what they want. Read flight reviews and many, if not most, will comment on the free seating even if the rest of the flight has been excellent.
Now, my personal opinion is that on paper free seating should work just fine....it does on a bus or a train but throw in some (mainly) leisure destinations, very busy/full flights and things can be a nightmare. Despite that, the crew do a fantastic job and the level of disappointment amongst pax regarding seat arrangements is usually no more than allocated seating. The fundamental problem is (and this sounds really patronising) that a huge swaithe of the air travelling public just cannot relax and/or see logic. i.e a flight usually has to be well over 90% full before people have to sit apart. Consequently they can be edgy at best and like a pack of animals at worst.
Even if people book fairly late on I honestly think seat selection won't be too much of a problem. Extra leg room are limited regardless of how you allocate or board a flight and many legacies allow seat selection at the time of booking which is no different.
Many cite the business passenger as the ones losing out. From experience these guys tend not to care too much about where they are sat, not least as there is little difference anyway. I think I've also mentioned in the past that often on business type routes, there is seldom a scrum for the extra legroom/exits. Plus with City routes there are a higher percentage of single and couples travelling and therefore that takes the pressure off somewhat and as a consequence, fewer will opt for paying for seat selection.
Meanwhile on leisure routes the option will be very well received and whilst i would anticipate the majority to take advantage of this, there are always those people who choose to risk it, not willing to pay for it or where seat selection just doesn't matter and this will balance things out somewhat.
I am not entirely sure what will happen regarding Speedyboarding plus but I can foresee some type of "perks" package in some way, shape or form but I guess we will wait and see.
Now, my personal opinion is that on paper free seating should work just fine....it does on a bus or a train but throw in some (mainly) leisure destinations, very busy/full flights and things can be a nightmare. Despite that, the crew do a fantastic job and the level of disappointment amongst pax regarding seat arrangements is usually no more than allocated seating. The fundamental problem is (and this sounds really patronising) that a huge swaithe of the air travelling public just cannot relax and/or see logic. i.e a flight usually has to be well over 90% full before people have to sit apart. Consequently they can be edgy at best and like a pack of animals at worst.
Even if people book fairly late on I honestly think seat selection won't be too much of a problem. Extra leg room are limited regardless of how you allocate or board a flight and many legacies allow seat selection at the time of booking which is no different.
Many cite the business passenger as the ones losing out. From experience these guys tend not to care too much about where they are sat, not least as there is little difference anyway. I think I've also mentioned in the past that often on business type routes, there is seldom a scrum for the extra legroom/exits. Plus with City routes there are a higher percentage of single and couples travelling and therefore that takes the pressure off somewhat and as a consequence, fewer will opt for paying for seat selection.
Meanwhile on leisure routes the option will be very well received and whilst i would anticipate the majority to take advantage of this, there are always those people who choose to risk it, not willing to pay for it or where seat selection just doesn't matter and this will balance things out somewhat.
I am not entirely sure what will happen regarding Speedyboarding plus but I can foresee some type of "perks" package in some way, shape or form but I guess we will wait and see.
Join Date: Oct 2007
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I'm with those who would press the "dislike" button on this, if there was one.
I fly with easyJet and Ryanair all the time, and one of the big advantages is to turn up reasonably early (and that's the key thing... reasonably)... wander down to the gate as soon as it's announced, get as close to the front of the non-priority / speed boarding queue as possible, nip in the back door, and get the overwing exit row seats. If families and groups want to sit together, then there's nothing stopping them getting down to the gate early and doing likewise. I mean, seriously, you have to be in the last 20% or so of people on the plane to not be sitting next to at least one other person with you.
All this is doing is pandering to the idiots who faff around in the duty free shop / restaurant / cafe / bar until the last minute and then saunter onto the plane, which should have left 5 minutes ago. While p*ssing off the rest of us who played by the rules and got there early. Ryanair will be getting much more of my business should this silly plan go ahead.
I fly with easyJet and Ryanair all the time, and one of the big advantages is to turn up reasonably early (and that's the key thing... reasonably)... wander down to the gate as soon as it's announced, get as close to the front of the non-priority / speed boarding queue as possible, nip in the back door, and get the overwing exit row seats. If families and groups want to sit together, then there's nothing stopping them getting down to the gate early and doing likewise. I mean, seriously, you have to be in the last 20% or so of people on the plane to not be sitting next to at least one other person with you.
All this is doing is pandering to the idiots who faff around in the duty free shop / restaurant / cafe / bar until the last minute and then saunter onto the plane, which should have left 5 minutes ago. While p*ssing off the rest of us who played by the rules and got there early. Ryanair will be getting much more of my business should this silly plan go ahead.
