In the last few years the 'no frills' budget airlines have allowed us all to take advantage of cheaper flights. City breaks in Europe are now within easy reach financially & many have people have taken advantage of weekend retreats in Europe close to an airport thanks to regular air services ... Read review
A review by ScottishWestie on Flybe July 3rd, 2008
Author's product rating:
Food Quality
Good
Customer Service
Friendly and attentive
Punctuality
Good
Space
Comfortable
Value for Money
Satisfactory
Advantages:
Professional staff, no fuss, rewards programme
Disadvantages:
Bit pricey, old planes, add ons
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
In the last few years the 'no frills' budget airlines have allowed us all to take advantage of cheaper flights. City breaks in Europe are now within easy reach financially & many have people have taken advantage of weekend retreats in Europe close to an airport thanks to regular air services that are within budget. It was a 'wake up' call for the likes of British Airways on how for so many years they were ripping us all off on the cost of short haul flights.
I have used Easy Jet for many years & sometimes Ryan Air; they both provide a fairly good service at a decent price with good time keeping. When everything goes well we praise their efforts & when everything goes wrong we claim 'you only get what you pay for'. Fortunately most times everything goes to plan but when things do go wrong they aren't the easiest of companies to deal with.
Recently I need to visit Belfast on work related business & decided to use FlyBe for the first time. This is a company who has been extending their network of routes in recent years & I never hear anything bad about them. Currently they fly 165 routes over Europe from 53 airports, in the UK that includes Aberdeen, Belfast City, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Derry, Doncaster, Dundee, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Inverness, Isle of Man, Jersey & Guernsey, Kirkwall, Leeds, Liverpool, London Gatwick, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle, Newquay, Norwich, Southampton, Scottish Western Isles, Sumburgh & Wick.
Things didn't get off to a good start, I accessed their web site & entered my itinerary, within seconds I had a price of £33.56 for a return flight from Aberdeen to Belfast 'George Best' City airport. Next up was booking my seat, which is a better arrangement than the 'free for all' with EasyJet. After I booked it I then realised that cost me an extra £6.00, never mind that is only £39.56.
Next up was the baggage check in, I wouldn't be charged for hand luggage provided it was within their limits but anything that went through the hold required an extra £12.00! I normally travel very light, I even cut my toothbrush in half to save weight & squeeze all the toothpaste out of the tube! However I really didn't fancy storing my Tellytubbies jimjams in a brief case with my lap top & having it all dragged out at security from some eager security person, so £12.00 it was then. We are now up to £51.56!
Thinking that was all they were going to squeeze out of me I was wrong, next was the final total which added their service & taxes, that alone was £66.00! My modest little charge of £33.56 had now leapt to £117.56. As the company was paying I proceeded to pay for it & used my credit card. Yes, you guessed it that will be another £5.00; my total was now £122.56. Where would it all end? Would they charge me for using their website, or sending me an email confirmation? So, £122.56 it was, could I avoid paying for the seat & just stand?
After that, things did improve, FlyBe aren't so demanding as EasyJet & Ryan Air, no constant reminders that you need to arrive on time & when you arrive two minutes before check in time they won't check you in!! No writing all personal & hotel details on a luggage tag for Ryan Air & informing you that they won't search for a lost bag without those details being recorded. No, FlyBe provide clear & precise instructions without sounding patronising.
I turned up at the airport one hour thirty minutes before departure, was checked in by a friendly & polite member of staff. At the time of departure it was just as efficient & once on the plane sat down in a comfortable leather seat with ample leg room close to the emergency exit. Even the seats away from the exits had slightly more leg room in 'cattle class' than most other aircraft.
The plane is of the older style propeller type, with seats laid out 2 & 2. The female staff on board looked smart & elegant & came over as very professional. We got the usual safety announcements, (they must get sick of carrying them out) & a stewardess asked me if I would take responsibility of opening the emergency exit if the plane crashes as I was sitting next to the exit.
