EasyJet - EZU

Author's product rating:   

Food Quality	Good
Customer Service	Friendly and attentive
Punctuality	Good
Space	Comfortable
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Cheap, efficient service
Disadvantages:	No free goodie bag !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

easyJet, the web's favourite airline, are about to celebrate their 10th birthday this year.

***A Bit of easyJet History***

easyJet Airline was founded in 1995 by the now famous Cypriot, Stelios Haji-Ioannou. With a loan from his father he leased two Boeing 737-200 aircraft and began operating flights from London Luton, where the head office "easyLand" is based, to Glasgow and Edinburgh, using contractors to supply nearly all the staff throughout the airline. Stelios retired as chairman in 2002 but has now back on the board as a non-executive director.

In 1996, with the launch of easyJet's third route from London Luton to Aberdeen, easyJet took delivery its first very own aircraft and also starting operating international flights, the first of which was from London Luton to Amsterdam.

Until this time, reservations for flights were made by telephoning the reservations centre based with easyLand. In 1997 easyJet launched their information website www.easyjet.com and a year later the online booking facility was available. These days, around 98% of easyJet bookings are made via their website.

***Where easyJet Are Now***

easyJet now has a fleet of 91 aircraft, a combination of Boeing 737 and Airbus A319, and expects to have a fleet of 114 aircraft by the end of this year. easyJet have grown from their two little routes between Luton and Glasgow & Edinburgh to an impressive 60 different airports all over Europe, covering the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Greece, the Czech Republic, and most recently some Eastern European destinations have been added, such as Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia and Estonia.

As you can see, easyJet have managed to developed such an extensive network that they really are the number one choice for the European traveller, whether it be for business or leisure, for sun, ski or sight seeing, for fun-packed party destinations to quiet family spots.

Most people know who easyJet are and their bright orange uniforms, crazy posters and white and orange planes have made them one of the well known brands of the era.

***The Original Low Cost Airline***

easyJet started the trend of the low-cost airline, and other airlines quickly jumped on the bandwagon. easyJet maintains low fares by cutting out unnecessary frills and by carefully controlling the way it operates its business. One example is "there's no such thing as a free lunch" so easyJet don't give one! Simple as that. The extra cost that other carriers add to their fares so that you can have a lukewram dish of airplane food is eradicated, so it's cheaper for the customer. easyJet only operates short-haul flights so there really is no need for a full meal anyway. Another example I can give you is easyJet's non-refundable policy, which is a standard policy that you would find across the low-cost sector. When you book your flight you agree that if you cannot travel for whatever reason you will not receive a refund. By not having to offer refunds, easyJet is able to keep profits up and fares low. One thing that must be made clear is that easyJet do not compromise safety in order to offer cheap flights. I don't know why so many people have this misconception. easyJet have to comply with the same Civil Aviation Authority regulations as all the other airlines, including your big ones like British Airways. In fact, easyJet has one of the youngest fleets of aircraft, with the average age of their aircraft being 4.5 years. Now you can't get better than that!

***But Ryanair Offer Cheaper Flights?***

Using Ryanair as an example, as they are the other airline that I tend to fly with, you can say that Ryanair offer slightly more competitive fares. However, you need to ask why are their fares cheaper? You are probably thinking, if easyJet and Ryanair are both non-refundable and neither offer refunds, why are Ryanair still offering slightly lower fares? The answer is quite simple really. When an airline uses an airport, they have to pay fees to that airport, such as landing fees, handling fees, etc. That's how the airport's make their money. The fees vary from airport to airport - busy, top city airports charge more, while airports in the middle of nowhere charge less. I think you can now guess why Ryanair offers lower fares, can't you? If you haven't sussed it out it's because easyJet flies only to the main airports, whilst Ryanair flies mostly to the "middle of nowhere" airports. So while you may be paying slightly more for your easyJet flight at least you can revel in the knowledge that you are not going to have to pay out more money in transferring to your final destination. In my experience I use easyJet when I want to get somewhere quickly, cheaply and directly with good connections such as for a day trip or a short holiday, and I use Ryanair when I'm visiting France because we'll get picked up when we get there so it doesn't really matter.

