EUROPE Airlines - EasyJet - Reliability

I will be flying from London to Switzerland in June (for the first time) and
have noticed that Easy Jet has really low prices. On their web site the
restrictions seem more restrictive than British Airways.

WIth this in mind, can anyone comment on their reliability (amount of late or
cancelled flights). If a flight is cancelled there seems to be no option but
to wait for the next flight (they may not put you on another airline).
I will be flying back from Geneva to London in the morning(probably on Easy
Jet) and then leaving London 6 hours later. I am leaving plenty of time to
transfer from Lutton to Heathrow.

Should I have any concerns other than the normal probability of having a flight
1/2 to 1 hr late?
Thanks for any advice on EasyJet.
Rick

"Stromer2" wrote in message
...
I will be flying from London to Switzerland in June (for the first time)
and
have noticed that Easy Jet has really low prices. On their web site the
restrictions seem more restrictive than British Airways.

WIth this in mind, can anyone comment on their reliability (amount of late
or
cancelled flights). If a flight is cancelled there seems to be no option
but
to wait for the next flight (they may not put you on another airline).
I will be flying back from Geneva to London in the morning(probably on
Easy
Jet) and then leaving London 6 hours later. I am leaving plenty of time
to
transfer from Lutton to Heathrow.

Should I have any concerns other than the normal probability of having a
flight
1/2 to 1 hr late?
Thanks for any advice on EasyJet.
Rick

The question I would ask is - how much of a disaster is it if you don't make
the Heathrow flight?
I think even if using a regular carrier, I would add an overnight in London,
because I usually travel on nonrefundable, nonchangeable tickets.
The itinerary you suggest would work well almost always, but EasyJet does
not have a perfect record.

Traveler

"Stromer2" wrote in message
...
I will be flying from London to Switzerland in June (for the first time) and
have noticed that Easy Jet has really low prices. On their web site the
restrictions seem more restrictive than British Airways.

WIth this in mind, can anyone comment on their reliability (amount of late or
cancelled flights). If a flight is cancelled there seems to be no option but
to wait for the next flight (they may not put you on another airline).
I will be flying back from Geneva to London in the morning(probably on Easy
Jet) and then leaving London 6 hours later. I am leaving plenty of time to
transfer from Lutton to Heathrow.

Should I have any concerns other than the normal probability of having a
flight
1/2 to 1 hr late?
Thanks for any advice on EasyJet.
Rick

Their reliability is generally good. Their business model is a copy of that of
the US SouthWest airline and they are a point to point airline only. If you
attempt to check in late they will refuse to accept you (40 minutes minimum out
of the UK) and if the flight is cancelled for any reason they will not transfer
you to another airline. Also note that they have restrictions on both checked
and carry-on baggage (all of this is explained clearly on their website).

I looked at comparative pricing and (including taxes) the cheapest return/round
trip I could find on EZY from Luton to GVA is GBP £41. The cheapest flights on
BA amount to GBP £78 to/from either Heathrow or London City. Bearing in mind the
cost to travel to and from Heathrow to Luton there doesn't seem to be a lot of
difference in the price, and you will also be offered food and a drink at no
cost on BA.

JohnT

Ulf Kutzner wrote in
semiretired schrieb:
Still a problem because their clerks register people for later flights
while passengers for earlier flights are being refused. Regards, ULF

Did easyJet actually do this to you?
If so - at what airport?
Were you within their checkin time?

I read in this NG that they have specific counters for specific flights.
This may result in a specific line at one specific counter while
deadline approaches. There should be priority for passengers who mmight
miss the deadline at all counters.
Didn't try Easy-Jet yet (they don't serve my favorite airports) but
nearly missed LH check-in and got through by my own initiative (well,
they have lots of departures at FRA, they cannot ask every time). I suggest
that priority be given to close-to-deadline passengers. Check-in-counters
could display departure times for which priority is a must. Ulf Kutzner

In my experience it works the opposite way round from your theory.
The long checkin queues are two hours before departure. Many passengers
want to get the best seats and so arrive at the aiport early to get a
low-numbered boarding card.
Because there are checkin desks dedicated to each flight there is always
a desk open to receive passengers arriving near the deadline and
this desk is not obstructed by those travelling on later flights because
those people are queueing at a different dedicated desk.

I believe the chances of somebody being denied boarding because they
arrived in good time but were held up in the easyJet checkin queue to
be virtually zero.

Unless anybody KNOWS different....

" schrieb:

Didn't try Easy-Jet yet (they don't serve my favorite airports) but
nearly missed LH check-in and got through by my own initiative (well,
they have lots of departures at FRA, they cannot ask every time). I suggest
that priority be given to close-to-deadline passengers. Check-in-counters
could display departure times for which priority is a must. Ulf Kutzner

In my experience it works the opposite way round from your theory.
The long checkin queues are two hours before departure. Many passengers
want to get the best seats and so arrive at the aiport early to get a
low-numbered boarding card.

Agree.

Because there are checkin desks dedicated to each flight there is always
a desk open to receive passengers arriving near the deadline and
this desk is not obstructed by those travelling on later flights because
those people are queueing at a different dedicated desk.

But the desk might wait for passengers and be less effective (could also
help registering paxes for earlier flights). AND there might be quite a
few passengers arriving at deadline -3 or -5.

If they have to use the dedicated desk, some of them won't be registered
for the flight.

Regards, ULF

Ulf Kutzner wrote
semiretired schrieb:

Because there are checkin desks dedicated to each flight there is always
a desk open to receive passengers arriving near the deadline and
this desk is not obstructed by those travelling on later flights because
those people are queueing at a different dedicated desk.

But the desk might wait for passengers and be less effective (could also
help registering paxes for earlier flights). AND there might be quite a
few passengers arriving at deadline -3 or -5.
If they have to use the dedicated desk, some of them won't be registered
for the flight. Regards, ULF

This is where you have to be very careful about what you try to
achieve.

Keeping checkin staff available on a dedicated desk to accept last
minute checkins may look like a waste of resources - BUT
those staff are there instantly on hand to deal with those last few
passengers checking in near to the deadline.

Passengers for other flights may take a few minutes longer to reach
their own designated desk but this is not going to make them fly out
any later.

Because passengers lose their money if they fail to checkin on time
for low cost airlines - that means not very many of them turn up at
the last minutes.
I believe that in general the process works well.