I put on that 'cool, in control' look & told her that I would assist if there is an emergency; she looked reassured until I asked her where they kept the key! I think I lost her confidence after that!!
The journey was quick & on time, refreshments were served & charged for during the flight plus a trolley full of gifts was wheeled up the air craft for passengers who wish to buy.
Here are some of the refreshments offered, small 33cl can of soft drinks £1.50 (yes really!!), 15cl can of soft drinks 90p, bottle of water £1.60 (26p in Tesco), 5cl alcohol miniatures £3.50, 18.7cl champagne £9.00, 33cl beer £3.00, hot drinks £1.95, soup £2.50, muffin £1.50, 50g Pringles £1.10, chunky Kit Kat £1.00, sandwich & bottle of water £5.00 'meal deal' & so on. The magazines on board were very interesting with ample information but they are bi-monthly & free to take away. They didn't lose my luggage & the return flight was just as efficient. Once you complete your journeys & provided you register with the company they will give you reward miles, two economy flights earned me 2 reward miles, once I get to 16 I will be entitled to an economy return flight. The whole reward programme is explained on their easy to navigate website.
You can't really asses a company on one return light but my first impressions were FlyBe try that little bit harder than the other 'no fills' airlines. When things go dramatically wrong it would be interesting to see how they handle that type of situation but I have no doubt they would do quite professionally. Would I use them again or recommend them? Yes I would.
I have flown with the flybe on several occasions now with mixed results. Flybe is one of Europe's leading budget airlines with 170 routes to 55 destinations throughout Europe. To see exactly where they fly to I suggest you go to their web site at www.flybe.com.
Booking.
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Booking a ticket with Flybe is very simple if a little misleading. I always book on line and the process is quick and easy. Having chosen your departure date you will ... ...in desk. The flybe experience.
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First remember to take your passport even if you are taking a domestic flight, you will need picture ID and a passport is the best option! If you are trying to save money by just taking 1 piece of handbaggage, then remember you may have to give up any sharp objects inside! This may sound trivial but I wasn't too pleased at having to part with my nail clippers and eyebrow tweezers!
I have only ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Cheap,Cheaper still if you get in early. Disadvantages: Some old planes in the fleet.
...I ended up flying with Flybe for my very first flight, booking the tickets was incredibly easy using their website. www.flybe.co.uk . Simply enter in the airport you want to leave from, the airport you want to fly to, and the dates you want to go. Add in how many folks will be flying and press the button. The site does all your hard work and will spit out at you all the flights for that day. Pick your favourite time, then click one more button and ... ...off-white (dirty) thing, with no Flybe logo on it, the only good difference being it looked bigger than the plane I flew in on. Walking into the plane didn't put my fears to rest either, the interior looked as old, worn and dated as it's exterior. I did get a whole row of 3 seats to myself though. The stewardesses seemed stressed and rushed, the pilot kept having to tell them what to do over the tannoy, and this really didn't put me at my ease! I ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Actually fly at sensible times from regional airports, loads of legroom Disadvantages: The use of small planes mean you feel every bump and twist; much of FlyBE's fleet are turbo-props
...in the Sunday paper for FlyBE a.k.a British European, well lets give them a try.
A little bit of browsing the website and playing with times, eventually found us flights that suited us from Bristol at a price we were more than happy with - £127 economy class return including taxes (I must say this was far more favourable than the parking charges at Bristol Airport which came in at a casual £12/day – which I now know to be cheaper than Gatwick (£6.90 ... ...been a few changes at FlyBE since in the year since I first flew with them - the main one being that they have now become a partly ticketless airlines - although when I questioned this, they wouldn't comment further than saying that certain routes had become ticketless, and the Birmingham to Glasgow route was one of them, therefore remember to make a note of your reference number before leaving for the airport.
