Is Easyjet "safe"?
 

My husband and I need to get from London to Amsterdam in April. Since we only need a one way ticket, it seems like a waste to use our British Airways miles. We want to fly out of Gatwick or Heathrow if possible, so Easyjet seems to be our cheapest option. Does anyone know if they have a good safety record?

Hi,

Easyjet have been operating for a number of years and have not had an inicdent yet so I would say that they do have a good safety record.

I believe EASYJET is safe. They go from Luton and Gatwick.

You may look at this too: http://www.europebyair.com

So far Easyjet has not had any major mishaps, nor are there rumors about their safery record.

Their fleet is quite new, as they sell their planes when they reach 7 years of age, to avoid heavy maintenance. It is an all 737 fleet, the oldest being -300 series.

Easyjet has a good reputation.... we recently flew Ryan Air out of Stansted, London to Italy, and besides being an incredible bargin ($46.00 r/t) - it all went smooth. If Ryan flys anywhere near where you want to go - I would give them a try - all web bookings (note that there luggage policy is smaller then others).

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Askworldtraveler, EXP,4 million AA miles+++Hilton Gold (thanks to EXP)

Is Easyjet safe?
 

I want to ask about the flight offered by www.easyjet.com .

Has anyone used it? In the wake of terrorist threat, I don't know if it is safe to use this service (I have never used it before). Can you offer your advice?

It is safe. The airline has a strong financial backing, owned by a mogul trying to build a Virgin-like group of companies.

They are in talks with BA to buy Deutsche BA. Lufthansa is not happy about this ...

Do you like the colour Orange?

If you have some kind of allergy to it you might have a big issue http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...um/biggrin.gif

More seriously, the fleet is recent 100% Boeing (I think) and so it's pretty safe.

The drawbacks are (1) little Customer Care (there is an "amusing" TV reality show in the UK that follows some crew members and the only shots are of irate passengers) and (2) Luton which is not that practical from London (but might not be a problem depending on where you're going afterwards). There are also a few flights leaving from Gatwick, so not that bad.

Overall it's a pretty tight operation and you shouldn't have any problem. Just don't expect too much in terms of service (but you're not paying for it either).


[This message has been edited by Canista (edited 05-08-2002).]

Thank you for all your advice. It makes me feel safer.

Can you tell me why Luton (London) might be a problem? I plan to choose to depart from Luton to Paris.

not a problem as such, just far from London (and dreadful, but I'm assuming you're not planning a shopping trip there http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif)

I also checked Easyjet prices. I think I better go with Eurostar it's only Euro 95

http://www.eurostar.com

It's very safe, but you should check out BUZZ -- KLM's low cost. It flies one way from CDG to STN. Fares one way from STN to CDG start from 19 lbs. so the reverse should be pretty cheap.

If you are not sure of the return date, should you buy the one-way ticket only? Once you're in the destination, I guess it's still easy to buy the ticket to return, right?

By the way, when you arrive at the airport, the luggage claim procedure is still normal as other airlines?

Buzz CDG-Stansted-CDG is Euro 118.
I still go with Eurostar.

Here is the link to Buzz - was not easy to find:

http://www.buzzaway.com/

I guess I was fortunate that I was flying FROM London!


http://www.buzzaway.com/popups/buzzaway1.html


I was able to snag a 40 lb. fare to
CDG which was helpful for me as we were renting a car from there and we are leaving from there for Newark.

The 79lb. return was still more expensive with my throwing away the return portion, and the flight I am taking from STN is a very livable 10:50 in the morning, not the cheapo 19 lb one (it is a Friday, so the 19lb mid day was not offered) that leaves at the ungodly hour of 6:30 AM.

All in all, one should be aware of all the low cost carriers flying from/to LON when contemplating fares and destinations, and BUZZ is one of them.

I have visited both Easyjet and Buzz and found that if you come to Paris, then the ONLY destination for you from Paris is London. This applies to both Easyjet and Buzz.

So is there any other cheap flight from Paris to some other European destinations? Do you know of any other flight or railway companies?

Thank you

YES!!!!!

Go to EasyJet now!!! They are just starting to fly from Orly to GVA and CDG to various European destinations, including Liverpool and NCE.

Click on Ohh La La!

Good Luck!

By the way, I know of no EasyJet London to Paris route, thus far, but very very soon!

[This message has been edited by DOC 2 BE (edited 05-11-2002).]

http://www.easyjet.com/en/

A friend and daughter have just left Paris (Orly) for Geneva for the weekend: 12.40€ each way ($11.43).

