slEAZYJET

[Final 3 Greens]

birdonawire

I don't think that you really understand what you are talking about.

The market is a little more complex than you suggest.

Very often there is little "rea"l difference in fares between the locos and the discounted economy cabin of the legacy airlines. (Slim Slag please note that I am backing Globalier's view here and accept that the difference may be statistically significant, but 35% of b*gger all is.....)

There are reasons for choosing one or the other, but they are not as you suggest.

For example, easyJet offer a very good disruption approach, but they don't fly from Heathrow and cannot offer interline connections. So which is the most important point? That will vary from traveller to traveller.

Sometimes people pay more to fly on a loco because they can travel from a more convenient location.

Then again some locos such as Air Berlin can look and feel very similar to a legacy carrier.

Each to their own and for their own reasons, but it isn't about pillows and sympathy.

[172driver]

Final3 with you on that. I even have to fly Ryan (yes, really) quite often, as my job means I sometimes have to go to places other airlines don't reach... frankly, on a say, London - Pescara run, would you rather go direct in a couple of hours or transit through Rome, spending about 6 hours getting there ? Choice of airline is really - at least for me - largely dictated by the task at hand. Horses for courses, really.

[slim_slag]

Originally Posted by Final 3 Greens

(Slim Slag please note that I am backing Globalier's view here and accept that the difference may be statistically significant, but 35% of b*gger all is.....)

Ouch, my ears.

So call up the higher priced airline and ask them to price match. If, as you say, the difference is b*gger all and these higher priced airlines are so much better at customer service, there should be no reason why they shouldn't match. Let me know how you get on.

[firemac]

Personally, I cannot stand the LoCo's, especially Ryannair, and avoid them at all costs (no pun intended!).

I accept that they do serve a purpose however in that they increase the pressure on the legacy carriers to keep fares reasonably affordable. Without EZY & FRyemair, no doubt the BA's & VA's of the world would get away with murder, fare-wise.

[SXB]

Posted by Slim Slag

Quote:
Originally Posted by Final 3 Greens
(Slim Slag please note that I am backing Globalier's view here and accept that the difference may be statistically significant, but 35% of b*gger all is.....)

Ouch, my ears.

So call up the higher priced airline and ask them to price match. If, as you say, the difference is b*gger all and these higher priced airlines are so much better at customer service, there should be no reason why they shouldn't match. Let me know how you get on.

Not only are the legacy often close to the loco fares there are also occasions when they are cheaper.

I'm travelling from Bale to London for xmas (23/12 - 29/12) with the family and I just booked BA BSL-LHR for €131 per person. I looked on the Easy website and they were offering BSL-LTN for a low of €112, though on closer inspection both the outward and inward journeys are at extremely unsociable times, if you book Easy for daytime flights the costs rockets to €166. Now, obviously I'm not going to wake up my kids at 3.00am to catch flight so I'll take BA and also save myself €140 in the process (saving of €35 per person over Easy daytime flights)

Many of the Locos do have hidden disadvantages, especially concerning the times of a lot of their flights, personally I don't like getting up in the middle of the night to catch a flight which might save me €20 or so.

[nivsy]

Birdonthewire should note in my post it was British Airways that did not supply even a pillow or blanket because they did not have any!

I have also booked 23rd Dec - Malaga -Glasgow with Easy Jet. Price? £25 ONE WAY. The BA fare is not worth even commenting about - via Gatwick naturally.


Nivsy

[Final 3 Greens]

Slim

So call up the higher priced airline and ask them to price match.

Why waste time and your phone bill chasing 35% of b*gger all? Just choose the best fit option and book it.

[eviljames]

My friends and I travel the Glasgow > London > Basel route via two easyJet flights and have never had any real problems.
I like the fact that we avoid the landing holding queues that you suffer at Heathrow so often and the prices are cheaper that any other can offer.

My only gripe with the easyMob is over a single cancellation from LPL to BFS we suffered on 1st of September this year.

The flight was cancelled 15 minutes before departure for "operational reasons" - we were told the crew were over hours - but then we saw the plane that was at our gate filled up for the Paris flight!
So it was a night in a hotel and over via FlyBe the next day for us!

The return journey was via EirAir (we did make it to the correct airport thanks!) on behalf of easyJet which made me wonder just how short can easyJet be staffwise at the moment?
From reading other posts there does seem to be an issue thsi summer -

Any easyJet folk out there want to let us know what's going on?

