View Single Post
  #16  
Old March 18th, 2004, 11:43 PM
Traveller
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Was I unreasonable?


"Al Bennett" wrote in message
...


Apart from which, EasyJet *do* still preboard families, (before all

others),
with children under 5 years of age, which qualifies Elise and her
family to get on and seated before the general mob.
All you have to do is advise check-in and gate staff you have a child
under 5 and request preboarding.


Yes, they do. BUT let me describe an actual experience:

Recently at LGW, flying with my wife and (at the time) 10 month old son to
GVA. We make our way to the gate as soon as the gate is announced on the
monitors - which is a scant 15 minutes before departure time (and this has
happened before at LGW, especially with EZY). On approaching the gate in
question, there is a huge queue of people either waiting to get in to the
gate area (which is one of the gates on the 101 - 110 pier at LGW South,
apparently designed for aircraft of 80 seats or less) or trying to get
*past* the Easyjet gate to catch another carrier's flight further down the
pier. The corridor is jammed and we literally have to force our way through
the throng to the gate, earning plenty of sighs, grunts, and suchlike as we
try to manoeuvre a buggy.

We eventually get into the gate "lounge" (where 135 or whatever number of
people an EZY 737/A319 holds are trying to fit into a space designed for
half that number), bludgeon our way to the gate, and push our way onboard
among the arrogant tutting suits and others who don't feel we have any right
to be there, and who will do ANYTHING to get on first regardless of the
needs of others.

So, my wife grabs our son, I grab the buggy, and she sprints up the stairs
to the aircraft, as EZY do what they always did - call for parents and kids,
give them about 20 seconds to present themselves at the gate, another 20 to
extract child from buggy and fold same, and then call for passengers 1-30.
It just doesn't work and I am SURE BA and others don't behave in this way.