I am however, glad to say that FlyBE ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Local airports, some value seats available Disadvantages: Very keen to take your money in a variety of interesting ways
...Paris and bought seats with Flybe from Exeter to Charles de Gaulle. I work in the travel industry and have heard many conflicting opinions of this airline, so decided to travel with a broad mind and decide for myself which rumours were true!
Before buying BA Connect, Exeter was the main base for Flybe and they still have lots of aircraft parked there. We flew on a Sunday afternoon and it seemed most flights had already gone because the airport terminal ... ...to read other than the Flybe in-flight mag - they do tend to overload you with branding to make sure you know who you're flying with. Our plane was a prop rather than the jets they use on some routes - bit noisy but quite comfortable and enough leg room for the man who's got rather long legs.
I'm not sure what happened at Charles de Gaulle - possibly a cross wind - but the landing was incredibly hard and even the stewardess looked a bit shaken as ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Low Cost, seats allocated Disadvantages: smaller aircraft can be bumpy
To be a little different FlyBe as British European are now known (www.flybe.com)they have come up with a simple idea. Low Fares, Seats allocated, pay for inflight drinks and snacks and if you are transferring through any other airport they can usually check the luggage all the way to your final destination.
Anyway I flew from Belfast City Airport (2miles from the city centre)to Birmingham for a day trip so they checked us in for the return journey ... ...plane with 37 seats , it was a bit bumpy but fine. The flight was on time leaving and arriving, I had a coffee for £1.50 and my day return which was on a special offer cost only £67 including all taxes. The average seems to be about £97 return.
On the return flight it was late leaving due to a mix up on availablilty of a wheelchair assistance at Birmingham and we were kept informed but that delay was vastly reduced when we landed back at Belfast. ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Local departures Disadvantages: George Best Airport access problems in Belfast
...When you live in a relatively isolated part of the UK, you have to take what you've got when it comes to travel options and this is very much the case with low cost airline carriers.
We have 4 leaving the province to various parts of the UK and Europe and the choices are:
1) Easyjet (or should I say hard luck jet) I will NEVER fly with them again after getting stranded in Bristol last year throught their fault re minimum check in times, this company thrives on annoying their customers and I will not give them any more of my hard earned money thank-you!
2) Jet2. Limited destinations and woeful PR. Why would you subject yourself to their awful dreadful customer care?
3) BMI baby. It is OK but has such a limited range of destinations from Belfast.
4) Flybe:
Of the 4 carriers available from NI this has to be the best...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
...Flying from Malaga, thru London Gatwick and on to the Isle of Man we were explicitly told that are bags were booked through both flights. Arriving the next day in Isle of Man neither of our two bags were there. The Flybe staff did not know how to use their own computer system and failed to complete a proper Lost Baggage Review. Our vacation was ruined. We spent four days waiting for our bags, Flybe never called. Finally we called London Gatwick, they would send our bags thru to Dublin to be picked up the next day. When we arrived in Dublin, only ONE bag was there. After another three hours with NO HELP from any Flybe staff I tracked my own bag down AGAIN...it had been shipped to Dublin, and then for no reason on to the Isle of Man. Another two days I spent wearing the same clothes, trying to call and talk to someone at Flybe...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Clean aircraft Disadvantages: Incompetent baggage handling and tracing
...Flew with Flybe for the first time at the end of March - NEVER again!!! Arrived at Edinburgh en-route to Manchester. My wife & I changed flights from BA to Flybe. Our bags were checked all the way through and Flybe told us that if there was any problems with our bags they would tannoy us. No such announcements but when we arrived in Manchester our bags hadn't!! Reported missing bags immediately but details couldn't be put on the computer system as it hadn't been set up. Clothes, toiletries, vital medicines were all in the lost bags. 2 days later we arrived in Tunisia with what we were wearing and toothbrushes and toothpaste. Naively expecting our bags at any moment. No such luck! We spent our holiday having to wear the same items day and day out - much to our embarassment. It now seems that Flybe received our bags in Edinburgh...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
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