Is Easy Jet worth trying?
 

Have any of you flown on the low cost Euro airline Easy Jet? How was your experience? Their prices look pretty good, but I was wondering how much I would suffer on their longer routes, such as London to Athens.
Thanks!
Jaas

Think Southwest and you won't be too far off. We've flown on it as well as a number of other European discounters for shorter flights, and we found them all to be quite satisfactory - new equipment, comfortable seats, competent crews, and great prices.

Whether it's worth it to spend more bucks for a more refined experience on a longer flight is a decision for your own spending priorities. If the price was right, we wouldn't hesitate to fly them on a longer flight.

I took an EasyJet flight between LGW & AMS. Since it was a short flight it wasn't a problem, but I believe the seat pitch is 29".

their prices are fantastic, especially if you book far enough in advance. I flew London to AMS for 25 bucks! Most of the price advantage disappears as the date of travel gets near. The comparison to SW is appropriate. You may need to bring your own snacks/beverges - I don't remember.

Also, sometimes they use suburban airports. You have to do some homework to figure out how to get to those airports. For example, a cab ride to London Luton airport will devour your savings, but there is a resonably priced train from Victoria. Their website has a lot of useful info.

Get to the airport early to ckin early, make sure you're at the front of the line for boarding, and you often can get exit-row seating.

Sat 'first-class' easyJet STN-CDG because I was in the exit row that didn't have a seat in front of me. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Please continue to follow this thread in "Travel"Buzz, as it is not pure mileage collection oriented.

------------------
Craig6z
Buzz & United Moderator

All short hauls are worth it -at 29GBP+tax it is still a steal.

[This message has been edited by akhullar (edited Mar 21, 2004).]

Ive flown them a few times and the idea of it being a Euro-Southwest is pretty deadon. No complaints tho (and I would never did SWest here in the US!) -- their prices are great and sometimes unbelievable for quick intra-euro flights.

Of more concern to me would be whether you have any onward connections that would suffer if you have a delayed EasyJet flight. The worst thing that will happen on the flight is that you might be cramped (although that's not a given either).

I have flown Liverpool to AMS and Liverpool to CDG. Both flights were pleasant and pretty much on time. If the price were right I would take them. Also, read carefully the limit on luggage allowances. The luggage allowance was very small and may be an issue if you were taking lots of luggage on a long holiday.



------------------
Rachel
Pictures From My Trips & Travels

Easyjet generally uses main airports - it's Easyjet's rival Ryanair that has a habit of flying to SmallTown "A" but advertising its flights as flights to BigCity "B" some 50 miles away.

LTN is a designated London Airport, it used to be primarily an airport for charter flights but has always had some scheduled services and is now used extensively by LCCs. As you say it has a rail connection to London; I'm actually surprised anyone would even think of using a taxi to get into London from there! (BTW, Luton is not a suburb of London, it is a town in its own right)



[This message has been edited by Aviatrix (edited Mar 21, 2004).]

The usual corrections to comments on FT about Easyjet - I should have them in a standard document ready to paste in !

Easyjet have moved on from being a niche player to being a significant part of the European air travel network. Same for Ryanair.

Easyjet use the major airports in most places. In London they increasingly operate to destinations from combinations of three of the airports spread equally around - Luton, Gatwick and Stansted. They do not serve Heathrow. All have train services from Central London, Luton by a service that runs right across London south to north with principal stops London Bridge, St Pauls and Kings Cross.

Good on time record. They don't have the congestion of Heathrow to deal with.

Absolutely standard European baggage allowance - 44 lb checked baggage, plus 11 lb hand baggage, plus a laptop. Fee charged for excess.

Rigorous about check-in cutting off 40 minutes before departure. But they are fairer than often portrayed if you only just miss it and will put you on the next flight.

Plenty of snacks and drinks offered on the flight, often several times. It is all charged for.

29" seat pitch which is again European charter standard - what we have known for years going on holiday to the Mediterranean. At 6'0" I find it fine. Open seating, so to get the exit row or row 1, check in first and you will be allowed to board first, Southwest-style.

Their fares are sometimes way better than other airlines, but sometimes not - the traditional airlines have moved to compete. So always worth checking both.

www.easyJet.com tells you all you need to know.

Flew ORY-GVA for 8 €.

Loved it.

Also, if flying from the North of England/Midlands there is the option of BMI Baby which is priced comparably to Easyjet (flies out of Manchester and East Midlands among others). I've used both airlines and been more or less on time each time I've used them, not to mention happy with the service.

Ryanair as a company seems to have a real attitude problem and gets a lot of bad press here on FT but don't discount them if they'll get you where you want to go.

Only go easy jet if you love to be received and catered for in-flight by orange flavoured children.

Everything's fine when everythings fine. Everything is 'orrible when everything is 'orrible.

Go easy jet - but don't come back here and compalin if you get the service you should have expected.