[Ediboy]

All i can say was that i used to use the stn-edi route all the time when Gofly.com had it but as soon it went orange i tried them twice ,to my utter disgust.
I prefer the lhr - edi route now.

But its a reall shame Go has well an truley Gone !!!!!

[breagh01]

FGS

Ah I like Globespan. I have flown a lot with them and certainly did not enjoy Ryanair to Ireland or indeed Easyjet to anywhere. Good luck FGS and I enjoy the fact you are Scottish too. oh and the new injection of lovely lasses will shake the rep of Flygayspan. lol (umbarella is now up)

[slim_slag]

Was pricing a trip recently (will not bore you all with details of a single data point that proves nothing) and caught sight of new Easyjet policy. They will let you standby on an earlier flight free of charge and if you miss your flight will let you on the next one for a fixed fee of £35. Aimed at business travellers but will benefit all. That is something I don't believe their main UK competitors offer. So good for Easyjet.

[Doors to Automatic]

Easyjet could become a much better airline overnight if they went to allocated seating. They could even charge a couple of quid for reserving seats online.

It never ceases to amaze me why they have never done this particularly as their cattle-boarding procedure is never followed at non-UK stations.

[tart1]

Originally Posted by Doors to Automatic

Easyjet could become a much better airline overnight if they went to allocated seating. They could even charge a couple of quid for reserving seats online.

What a good idea. The unseemly fight over unallocated seating seems to be the aspect of easyjet which most people hate.

The reason they won't do it is simple - boarding takes much longer when seats are allocated. If people are in a rush to get onboard and secure the seat they prefer, it speeds things up no end!

[Doors to Automatic]

Originally Posted by tart1

If people are in a rush to get onboard and secure the seat they prefer, it speeds things up no end!

I think that is a myth. If people know where they are sitting they sit down a lot quicker rather than faffing around trying to decide which seat to take and conflicting with each other in the aisle.

[breagh01]

Quick turnarounds

True and I suppose that if they had shorter turnaround times then passengers would have a wee bit more time to relax, get their seats and have enjoy the experience. Unfortunately in this day and age. these kites don't make any money on the deck so thats why they are flying them to bits.
Ryanair also have quick TR. as for FGS, I shall give an example for tomorrow.
EDI - 'KD - out 06:00 back 13:20 from ALC then 40 minutes later out again. 'KT in at 11:30 out at 12:15 45 mins there and then 'RA in away all day hopping from NCE to MJV then back to NCE and home but meanwhile averaging 30 - 40 mins TR. sorry starting to babble now and this probably doesn't have any relevance for that I appologise. anyway FGS rock

[Globaliser]

Originally Posted by Doors to Automatic

I think that is a myth. If people know where they are sitting they sit down a lot quicker rather than faffing around trying to decide which seat to take and conflicting with each other in the aisle.

IIRC, WN has been experimenting to see what happens, and allocated seating does take longer.

Originally Posted by slim_slag

(will not bore you all with details of a single data point that proves nothing)

Does "single data point" mean hat for this trip you had to travel on a specific day out and a specific day back?

[tart1]

IIRC, WN has been experimenting to see what happens, and allocated seating does take longer.

It is bound to IMVHO. People haven't got as much incentive to hurry to the gate and out to the aircraft.

Also, one's bum on a seat secures it for oneself, so one doesn't tend to meander around slowly looking for somewhere to sit if there are no seats allocated. I have flown Ryanair once and easyjet once and I was amazed by how quickly everyone gets in and sits down, compared to other flights with allocated seating.

To get back to the original subject matter, I have promised myself never to fly on this sort of flight again as I hate the menacing atmosphere in the queues at the gate and the undignified race for the aircraft and the elbowing out of the way which goes on inside. As has already been said, it is not always cheaper anyway ... but I would gladly pay more to avoid unallocated seating.

[nivsy]

With some carriers and locations, it does not matter at all if you have an allocated seat or not. In fact even when they say they are boarding first from say row 16 onwards on medium haul aircraft - no one really pays attention. Take Iberia - I have just had 4 sectors with them AGP-MAD-MUC-MAD-AGP. At Madrid last night they were queing to board before the staff were at the gate!!! This happens at Malaga a lot with Iberia - mind you its not as if the staff with this airline are up to much in dealing with boarding.

So while I also dont really like Easy Jets free for all - I guess my point is - even with seat allocation - boarding is a nause!


Nivsy