***Great, So How Do I Book?***

There are two ways to book with easyJet. You can call their sales centre on 0905 821 0905 between 0800h and 2000h. They have a multitude of language speakers available so if English is not your mother tongue you will be able to speak to an agent in any of the languages of the countries that they fly to. They also have telephone numbers to call them from abroad, which is handy to take away with you in case you need to check or change your travel arrangements. You can find the list of telephone numbers on the website. The sales agent will check the flight availability and prices, will book the flights for you and will send you a confirmation letter in the post. You will also be given your confirmation number over the telephone; you need to keep this confirmation number handy because it is needed at check-in.

You can only book as far as two weeks in advance if you call the sales centre. So if you need to book past two weeks or if you just prefer to use the internet then you can visit their website www.easyJet.com. Once again easyJet are ahead of the game and the website is available in 15 languages. When you first visit easyJet.com you will be asked to choose the language you require and it will be remembered on subsequent visits. After that, if you change you mind about the language, you can choose the language you need by using the drop down menu in the top left corner of the homepage.

The web booking procedure is a simple 5 step process with guidelines along the way telling you what is required and what to do. The website is clearly set out in the instantly recognisable orange, with white and mostly blank fonts. You get a discount of £5.00 per flight if you book online, which is cool.

On step 1 you choose your dates, route and number of passengers.

On step 2 you will be shown the flights available on your chosen dates and the price, as well as the day before and the day after. You can also choose the calendar view to be presented with the flights that are available over a 2 week window around your specified date. If you change your mind about something at this point you can simply go to the bottom of the page and select again.

On step 3 you are presented with your flight basket detailing the flights you have chosen and the total cost. On this step you can also pay for any sports equipment you might be taking, like skis. If you don't do it here, you get charged at the excess baggage rate at check-in, which will be much more costly. Here you can also change the currency of the booking. Fares are automatically shown in the currency of the country of origin so a flight departing from Spain would be in Euros. To avoid a charge by your bank you can change it to Pounds, or whatever currency you prefer. You can only change to currencies of the countries that easyJet operates from, so don't expect to be able to pay in Dollars! Then you either log in with your email and password if you have booked with easyJet before, or if you are a new customer you will register on the next step.

On step 4 you enter the contact details, the details of the passengers and your payment details. You can pay with Maestro / Switch, Delta, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Diners Club but if you choose a credit card you will be charged an extra £4.00.

Once you have ticked to state that you agree to all of easyJet's terms and conditions and press "Book Now", you will finally reach step 5, which is your confimation page. You are given a 7 character confirmation number which is all you need to take with you to check-in for your flight, along with your photographic ID or passport of course. You will also be sent a confirmation email with your itinerary, as long as you typed it correctly and don't have your spam filters turned on!

You can also change your flight or change the name of the passenger, but it must be done at least two hours before the flight and you will have to pay a change fee. If the fare has increased you will have to pay the difference too.

***Flying With easyJet***

You've probably all seen or heard of the ITV programme "Airline", so number one rule is check in on time. They will not delay 148 other passengers who arrived early and on time just to wait for you and it does not take "only 5 minutes" to run to the plane! What many people fail to realise is that there are "slots" for each flight to depart and if that slot is missed the flight will be delayed to the next one; so, no, you won't be waited for.

To check in you will need your confirmation number, given at the time of reservation either over the phone or online. If you are travelling on a UK domestic flight you will need some form of photo ID - if you don't have it you won't be going anywhere. If you are travelling internationally you will need your passport, or national ID card if you'refrom a country that has though, plus any visas that may be required. There are no bending the rules on this one, immigration rules are immigration rules and there is nothing that those little check-in agents will be able to do no matter how bright their uniforms are!

Once you have checked in you will be given a boarding card with A, B, C, or D on it. It used to be in numbers 1-149. The first batch of people to check in are given cards A, the next batch are given cards B and so on. When it comes to boarding time the pasengers who have cards A will be allowed on board first and get to choose the best seats. There are no allocated seats, so if you are fussy you better check in early and get an A card!

It can sometimes be a bit of a mad dash during boarding, I do prefer to have an allocated seat. Generally though, as long as the staff are well organised it's not too bad. The worst was in Palma, the staff just could not control the passengers and it turned into a bit of a stampede. Being so small I got pushed to the back of the queue. I don't see why people make such a big deal about where they're going to sit on such short flights!

