corporate-wage-slave

easyJet do often use the cheap end of existing airports, AMS is another example. But there is one really bad aspect of U2, very different from BA, which is that they do expect people to queue and be ready for boarding, including Priority, well before the aircraft has even landed. Their app has Flightradar embedded into it so while you wait in the queue - sometimes outdoors - you can see for yourself that the aircraft is still 100km away. Ryanair also do this. You can of course opt out of this and wait for the "last remaining customers" annoucement, but sometimes you will lose your cabin baggage as a result, even if Priority.

Tobias-UK

A little unfair, the replies have just tried to be helpful, not necessarily for you but to others who might be contemplating trying EZY.

I use easyJet and Ryanair regularly (being based directly between LPL and MAN airports and our company based in Ireland) and I find them both okay for short hops. There is certainly a difference in the cabin atmosphere on EZY and especially FR. Traveling to/from DUB on an FR evening fight often reminds me of travelling home from a rugby match on the team bus after enjoying some liquid refreshment post match!

Unlike with BA, you wouldn't be able to cancel your EZY flight within 24 hours for free, EZY would charge you £27/£32 for the privilege. And unlike BA 'Plus' fares if you want to change an earlier EZY flight on the day the fee is £22 - with BA you can change to an earlier or later flight from midnight for free. So there are subtle differences in the models for changes, and I think BA has the advantage there. Of course you can buy the easyJet Plus Card (£199) and some of these fees will be waived. Oh, and you don't get a free checked bag with easyJet Plus, just a second small cabin bag, which of course is included with all BA fares.

WorldLux

Hmmh. I thought that too, but then I managed to get a 99 p return flight. I did the OLCI minutes before the cut-off and scored an exit row on the outbound and 1B on the inbound. Planes had the new Sky interior (easier on the eyes than that yellow interior). I was allowed to bring on board my 2 carry-ons (despite FR stating that one has to go in the hold). Flights were on time and I was a happy man.

For the right price, FR is certainly an option. If the price difference to BA is only marginal, the status perks make BA more attractive.

1010101

I'm going through a similar thing. I've recently returned to Europe from Asia, so perhaps i was a little spoiled by CX/SQ, but I'm approaching 6 months of BA flying now and it has been pretty awful. I have the first Easyjet round trip booked in a few weeks and interested to see if it fits me better although I have a suspicion regular European regional flying is now just a case of grin and bear it regardless of airline. I did enjoy my wife's comment on our first flight after we returned. 'Where are the TVs?'

orbitmic

Yes, now I see what you mean, and it is very much airport specific. You are right that LYS uses the low cost terminal as it does in MRS. For Milan I presume you are using MXP where they use terminal 2, whilst in LIN they use the same terminal as BA, just as they do in GVA, ZRH, MUC, NAP, VCE, etc. In CDG, ORY, NCE, MUC, and arguably MAN, the terminals used by U2 are probably more pleasant (and in more recently renovated) than those used by BA. At LGW, I prefer south due to the convenience, but north arguably feels more civilised and in any case, let's not forget that the situation only changed recently (largely because U2 operations were split before). I would say that on the whole, airport facilities are definitely not a reason not to choose U2 in my view unlike FR where less convenient airports is very much the norm. And indeed, I would argue that nowadays, on many of my core U2 routes, you actually see larger proportions of business travellers than on the BA equivalent flights (though in my view largely due to the nature of the point to point network).

simons1

I thought some airports had dedicated low cost terminals. So not the airport under debate but the terminal.

FlyerTalker39574

Captain Schmidt

I also had an "over-my-dead-body" approach to Ryanair, but then I actually tried it and it got me cheaply and safely to my destination, so I got over myself. This week I'm off to the middle of Denmark for the day on Ryanair for less than £20. BA wanted over 10x that.

All She Wrote

easyJet plus is definitely worth the money if you fly with them a few times a year. Front row seats are usually £20-25 each way, so within 4 return flights you've got your money back. Plus you get fast track security and priority boarding at most airports. You can also switch to earlier flights for free for no cost at all.

PUCCI GALORE

All the Low Costs have their good and bad points. Easy fly NTE - LGW at some incredibly low fares (€ 27 each way) all year round - rather than summer look-in by BA. FR fly some routes at ludicrously cheap prices and go to airports that would require connections if anyone else flies there at all (CDT comes to mind). The problem with them is that they are liable to drop routes without a backward glance. Last year they launched Lorient - STN and dropped it within weeks. I never knew why. Vueling fly ALC - NTE at very reasonable prices and unless the flight goes via BCN, it is well priced. However, the price you see is seldom the price you finally pay with the Speedy whatever and all the rest - however for a couple of hours it is tolerable. The thought of one of those seats to somewhere like Moscow or Tel Aviv and I can feel my back cramping in protest.

Nevertheless, my first choice is still BA for one main reason. When things go wrong - they sort it. The debacle over at FR last autumn would put anyone off. Easyjet wrecked a friend's luggage. He lives in Sicily. He was given a replacement - but they could not deliver it to Sicily, and he had to give a friend's address in Verona. That's when you know that you're with the real low cost, when it goes wrong you're on your own and they couldn't care less it would seem.

orbitmic

About a month ago.

DYKWIA

I'd have to disagree there... BA once dumped me in DUB and left me to sort myself out (and refused any sort of compensation for the new flight I had to book to get me to MAN).

With U2, I've 2 weather related cancellations from AMS. Their App allowed me to rebook and also offered a hotel for the night. No huge queues to get through like you get at LHR whenever there's a flake of snow.

xenole

I've been on a few FR planes recently.
Prices, for the most part, are far cheaper than with BA and as long as it's to somewhere not in the middle of nowhere, it suffices for an hour or two especially from MAN which is very convenient for me.

I've seen issues ranging from say yesterday's 5:35pm flight to DUB that was a good 3-4 hours late coming into MAN (from BGY, Bergamo Milan I think) and they were proactive in offering a £3.50 refreshment allowance at 3 places on scanning your boarding pass through to people paying £320 to fly to DUB last minute or they've missed check-in / changed flight.

Everything works if nothing goes wrong. As with insurance, the proof of a company's worth is how things go when it goes pear shaped.

I've no major issues with Ryanair. If it's £9.99 e/w MAN-DUB, and BA want £80 for a day or weekend return, I can miss out on 10TP and even survive in a middle seat for 40 mins or so.
Places like CRL (Charleroi, miles from Brussels) or TRF (Oslo Toro), might be different for me but then again, the flights are generally full as most people aren't bothered about the extra time into the cities when the price is right.

dougzz

Each airline is as good as your last bad experience.

orbitmic

FR is a lot better than it used to be indeed. Arguably, they have progressively acknowledged that the U2 model was effectively more viable than theirs. And yes, even though the age of £0.99 all inclusive tickets is well and truly over, they can still be very cheap! And like you, I decide whether to avoid them or not based on actual destination/airport. They now fly to a number of "regular" airports and have clearly started differentiating between their "business" or mainstream routes and their former "fly anywhere as long as it's dirt cheap" routes.