Speedy Boarding Warning

[frequentflyer2]

A word of warning for anyone who purchases easyJet speedy boarding with a view to occupying the extra legroom seats in row one on the right hand side.
At the start of a recent holiday to Italy we flew with easyJet from Stansted to Naples. Speedy boarding worked as it should and we occupied the aisle and centre seats of this row.
The A319 was virtually full but just as the doors were about to close the flight dispatcher came back on to the aircraft and told the cabin crew a wheelchair user had arrived for the flight.
The wheelchair user and the person travelling with him had to occupy the inside two seats of the row so my wife and a young man who had taken the window seat were told rather unceremoniously they had to move - and I do mean unceremoniously - but I appreciate the situation placed everyone involved under pressure from the timekeeping point of view.
At this point I made it clear I had absolutely no objection to moving to accommodate a wheelchair user but I felt we should be allocated seats together as we had purchased speedy boarding to ensure this happened. I'm a realist so I knew there was absolutely no point in mentioning extra legroom.
The best that could be managed was the two aisle seats in the back row of the A319 which are not the most comfortable on the aircraft. We were given a small bottle of water each as compensation and to be quite frank had to endure a few smug comments from those who had been in boarding group B.
I repeat neither my wife nor I had any objection to moving to accommodate the wheelchair user.
However, anyone who has purchased speedy boarding specifically for extra leg room should make row one on the left or the emergency exit seats at the wing their first choice thereby guarding against the same thing happening to them.

[lowcostdolly]

FF2 - it might be worth you contacting EZY customer service and asking for a refund for your speedy boarding on this route.

It states on easyjet's own website that speedy boarders are given priority over the special assistance group and you pay to have your choice of seat which you were moved from on this occasion.

The SCCM would have been aware there were special assistance pax boarding early on the turnaround as this would have been communicated by the ground staff. He/she could have blocked these seats ensuring you did not sit in them. We are actually not supposed to do this officially but it does prevent the problem you have just described and I do it all the time. You would then have probably chosen either the overwings or 1ABC on boarding and got the legroom you paid for.

Seats 1E/F are the seat of choice for a wheelchair user as they have a little more space and are near the loo's. It sounds to me that you were a lot more accomodating than some pax would have been and I am sorry this was not acknowledged with good grace on board.

Explain the situation to customer services. IMHO you should be refunded.

Good luck!!

[boardingpass]

All I can say is thank you for being so helpful. I've been in similar situations such as a wheelchair arriving at the end, or a single mother with two small children, for example. There are plenty of people who despite being asked nicely, refuse to move (regardless of the reasons). You could have done the same, but because you're nice, you helped out everyone: the wheelchair pax, the ramp agent, the crew, the other pax by not causing further delay. Many people buy Speedy boarding, not to get an emergency row seat (they don't want the responsibility and size difference is miniscule), but because they want to skip the queues at check in and be called first at the gate. (IMHO a refund is unlikely). The operating crew should have asked you more nicely, as it is a courtesy, but again, thanks sincerely for helping out!

[lowcostdolly]

Boardingpass may indeed be right here about the speedy boarding refund but unless you try you won't know.

It does not matter what the personal reasons are for purchasing speedy boarding. You purchase a whole package of products and EZY have not delivered on one of them......your choice of seat.

Just to give you a little more ammo I was pulled up by a trainer when I blocked seats for an expected wheelchair user. The rationale being that the speedy boarders, who had paid to have their choice of seat, should be able to choose from all 156 instead of 154 which would have been the case here.

On this occasion you chose your seat from the 156 and then had this taken away from you by the CC. Furthermore you were not asked to move you were "told" to even though you made it known you were a SpB.

This was also done with poor attitude and I wonder how the wheelchair user would have felt about this if he/she heard you being turfed out of your seat which you paid extra to obtain in such a way?

I note BP's location as continental europe where it is quite usual to board wheelchair users last. The SCCM does though know of their existance and can allocate a seat for them and their party.

At STN they should be pre boarded unless there is an operational reason why not. The same rules also apply to these pax re prompt attendance/check in as any other pax. Seat 1F is not in any way officially reserved for them and if there is more than one of these pax they have to sit elsewhere anyway. We do like to use this seat as crew because it is convienient for the pax but it is not carved in stone.

