London to Glasgow
 

With apologies, we have never flown easyJet, we are going to be in the UK for the first time post Covid. We had settled on the train. but I'm reading online that rail service is currently a mess due to rebuilding. Apparently I need to have another idea how to get from London to Glasgow. BA is already heavily sold the two days we have to choose from, so it seems we are looking at easyJet by default.

What is the general impression of easyJet? (The U.S. equivalents have their issues).

Are they complete sticklers on bag sizing?

Any problems with checked luggage being unloaded and delivered promptly and correctly?

Not to mention I should probably book tomorrow. . . . .

Thanks,

Jay

How early to get to the gate?

Anything else I should be asking, or some way better mode of travel I'm just not thinking of? Or is it a question which rail line you book and I should take the train?

Its only the West Coast Mainline (WCML) thats got serious engineering works on at the moment. If you take a LNER or lumo service to Edinburgh via the East Coast Mainline (ECML) then there are plenty of trains every hour to Glasgow. In fact, I'd suggest going up the east coast for the scenery plus, of course, no baggage fees!

As for easyJet - at LTN and LGW they only tell you the gate 40 minutes before scheduled departure time. So unless you are sure that a certain incoming plane will be operating your outbound service and you use some online tools to find out what gate it is at, you can't get there early. There is also no point of getting there "early" as there are zero facilities by the gates and everyone else will only start to go when the gate is revealed.

If your bag looks too big then you will be asked to pay.

Yes, no baggage fees, you can't pay to take more bags even if you want to on LUMO, which barely permits any bags.

https://www.lumo.co.uk/plan-your-jou...luggage-policy

This policy is enforced.

Avanti to Glasgow is fine, it just takes an hour longer than usual (i.e. 5.5 hours instead of 4.5) and the frequency is reduced to one per hour until the middle of May. I travelled on Avanti yesterday and it was not overly crowded, perhaps because people are staying away as they think it might be crowded.

The engineering works are not really the problem, it is strikes though these may be coming to an end soon, anyway 2 weeks notice is required for a strike to take place. The other issue is the general unreliability of Avanti but they seem to prioritise keeping the Glasgow trains running at the expense of Manchester/Liverpool.

Have a look at this if you are considering taking the train

https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/tr...ney/timetables