Kingston, the "late passenger" issue is a concern but I would simply change the gate closing policy so that it closes 5 minutes earlier than present.
I respect your views and even agree with one or two of your points but you are in the minority on this one as most passengers prefer it....hence why some Easyjet competitors use it as a selling point.
Send your business the FR way if you like but if you want to continue travelling the same City pairs then quite often you will be inconvenienced alot more than having an allocated seat.
I respect your views and even agree with one or two of your points but you are in the minority on this one as most passengers prefer it....hence why some Easyjet competitors use it as a selling point.
Send your business the FR way if you like but if you want to continue travelling the same City pairs then quite often you will be inconvenienced alot more than having an allocated seat.
Pilot of the Airwaves
Join Date: Jan 2004
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No allocated seating was and still is, a USP for Easyjet. Stellios designed it that way.
If you have the best, why copy the rest?
Mind you easyflyer83, it will stop some of your mates at MAN blocking off seats at the front of aircraft, allegedly for use of "wheelchair" passengers, when they are intended for use by off duty staff and their families.
If you have the best, why copy the rest?
Mind you easyflyer83, it will stop some of your mates at MAN blocking off seats at the front of aircraft, allegedly for use of "wheelchair" passengers, when they are intended for use by off duty staff and their families.
Just had one of those coming back from Istanbul-Luton on Thursday, off duty cabin staff sat at the end of a row and told everyone she was waiting for someone, unfortunately for her the a/c was full so in the end she had to relent and let someone sit there and carried on as though nothing was wrong.
Have had a similar problem flying from MAN this year when people sit in the aisle seats and leave the window empty in the hope that they can spread out when the door closes. Bring back allocated seats the scrums are ridiculous.
Have had a similar problem flying from MAN this year when people sit in the aisle seats and leave the window empty in the hope that they can spread out when the door closes. Bring back allocated seats the scrums are ridiculous.
A USP is fantastic if it actually sells. Ironically, it does sell but it antagonises many of our pax and is unpopular. Again, go onto skytrax and see how unpopular unallocated seating is. That is the most consistent complaint ulyou will find.
As for crew saving seats for off duty crew... Certainly at MAN this isn't a widespread issue as it's more hassle than it is worth. Believe you me most just get pre-boarded. Furthermore, we only get easyjet MAN based crew (people who we know) travelling as PAX once in a blue moon (I.e when they go on hol) because very few crew position on MAN flights. Consequently, you will find that on all but rare circumstances the wheelchair seats will be for wheelchairs because the travelling crew are on first anyway .
Credit where credit is due, crew generally do a great job at getting pax seated and you will find that pax trying to save middle seats irritates crew every bit of much. Certainly many will actively seek a pax travelling alone to occupy that seat. Works a treat!
As for crew saving seats for off duty crew... Certainly at MAN this isn't a widespread issue as it's more hassle than it is worth. Believe you me most just get pre-boarded. Furthermore, we only get easyjet MAN based crew (people who we know) travelling as PAX once in a blue moon (I.e when they go on hol) because very few crew position on MAN flights. Consequently, you will find that on all but rare circumstances the wheelchair seats will be for wheelchairs because the travelling crew are on first anyway .
Credit where credit is due, crew generally do a great job at getting pax seated and you will find that pax trying to save middle seats irritates crew every bit of much. Certainly many will actively seek a pax travelling alone to occupy that seat. Works a treat!
Join Date: Apr 2004
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"If you have the best, why copy the rest?
Are you serious? The best? Its much cheaper and easier for an airline to offer free seating so yes, free seating is so fantastic and so popular all the major airlines have adopted it
Are you serious? The best? Its much cheaper and easier for an airline to offer free seating so yes, free seating is so fantastic and so popular all the major airlines have adopted it
Join Date: Mar 2003
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I am not entirely sure what will happen regarding Speedyboarding plus but I can foresee some type of "perks" package in some way, shape or form but I guess we will wait and see.
What I have problems with is if customers are sort of blackmailed into buying seat allocation because on check-in, you will be placed lottery-style by the computer. So you cannot avoid paying for seat allocation by showing up early and queueing at the gate, but are forced to pay extra if you do not want to have your family end up on middle seats all over the plane. This is different with Germanwings: If you do not purchase seat allocation in advance, you can still check-in online 24 hours before departure and select seats that have not been taken up by those who have paid for seat allocation.
Join Date: Nov 2006
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Allocated Seating
There are strong rumors amongst the staff at Easyjet that allocated seating will go head in 2011. This would make sense in the context of Easyjet trying to become more ´unRyanairlike´. Ryanair have said that they will improve service so I can see why easyjet would from a customers point of view want to differentiate their product from Ryanair.
