Chose your own seats, no entertainment on longer flights
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
The airline with the fastest take-off/landing turnaround in the business, the newest fleet of aircraft in the industry (all Boeing 737's), with orange free-phone telephone numbers emblazoned on the sides (as if anyone is going to come close enough to read these at 27,000ft) and staff that look like they have just left the kindergarten, with some of the ground staff having manners and behaviour to match.
Most of you probably know that I was lucky enough to get free tickets to Amsterdam in the EasyJet/Telegraph offer, and that the time had come to use them - one of the main disadvantages being that we had to take the first flight out in the morning and one of the last flights back in the evening, no joke when you live 220 miles away from the airport and can't get food anywhere for love nor money, but thats a different story.
SO WHO ARE EASYJET? They are the no-frills low cost airline that have managed to revolutionise the travel industry between the UK and the European mainland - run by a mad Greek man known to most of us as Stelios, I guess he is the Richard Branson of European routes.
HOW ARE THEY LOW COST? Unlike most airlines, easyJet operate a reverse tarriff to most of the competition, in that the longer in advance you book the flight, the cheaper it will be.
Flights can be booked up to around 6 months in advance via the internet, but only a month in advance if you to chose the old faithful communication tool and punch button automated operating system, the telephone. Flights booked on-line will receive a £2.50 discount each way, and remember that all prices quoted are for singles NOT return and DO NOT include airport taxes ir Barclays Fat Cat Charge if flying from Luton - although why anyone would want to fly from Luton beats me - except that until recently, this was EasyJets main England UK stronghold - although from March onwards, they will also be operating a comprehensive schedule out of Gatwick - possibly not as accessible for some people, but a lot more pleasant that Luton, and also the parking is cheaper. For those in the North of England, EasyJet also offer a selection of flights from Liverpool.
EASYJET appear to have invented ticketless airlines and all you actually need when you go to check in is your passport (for overseas, otherwise ID) and apparently your confirmation number - although they didn't actually ask for ours. Flight check-in opens 2 hours before scheduled take-off, and tickets can actually be purchased up to two hours before departure, although you might have to be prepared to pay the price - if you check out a couple of prices, the returns always seem to be much dearer than the outbound, stuck now aren't you? as somehow you have to get back.
WHERE DO THEY FLY?
Aberdeen
Amsterdam
Athens
Barcelona
Belfast
Edinburgh
Geneva
Glasgow
Inverness
Madrid
Malaga
Nice
Palma
Zurich
and to be fair, some of their prices are quite reasonable - you can hop up to Edinburgh for around £10 + Tax and get back again for upwards of about £50 + Tax - a lot depends on when you want to travel - weekdays are cheaper than weekends.
NB: Watch out for their regular promotions that they run with the Telegraph, we managed to get free tickets to Amsterdam and had the chance of going to Nice or Edinburgh over Easter for just the price of the taxes - can't be bad - it is not a con - which is more than I can suspiciously say for the babybmi promotion this morning when ALL free flights had sold out by 6.40am -when the sale was only launched at 6.00am - so if my typing is squiff you know why.
SO WHAT DO YOU GET FOR YOUR MONEY? This airline does not allocate seats, and boarding cards are issued on a first come first served basis, therefore it resembles something akin to boarding a local bus to get from A to B, the only difference being that in this case you will be on board for anything from 1 to 4 hours dependant on your destination.
Tickets are issued in order in a group format, for Amsterdam, it was 1 - 30, 31 - 60, 61 - 90 and then 90+ - once the plane is ready for boarding, passengers are called in the above groups, following any disabled passengers and parents with young children having been made comfortable - needless to say, having arrived at the airport with plenty of time (too much) to spare, we enjoyed ticket no's 1 and 2, and were first on the plane - enjoying comfy middle extra leg-room seats on the way out - the 6am departure was surprisingly empty, I would have thought it would have been utilised more for business purposes.
Baggage reclaim at Schipol was far speedier than any service I have received at Heathrow, very impressive for a major international airport.
Needless to say, having plenty of time after checking out of our hotel before our flight departed for our return journey, we were early arriving at the airport and were allowed to check in 1 hour early, thus acquiring us ticket no's 2 and 3 on the return journey. This time the plane was packed and we grabbed the first seats as we got on the plane, which just happened to be the front row with extra leg-room - WARNING: These seats are VERY VERY Narrow and do not have moveable arms.
ENTERTAINMENT During the journey, you get handed a brochure that tells you all about Easyjet, and their offshoots such as EasyCar, Easy Cafes (Internet for anyone with any strange ideas), and a brief run-down of whats happening in all their destinations - you can keep this or hand it back in at the end of the flight - you do get similar safety instructions to other airlines, but no videos, tv, radio or other forms of entertainment - not too bad if you are only hopping over to Amsterdam, but I should imagine it could get a bit monotonous if flying out to Athens which I believe is around 4 hours.
There is also NO food - they do offer a selection of hot and cold drinks (chargeable) and a small selection of sandwiches and crisps, but apparently they are stocked up with a small quantity in the morning and once these have been sold there are no more - so if you can and you flying at weird and wonderful times, make sure you eat before you fly.
SUMMARY Don't know what else I can really say about them - their air hostesses were young but friendly, and I really do not like the idea of getting your own seat -the receptionist in the hotel we stayed in in Amsterdam likened it to travelling on the local tram and of passengers being lucky to get a seat.
Normal hand luggage restrictions of 5kg per item apply.
oh, and most importantly, despite leaving both the UK and Amsterdam late, we still arrived at our destination both times ahead of schedule.
Where can you find out more?
www.easyjet.com
Would I use them again? - if they offered the most competitive price (and certainly free flights) then yes I would.
Sue - Feb 2002
More details
Class flown most frequently
Economy
How often do you travel with this airline
Rarely
Where did you book
Directly with this airline
Safety
Good
How well does it cater for disabled people
OK
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