Other destinations from Paris CDG are: London Luton (LTN), Liverpool (LPL) and Nice (NCE).

If you are interested in Ireland, Ryanair sells cheap tickets to/from Paris to Dublin.

LTN-CDG service on EasyJet is scheduled to begin 12 June @ ca.17 GBP each way.

Unfortunatley, I had to travel on 6/7.

I have taken EasyJet on 2 occasions. I have flown roundtrip LPL-CDG and LPL-AMS. I like there no frills approach. They cater to the leisure travel market. They are very quick at boarding a plane and getting it out on time. One thing you need to aware of is the luggage restrictions. You are allowed one piece of carry on luggage (hand luggage) that is not more than 5 Kgs and you are allowed one piece of checked luggage not more than 25 Kgs. Anything heavier you pay 1 GBP per Kg over the weight limit.

Also at CDG you arrive at T9 which is not part of the main airport terminals (T1 and T2). You have to walk a ways to catch any shuttles, trams, etc.



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Rachel
CO - Platinum
Hilton - Diamond
SPG - Platinum

I bring this thread back from '02 for a reason. So please bear with me since I didn't want to start a new one re: Easy Jet.

I am going to travel Europe for two weeks in September and - based on my itinerary - need to fly from one city to my departing airport.

A friend suggested Easy Jet. Low-cost, no -frills.

But having never flown anything in Europe other than AA I was just a bit concerned.

Any recent experiences with Easy Jet by FTers?

Check in early, bring your own food and water (or buy them aboard). That's all you have to know!

For one non-time critical flight, easyJet will be fine. Like all the low fare airlines, when they're good they're really good value for money. When something goes wrong, well you just don't have quite the same service and backup level as with a full service airline.

Where are you flying from and to? Also look at Ryanair. bmi British Midland prices one-ways in the same way as low fare airlines. Or you might find it easiest to pick up a cheapie return from BA or someone else and throw one half away. Changing between any London airports, if that's what you'd be doing if you flew easyJet, can be pretty horrendous. The least bad is probably LHR/LGW.

Thanks for the quick responses. I am planning on travelling from Venice to London as that is my departure city.

But, as most of you know, when you are traversing throughout Europe your original plans can get messed up.

But I am trying to think clearly that I will be near Venice or Zurich at the time I need to get back to LHR.

I can't comment on EasyJet, but I can say that I was really pleased with Ryanair when flying to and from London Stansted to various Scandinavian destinations. The seats are more comfortable than for Air Canada flights of similar length. The staff was fine.

I read that Ryanair has the same aircraft servicing contractor that Lufthansa does. I'm not sure what EasyJet has - but if it will make you feel better, you could look into that.

If you need to return to London for a return flight, I would add plenty of time, probably at least an overnight, for peace of mind (that's what I did). Also consider the worst case scenario and how to deal with it. But Ryanair has an excellent record for on-time arrivals and departures.

There are buses that transport you directly between the major London airports - still you have to allow oodles of time for all the delays that can occur.

Easyjet have one of Europes youngest fleets, and it's a single brand fleet. No incidents ever... I'd say it's a pretty safe choice.

I've taken easyjet a bunch of times..it's fine. One thing as in most of Europe, you can't bring on what americans consider "normal" carry on baggage. They'll take it from you at the gate and it will be waiting at the gate when you get off the plane.

easyJet is a fine low cost carrier with an exemplary safety record. They fly an ultra-modern fleet comprised entirely of 737's. Painted bright orange. Sounds like Southwest? Well, in many ways it is a carbon copy.

If you don't mind flying Southwest on your domestic short-haul flights, then you will have no problem with easyJet on your European travel. Sure you might have to put up with less popular and more removed airports -- Luton instead of Heathrow in London, for example -- but with the excellent ground transportation options in Europe this is rarely more than a minor inconvenience.

Sometimes I think that easyJet gets unfairly criticized by a spoiled European audience (and I don't mean that in a negative way, mind you) for its lack of complimentary meal service. Many European flights offer some sort of meal service on even the shortest of flights. If you are used to this perk, then easyJet may leave a bad taste in your mouth, pun intended.

On the other hand, for we Americans who are all too familiar with getting absolutely nothing to eat even on three hour flights spanning reasonable meal times, the pay if you want a snack system will be a non-factor. And when you consider the exceptional prices offered by easyJet and its low cost cousins, I think forgoing a meal is a small price to pay (pun intended again).

