I have just recently flown with jet2 for a couple of trips - one to alicante from manchester and one to rome fumicino from manchester. As they were very close together i thought i would share my views as obviously two very different routes and staff were different on the different routes too.

The airline now charge passengers to take a hold bag with them (as in a suitcase that will go onto the hold area of the aircraft). luckily, the flights i have recently travelled on, were booked before this came into play so was extempt from this charge.However if you now want to take hold baggage the charge is £10 per bag per person per flight( so 1 adult travelling on a return flight taking one hold bag would pay £20). The maximum weight you are allowed on the hold bag is 18kgs.
To take hand lugagge is free and this is upto 10kgs when i last checked.

After check we made our way through passport control as normal with plenty of time to wander around the shops and go get a drink etc as both check in were smooth and quick. I found it more difficult to get my morning coffee on the airside as everyone needed that early morning kick, than when travelling on my afternoon flight but none the less, within approx half an hour of entering through we had a gate number on the departures board. As jet2 do provide seat numbers this does make it easier than having to worry about going straight away to the gate and setting up camp near the door as there is no need to be at the front of the queue like some other airlines such as ryanair which can cause chaos when they announce the gate is opening!! (and i've been there too!!) because i knew i had at least another 20 minutes before the gate closure and from where i was i was only a 1 minute walk away we decided to just relax until the area had cleared a bit and then board nearer to the end so that we could just get in our seats and be off pretty much - i know some will find this unusual but as long as you know when the gate is closing then just be aware to get there at least 5 mins before - most airlines will announce the gate closing 5 minutes beforehand too so this then gives you plenty of time depending on obviously what airport you are at and what gate you have to get too!

Inflight:
Once we were all boarded, the captain made the usual announcment to say hello and to advise flying times and how many crew were onboard. We were advised that the safety checks would be made by cabin crew and the safety talk would be given during our taxi down to the runway.
Staff were quick on both flights of checking everyone seatbelts and making sure everyone had their seatbelts fastened and that all baggage was stowed away correctly - i did notice that on my Alicante flight on the inbound the cabin member who did the check had to ask the passenger in front of me to put his bag under the seat in front as he hadn't done so and she made sure he had done this before she moved on, which i thought was good as it showed she was taking the right precautions, some in the past i have seen will just tell you and move on without checking it' done!
Once all these checks had been done, the cabin crew got in position to do the safety talk with the life jackets and masks etc. I did notice, which i don't think i would have done had the flights not been so close together, that the crew on the Alicante flights did it in an opposite way around to how the Rome crew did it. Not sure if this makes all the difference in the world as long as all safety aspects are covered but just thought i'd mention this!

Pictures of Jet2

View from a Jet2 aircraft flying to Alicante

Duty free:
They sell a range of duty free including perfume and make up ect along with airline branded goods like teddies and cards etc. Price wise again, i would say about the same as other airlines of this standard. I didn't buy anything on my alicante flight but i did purchase a pack of cards on the rome flight to keep us entertained which cost me £3. Now i know probably that the staff work on comission and get a bonus for sales but one of the crew (her name was louisa) was very helpful. I had asked while they were serving food if i could get a pack of cards or would i need to wait for the duty free (which i didn't mind having to do) and she advised i would have to wait due to sales laws and when they can sell it. Once they had finished she came back to me straight away and asked me if i still wanted the cards - i just thought it was nice of her to remember and to make the effort. Not much but for me it's the little things!

Prices:
Now with the Alicante flight i couldn't tell you exact cost simply because we booked our whole package through jet2holidays.com not flight on it's own. I am happy to tell you though for the bargain price of £398 we got our return flights for 2 of us and a weeks ALL INCLUSIVE - yes thats right you heard me £398 total cost! For rome it was just the flight part and these flights cost me £129 for two of us in total.