Operationally, this is not straight forward. for eg passengers turning up late at the gate and families who expect to sit together who havent paid for allocated seat. This will cause delay and also frustration amongst passengers who have paid for or been allocated seats that they wish to stay in etc.
Does anybody know specifics about Southwest who did a trial of allocated seating, I would image the success of this would be some lead for Easyjet decision makers?
EI-BUD
Operationally, this is not straight forward. for eg passengers turning up late at the gate and families who expect to sit together who havent paid for allocated seat. This will cause delay and also frustration amongst passengers who have paid for or been allocated seats that they wish to stay in etc.
Does anybody know specifics about Southwest who did a trial of allocated seating, I would image the success of this would be some lead for Easyjet decision makers?
EI-BUD
Join Date: Feb 2008
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Actually from mid summer I understand Ryanair have been software testing designated seating. I thought it would have rolled out this winter on limited routes. Info was from a general staff meeting last summer.
Join Date: Nov 2007
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Infant - Name as yet unknown ? Question Mark !
Tried booking easyJet flights to Spain next August and had a bit of a problem.
My daughter's baby is due next month, so there will be 2 Adults, plus an infant who will be around 8 months old at the time of the trip.
The problem is that as part of the booking process we were required to name the unborn infant. They are still undecided on a name for the baby, although they do know it will probably be a boy.
We tried leaving the First Name field for the infant blank and only entered the surname but then got bounced back from the final payment screen asking us to enter a first name for the infant.
It was suggested they gave the infant a fictional, dummy or temporary name (Stelios ?) on the booking form and changed it to the correct name early next year. This would of course incur a 'name change' fee for each of the two sectors. Anyhow they were not happy with this idea and it was agreed to wait another month or two before booking the flights - although the August flight prices may be considerably higher in a couple of months time.
I was keen that they make a booking at today's price and tried entering a ? (Question Mark) into the Infant First Name field and hit enter, expecting another rejection..... but BINGO the booking for two adults and an infant who's first name is ? was accepted !
Do you think we will still have to do a Name Change before the flights ?
SJ
My daughter's baby is due next month, so there will be 2 Adults, plus an infant who will be around 8 months old at the time of the trip.
The problem is that as part of the booking process we were required to name the unborn infant. They are still undecided on a name for the baby, although they do know it will probably be a boy.
We tried leaving the First Name field for the infant blank and only entered the surname but then got bounced back from the final payment screen asking us to enter a first name for the infant.
It was suggested they gave the infant a fictional, dummy or temporary name (Stelios ?) on the booking form and changed it to the correct name early next year. This would of course incur a 'name change' fee for each of the two sectors. Anyhow they were not happy with this idea and it was agreed to wait another month or two before booking the flights - although the August flight prices may be considerably higher in a couple of months time.
I was keen that they make a booking at today's price and tried entering a ? (Question Mark) into the Infant First Name field and hit enter, expecting another rejection..... but BINGO the booking for two adults and an infant who's first name is ? was accepted !
Do you think we will still have to do a Name Change before the flights ?
SJ
Yes of course you will have to pay to change the name PLUS any addittional fees. Booking names must match passports.
Another screaming baby on board
. Why do people want to subject their babies to the distress of air travel so early on ? Not to mention the discomfort of all the other passengers.
I'd like to see an airline with a minimum age of 5.
Grump over.
Another screaming baby on board
. Why do people want to subject their babies to the distress of air travel so early on ? Not to mention the discomfort of all the other passengers.I'd like to see an airline with a minimum age of 5.
Grump over.
My daughter's baby is due next month, so there will be 2 Adults, plus an infant who will be around 8 months old at the time of the trip.
Join Date: Sep 2008
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Yes of course you will have to pay to change the name PLUS any addittional fees. Booking names must match passports.
Another screaming baby on board
. Why do people want to subject their babies to the distress of air travel so early on ? Not to mention the discomfort of all the other passengers.
I'd like to see an airline with a minimum age of 5.
Another screaming baby on board
. Why do people want to subject their babies to the distress of air travel so early on ? Not to mention the discomfort of all the other passengers.I'd like to see an airline with a minimum age of 5.
I took my daughter on her first flight when she was just 3 months old, she didn't make a sound on both outward and inward flight.
I am sure at some point in your miserable life you were a baby, actually I don't think you have managed to progress past this stage yet.
Get a life!
If you have nothing sensible to say then don't say anything.
Sorry for the rant, but people like you make me sick!!!!!!!