Just remember to book early -- the sooner the booking, the less expensive the flight. Sometimes easyJet's flights are ridiculously inexpensive even with all the taxes that may wind up being three or four times the actual airfare. The only other piece of advice I'd give is to allow yourself plenty of time for a connection, especially with an airport transfer, because easyJet is draconian when it comes to reaccommodating misconnecting travelers. But I wouldn't think twice about flying easyJet while in Europe.

Recent experiance on Easyjet from last week. MAD-LUT 1 hour late departing MAD..same day LUT-AMS 1 hour 30 min late out of LUT. Plan your connections to allow plenty of time. The flights and service were just fine..coffee 1.5 Euro. Water is free. Yes.. book well in advance as the fares do increase closer to dep.
I would definatly do it again..you really can't beat the price. Safety dosn't seem to be an issue. Also no assigned gates at LUT..you pass thru customs and wait in the food court until the flight board says proceed to xyz gate. There is a nice waiting area right upstairs in the bar which seemed quite empty to me and it too was quite comfortable. Enjoy your trip!

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MRKEY

I've never flown EasyJet but I did try renting a car from Easycar when I was in AMS. We made online reservations and showed up at the rental location (not the airport one, one outside of town - figured it'd be easier to take the train out of the city and pick up the car there than try to navigate in AMS). They didn't have ANY cars left and said we could come back the next day or go to the airport location and pick one up. We decided against getting the car as we were only going to do a day trip out in the country side. It took us about 3 hours and several long distance calls to England to get our money refunded. I DO NOT RECOMMEND EASY CAR!! It was the biggest hassle ever. Wasted an entire day with that!

Back to the original topic.

I'm sorry to disappoint the scaremongers, but EVERY British airline has absolutely A-1 safety procedures, equipment and personnel, throughly checked and constantly monitored by the UK Civil Aviation Authority. Any deviation from this standard and it's goodbye Air Operators Certificate, and the end of your business on the spot.

We're not some third-world country over here, you know.

Easyjet is the same as any low cost/charter carrier in the US. Cattle call boarding, pay for drinks, tight seats...etc..
Probably bearable for a short haul within Europe.

Furthermore, be prepared to fly at some very odd times and book months in advance if you want to utilise the super discount fares. Despite all their advertising they are a lot of conditions to be met to actually enjoy those super cheap fares you see advertised.

Not necessarily. Both Easyjet and Ryanair run frequent seat sales, and you can often get very good deals at fairly short notice. It's a bit of a lottery, really... book too early and you may be missing out on a seat sale nearer the time of departure; wait for a seat sale and you may find they're not going to have one for the dates on which you want to travel.

Hey Aviatrix,

are you going to email FT again as I said something bad about easyjet ?

Why, who knows, they could get sued ! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...m/rolleyes.gif

Nothing wrong with what you said about Easyjet - it was a factual description. There is no law against putting critical undertones into a factual description. My previous concern was about the use of words like "fraudster" and "scam artist" which - if it were to come to that - a UK judge might rule to be libellous.

For those who don't know what this is all about...:

http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...ML/010725.html

My husband and I just came back from two weeks in Scotland and France. We flew to London on Virgin, taking us to LHR, and then connecting Luton to Inverness and Edinburgh to LGW on EasyJet, Stansted to Clermont-Ferrand in France on Ryanair, back to Stansted and bus to LHR. A nightmare to plan, including cancellations of flights, etc, and 8 different airports. However, it gave me lots of experience for this topic.

Bus service goes from all four London airports to all the others. BUT, allow more time than you can imagine. We planned on 1.5 hours from Stansted to LHR, and it came to 2.5 as the M25 was bumper to bumper almost the whole way. We barely made our flight.

EasyJet was no problem at all and it was our third time using them. Great prices, but be aware, as with Ryanair, that the price they quote does not include all taxes so that when you actually book, it is much higher.

Our Ryanair flight was 1.5 hours late leaving, but returning was fine. I had read on FT about their baggage surcharge, so we packed as lightly as we could. Going from STN to CFE, we were fine. Coming back, for some reason, they changed the weight requirements, and we had to pay an additional $62 for overweight luggage. And, they would only take a credit card. We had been having problems with our AA Mastercard since they didn't like us using the card for foreign travel and decided it was fraud, so they put a hold on it and Ryanair couldn't get it to work. Another story for another post. The point is, the excess charge and they would not take cash.

We actually had one of the best trips of our lives, even with all the juggling. Hope this helps.

I have flown Easyjet many times (mostly Liverpool - Barcelona - Liverpool) and always found them excellent.

Bear in mind they're a budget airline, so don't expect any frills. But I would recommend them.

Aaron

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