Before the flight takes off you get all the same safety demos as other airlines. During the flight the cabin crew will come down the aisle with the easyKiosk. From the easyKiosk you can choose from a selection of drinks and snacks, but you do have to pay for them and the prices will be higher than your local corner shop. I usually plump for some Pringles.

You can also buy gifts from the easyKiosk, such as perfume and chocolates - but the prices are cheaper than the high street! As an example, you can buy Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat on board for £17.50 saving £3.50 off of Debenhams price of £21.00! Ooh, and you get a free magazine!

You don't get any free goodie bags like you would do on Virgin or BA, but it's another cost cutting initiative and I would much prefer to have a cheaper flight that some socks and a toothbrush.

***How Much Are The Flights?***

easyJet say if you book early you will generally get the best fare. As an example, if I were to book a flight from Luton to Aberdeen to fly today, it will cost me £124.99. However, if I book for October then I would only pay £19.99. Those prices are including all taxes and airport charges.

Without the taxes and airport charges, that October flight is only £8.49 - meaning that only £8.49 is being charged by easyJet and the rest is the government and the airports. Well, it certainly beats the trains doesn't it!

They also have "sales" and promotions. The best way of getting the best price is to sign up to their email newsletter. You can tick the destinations that you are most interested in and you will be sent emails whenever the new flights are available or whenever there is a promotion.

You have an allowance of 20kgs for your checked-in baggage and you can also take hand luggage, which has no weight allowance, just a size limit which you'll get details of when you book.

***What If Things Go Wrong?***

If your flight is unfortunately delayed or cancelled, easyJet do have policies in place to help you, such as transferring you to another flight or refunding the money if nothing else can be done. easyJet is also bound by the new EU compensation guidelines which says the airline has to cover some of the other costs like hotel accommodation if it's needed. (Ryanair are not bound by the EU regulations though as Ireland didn't opt in for it).

***The "Airline" Programme***

The "Airline" programme was originally about Britannia Airways, but it was discontinued after the first series and then went to easyJet. I have seen some of the Britannia episodes and they are pretty darn boring!

Some of you might watch this programme and think, "My goodness, I would never fly with an airline like that!" However, when you see an angry passenger screaming in the face of an orange uniformed person, it's usually because the passenger is in the wrong and not the airline.

It's not bad publicity at all, the programme educates people about the rules and regulations of flying with easyJet, such as the check-in time and "No, you can't fly to Spain with a bus pass". The airline doesn't provide bad customer service, it just simply cannot give these people what they are demanding.

If you pay attention, although the staff can't make the plane wait or they can't let them fly without the passport, have you noticed how they always try to offer a FREE transfer to the next flight so the passenger can still get to where they need to go.

Considering that the terms and conditions say you have to pay to transfer the flight, I think that's pretty damn good service to be offered a transfer completely free of charge!

Anyway, who would be interested in watching a programme where it is all smiles and sunshine and everything going according to plan?!

***Anything Else?***

Well, yes actually! As an easyJet customer you also have the chance to then book car hire, carparking, transfers, hotels and travel insurance through their service partners at special rates just for easyJet customers. So you can basically put together your own package holiday!

***In My Experience***

I have flown with easyJet ten times the last two years, so I know a lot about them.

I like to go for lots of little day trips and weekend breaks throughout the year as opposed to one huge holiday, and easyJet gives me the freedom to do that.

I have always booked on the website and have never had any difficulties with using the site.

If I am going somewhere new, the good thing about the website is that it gives you information about each destination and the free magazine given during the flight also tells you good places to go such as bars, restaurants and sights.

I have only ever experienced one delay and never faced a cancellation (touch wood). The delay was at Barcelona, I can't remember the reason because that was two years ago on my first easyJet trip, but it turned out to be a good thing that the flight was delayed because I got carried away in duty free and turned up at the gate half an hour after the flight should have departed!

I recommend easyJet for cheap, cheerful and hassle free travel. The company that revolutionised the airline industry, in my opinion, still remains the best.

Thanks for reading! :)