easyJet - any advice?
 

I'm planning to fly from MSP to London (LGW) Dec. 16 and back on Jan. 2. Once in London, I'd like to spend a day or two there and head onto Madrid. I found great fares on easyJet, but wondering what's the catch. What is your experience?

No real catch. Just that you need to pay for every little thing extra - so bring your own snacks etc

Cheers

you get what you pay for. its all cattle class. words of advice.
1. book as early as you can. always going to be cheaper.
2. make sure you know where the airport is, it maybe london, but really in luton. quite a difference.
3.sometimes they load from the front and back doors, this can be better to sit in back so you can avoid the rush when leaving.
4.bring snacks.

Watch the luggage limitation if you have a heavy bag.

no limit on hand luggage weight though as long as it goes in the overhead bin. They are a good airline.

Also out of LHR is Virgin Express.

BA and SN brussels offer really good service and low fares as well.

Easyjet are ok, DO NOT be late checking in if you want to be allowed on the flight.

A good tip:
There's no seat alocation. Try and bag the front row or emergency exit row.
Easyjet are fine for a LCC. Loads better than Ryanair.

I would choose Easyjet over Ryanair anytime.
The main difference is that Easyjet normally flies to the major airports whereas Ryanair flies to secondary airports in the middle of nowhere.
If you fly Easyjet to Paris for example you land at CDG airport which is the main airport for Paris where all full-service airlines also operate while Ryanair lands at Beauvais airport which is literally in the middle of nowhere, far far from Paris city centre.

Just be careful with the baggage allowance as mentioned, it's 20 kg and you will most likely have to pay if you have 21 or 22 kg.
No inflight service either, but at least the Easyjet staff are generally friendly and helpful.

www.skyscanner.net for european low cost airline fares
 

for those who don't know this site. doesnt cover absolutely everything but a great resource for looking at options - monthly search feature especially useful. saved me £100s over last couple of years.

for those unfamiliar with European geography (and the fact that there are no border restrictions between many continental European countries) note that there are often several airports possible for some locations, esp if you have a bit of time to travel eg for barcelona - gerona (beautiful city, lance armstrong has a house nearby), perpignan, reus all within 2-3 hours drive or train; for geneva - grenoble, lyon

baggage allowance with Ryanair is only 15KG - note

9 times out of ten they are ok but if they are delayed then they can really be delayed. Was delayed for pretty much exactly 2 hours on Friday.

As they board in groups in order of check in then it's up to you how much you want a good seat.

Me, I always arrive for check-in opening to get in group A. 9 times out of 10 I get either row 1, 12 or 13 which gives lots of extra leg room. Although once I was stuck in traffic and to be honest for the one hour flight between EDI-LTN any aisle/window seat was sufficient. Never get stuck in the middle. Very tight fit.

LL

Last time I flew ryanair (july) they had done away with weight limits and adopted an 'if it fits you're cool' policy. For last minute stuff just go ahead and check iberia, spanair and others, as easyjet will be expensive. two months out though you can't beat it. vuelting maybe. opodo.com pretty much sucks in my opinion. While there is no assigned seating, getting there early will get you in the first group onto the bus/plane, so there is a little choice. I have to say that it is at least as good as inter-european business class on Air France. I am not kidding.

I'm looking at a Ryanair CIA-BVA flight next spring. They're about the only LCC going from Rome to Paris.

Anyhow, their website still mentions the 15kg baggage weight limit. Is this "if it fits you're cool" policy official or just what they do in practice?

Also, is that carryon only or checked baggage too?

AFAIK, it's still 15kg and strictly enforced. You might be lucky at the station where Ryanair employ handling agents, but then again you might not.

All checked baggage gets weighed in Europe (not just with LCCs but with all carriers), and if you are over the limit you pay. Some airlines have an unofficial policy of turning a blind eye if you are no more than X kilos over the limit, but with Ryanair the limit is strictly enforced.

You are allowed carry-on luggage in addition to your checked luggage. Easyjet is fairly unique in Europe in not having a weight limit for carry-ons (the rule is that you have to be able to get it in the overhead locker unaided); with Ryanair the carry-on limit is 10 kg and again this is generally enforced.

There are numerous stories & complaints by pax that this is what they were advised on their outbound leg, only to be stung the full whack in excess fees on the return.

Ryanair makes MONEY on excess baggage - beware!
 

Whatever the folklore about Ryanair's relaxed baggage policy - don't believe it. It's 15kg hold and 10kg cabin and at the big Ryanair stations like Stansted it's very strictly enforced.

You risk paying more than the fare - see the Ryanair website

I wonder if people are mixing up Easyjet's more relaxed cabin baggage allowance with Ryanair's strict policy?

I too have heard the stories about Ryanair's stiff excess baggage fees... apparently it is a major way the airline makes money, to cover for their loss-leader fares. I'd just pack light.

But it does remind me of a scene I created at the AA check-in counter at SFO, moving back to DC from a summer in SF. A box of mine was a few pounds over, and AA wanted to charge me $50 or $75 or some such thing. I said, "hold on a second," ripped the box open, and started pulling out the heaviest items (hiking boots, etc.,) and putting them in my carry-on. After a couple minutes, and the box still a couple pounds over, the agent relented. :cool:

I recently flew Ryanair from STN and TRN. There were two of us on the same PNR, so our checked luggage allowance was pooled to 30kg. When the scale showed 32.1 KG I reached for my wallet, but to my surprise, no fee was collected. My carryon was not weighed either. Perhaps the agent correctly realized that attempting to charge me for my 1.2kg excess would not result in any extra money for Ryanair -- I would have simply removed something from my bag and put it in my pocket or carryon.

I flew EasyJet this summer from AMS-GVA. The flight/check-in was fine. However, upon asking for a cup of coffee, I was given a half cup (perhaps 4 oz) of black coffee and charged somewhere in the neighborhood of the equivalent of 4-5 dollars.

I understand that airlines (esp. LCC) charge for onboard food nowadays, but i remember thinking that that was incredibly absurd.

Ryanair have gone on record as saying that they hoped that in the future, flights would be free (nominal tax charge only) and that they would make their money solely from onboard services. If I get a really cheap flight on a route that I want to be successful I factor in the cost of some drinks and snacks (up to say $7-8) into the ticket price and buy on board (although I always take my own lunch as I'm so darned picky!).