In the circumstances here it may have been more prudent for the SCCM to move a non SpB from row 2 or 3 and sit them were you eventually had to thus freeing the seat for the wheelchair user. That is what I would have done and also a lot more politely. They would also have had a complimentary drink of their choice for their co-operation in assisting an on time departure. I can't believe you only got a bottle of water when the Captain can authorise any complimentary drink for a good reason.

EZY make loads of money on speedy boarding. They also make a lot of money from the pax who don't complain when it frequently goes wrong for them. EZY have the "get out" clauses on the website about the bus situation at our outstations but they do not have the same clause for how you were treated here.

I think they would find it difficult to argue why you shouldn't be refunded here given that what they promise on their website you paid for but did not recieve.

People flagging up incidents such as this can only make us improve our customer service but it needs to go to the company not just this forum. Whether you get a refund or not you can rest assured feedback will be given to the appropriate people on this.

LCD

[k3lvc]

The reservation of 1D/E/F seems to have become a standard practice on recent EZY flights (5 of my last 6). Does seem a bit cheeky but who's to know that the wheelchair user hadn't bought Speedy Boarding too ?

[bondim]

KJvc,

I have never seen an SA pax with speedy bparding!

[frequentflyer2]

As I said we certainly didn't mind moving to accommodate the wheelchair passenger although we certainly didn't like the seats we ended up in. However, we were a little puzzled as to how the situation had arisen. Mrs. FF worked until recently as Secretary to a Spinal Surgeon and arranged medical transfers involving people in wheelchairs between Northern Ireland and hospitals in Great Britain. These people were always given very specific instructions about arriving at the airport early as they would board the aircraft first. In this case it was obvious the cabin crew had no idea a wheelchair user was going to be on board and the situation had obviously taken the flight dispatcher by surprise as well.

[CornishFlyer]

Unfortunately communication by ground handling agents down route is often not as it should be. Many times I've been on the a/c, almost ready to close up and been told there's a lift on. So frustrating for all involved-asking pax to move is really annoying and one of the least enjoyable jobs, especially as so many cause problems as highlighted by boardingpass

[PAXboy]

A polite letter setting out the situation to HQ could be helpful. Particularly as you detail the situation in very calm and reasonable terms. If nobody tells HQ, then HQ will never know.

[Boss Raptor]

At Faro earlier in the year on both occasions ground staff called 'all speedy boarding' to the gate first only to load us all on the same bus trapping the speedy boarders right at the end...of course they couldnt get out first when the bus let everyone of at the acft steps actually comical but had I paid the extra I would not have been amused

[Getoutofmygalley]

Whilst lowcostdolly says that the SCCM would have been aware that wheelchair passengers would have been on the flight because it would have been communicated by the ground crew, as an ex SCCM for easyJet, I can categorically state that this is not always the case.

I always used to ask the despatcher at the start of the turnaround "Are there any wheelchair pax on this flight?" and the despatcher would either state "yes or no", if they stated "yes" I would reserve an appropriate number of seats at the front of the cabin (and I would always make a point of getting the despatcher to contact the gate to find out how many pax were in the wheelchair group or groups so that the remaining pax on the flight could have maximum amount of seats to choose from).

Quite often though, when the despatcher said "No wheelchair pax", you would have a wheelchair arrive at the last minute (Normally more often than not at an outstation and not an easyJet base). This then leads to a problem where you have to move pax on Row 1 DEF and is embarassing for the wheelchair pax and the crew and the pax on those seats who quite rightly want to sit together.

If I had any doubt in the despatcher saying "No wheelchair pax" I would reserve 1DEF at the start of the boarding and say to the speedy boarders "We may have some wheelchair passengers on this flight, but the ground staff are not yet sure" and I would invite the speedy boarders to sit on row 2 DEF or the overwing rows. If they sat at row 2 I would then bring them forward to row 1 as soon as I had confirmed the headcount. Doing this also then meant that if there were no wheelchair pax, I would have 3 seats together on row 2 which could then be occupied by the "last minute family" that always seemed to board who had been distracted either by duty free or had been delayed in security.

[redsnail]

I use Speedy Boarding all the time and it rarely goes wrong.

On the Airbus 319 the seat 1D (as far as I am aware) cannot be used by wheel chair pax as it is an emergency seat. (Note the head rest cover). Grey = emergency row for easyJet.

(I don't work for easyJet, just fly with them very frequently)

[lowcostdolly]

Redsnail-You are correct 1D is a designated emergency exit seat but E/F are not. An able bodied member of the wheelchair users party can use 1D.

I'm glad you have experienced few problems with speedy boarding but it frequently does go wrong at our outstations for a lot of our pax and Boss Raptors post is typical of that. In fact it goes wrong so regularly that EZY were forced to put in the clauses they have on their website as a result of pax and CC feedback.

Getoutofmygalley you are correct I should have worded my post differently and put "should" instead of "would" have been aware. However communication issues usually apply more frequently at our outstations......in my experience anyway. Personally I have never as yet had a problem in the UK but I may just be lucky.

FF2 how the situation arose is something that customer services would investigate. IMHO however it arose it should not then have become your problem as a speedy boarder and you deserved better than the treatment you apparently recieved.

We need more pax like you!!

LCD

[redsnail]

Thread drift alert.

Boss Raptor,
That is the risk but people will note the cost/price differences when they book.

However, there are tricks to being bussed and you're a Speedy Boarder. Find out where the bus will park near the aircraft. Then position yourself appropriately near the door. I used that technique to great effect when busses were used at Lisbon.

At Paris, they let the Speedy boarders off first. (Being in uniform helped too)

Other tricks involve using the rear stairs if possible as most people choke up the front of the aircraft if you want the overwing exit rows.

Downside of the overwing exit row is that you won't be first off.

I bought an easyJet Priority Plus card and it has enabled me to check in on time whereas if I didn't have it, I would have missed the flight(s). Of course, I should check in earlier but sometime my passengers are late which means I run late...

Re the wheelchair pax, Lisbon (usually) boards them first so I usually take note and plan my seating strategy accordingly.

[Seat62K]

This isn't simply a outstation problem. I've seen Speedy Boarding go wrong at LGW South, too. On one occasion, as soon as the gate number appeared I made my way to the gate only to find that SBs had come and gone and that group A was boarding! (I had to ask those milling around, too, as there was no indication which groups had been called to board. Why can't this be put on the monitor(s) at the gate?)

I get the impression that when it's important to get the aircraft away quickly, the priority system is sometimes abandoned completely. This has happened to me on a couple of occasions - once each at LGW and LTN.

These flights were at least a year ago (I don't use easyJet much, preferring Ryanair) so things might have changed.

[scr1]

with ref to last min wch pax. have had a few times pax that have checked in online get to the gate and demand a wch and sometimes the ambilift as well. this is as much trouble for the dispatcher as it is the cabin crew (geting hold of the prm company/looking like a fool to the crew etc)

[Private jet]

I've only used easyjet a couple of times but this speedy boarding scheme only seems to work if the aircraft is on a finger or ramp at the terminal. If the pax are bussed out to the aircraft then speedy boarding = first on the bus = last off the bus usually... Kind of defeats the objective of priority boarding.

[boardingpass]

At my base, pax are bussed to the A/C. But speedy boarding usually works perfectly! There is a nice thick red rope that separates SB and SA pax from the rest of the scrum. This section is opened first, and then once pax are safely up the stairs, the rest of the bus doors open.
The major problems happen when SA or Wheelchair pax 'appear' at the last minute, but in fairness it happens to me only about once or twice a year and it's not necessarily ground-crew's fault.
Redsnail has some good tips
Dolly, My understanding of the SB service is that you are not guaranteed your choice of seat. Read below from easyJet website (Bold added by me).

Speedy Boarding is a new service from easyJet that guarantees you’ll be amongst the first people called to board your flight whenever you checked in.... When the gate opens, you’ll be called to board first.... So Speedy Boarders have the best chance of being first on board with the first choice of seats!

So, like all contractual agreements, read what it says, not what you want it to say.

[PAXboy]

scr1

have had a few times pax that have checked in online get to the gate and demand a wch and sometimes the ambilift as well.

The small print of EZY Ts&Cs ought to state that such a facility must be pre-booked. Whenever my mother has needed one in the past ten years, it has been requested at time of booking.

Otherwise, any vaguely frail looking person that arrives later than they thought for check-in, could abuse this.I'll bet FR would not allow folks to pull that stroke.

[L'aviateur]

I prefer the system that most low cost carriers use whereby you can select your seat online and pay a premium for emergency exit seats during the booking process. Makes a lot of sense. Also when i've flown with Jet 2 with a wheelchair pax, they were 'slid' into either 2D or 3D.