In this trip report, I review my latest flight on Easyjet. The Easyjet inflight magazine reliably informed me that they fly 976 routes across 161 airports in 34 countries in Europe and beyond. This makes Easyjet a convenient if basic, choice for flying about within Europe. They fly 143 Airbus A319 planes, 130 Airbus A320 CEO planes and just one Airbus A320 NEO.
If you are travelling within Europe, but not via London Heathrow or London Gatwick, you are unlikely to be able to book your flight on British Airways and will need to choose another airline for your direct flight. Yesterday I flew with Easyjet from Geneva Airport’s rather tatty French terminal (to be fair, they are building a new French terminal but the current one is somewhat dated). My flight was taking me from Geneva down to Nice airport. The other option for us was to fly SWISS but the SWISS flights were badly timed, hence my choice of Easyjet.
I usually fly in British Airways Club Europe, which is is a great way to fly. The British Airways European fleet have modern interiors and when you fly in Club Class you get food along with lounge access which I particularly like at London Heathrow.
When I booked our Easyjet flight online, I paid extra for seat selection plus 3 hold bags but no speedy boarding.
Is It Worth Paying For Speedy Boarding?
A number of people had booked “Speedy Boarding” on Easyjet which got them bumped up the check-in queue and onto the bus that transferred passengers to the plane first. Consequently “Speedy Boarding” passengers got you on the plane first. At I guess, I would say maybe 30 people had booked into the speedy line.
To be honest, I couldn’t see the value here (although clearly 30 or so people on this flight could). I would not pay to bump up the queue at the supermarket and I would not pay to get on the bus first or down the ramp to get on the plane first.
It is worth noting that if you have kids below a certain, you can get on the bus or board the plane directly after the speedy boarding and before the rest of the passengers. The child’s age which wasn’t clear to me, but my son was 8 and he seemed to get us to the front of the queue, although I am not sure he wasn’t too old to officially get us to the front of the queue.
Is It Worth Paying For Pre-Selected Seat?
We did pay for three pre-selected seats next to each other in row 9. They were cheap seats as pre-selected seats tend cost different amounts depending on where on the plane they are. The front seats and the exit row seats carried a premium when I booked although I can’t remember the exact price.
Our row 9 seats were a good choice and although they were not the best seats on the plane (the best seats are probably the front row) they were satisfactory and were directly behind an exit row, so they were a good choice. On the Easyjet planes, there is little to choose between the seats. All are the same with very similar leg room (see picture above in the scroller showing the leg room by my legs) with the exception of the seats in row 1 and seats in the exit row that I believe offer more leg room.
The seats themselves are all identical, they don’t recline and have cloth covers in a grey/black hue with the Easyjet orange everywhere. I found the cabin inoffensive but I prefer the leather seats on BA and even though the Easyjet fleet is one of the most modern in the sky, with planes averaging under 7 years in age, I thought the cabin was a little tired with signs of wear on the seats and on the carpet. Nothing major, but you could definitely see that the plane wasn’t brand new.
Luggage
We paid for 3 bags and were able to take 3 pieces of cabin luggage for free (one each). The staff were very strict on this rule and would only allow one piece of cabin luggage per passenger, so don’t assume you will be fine with one piece of cabin luggage and a handbag or laptop bag. You will be asked to put the handbag in your main holdall before boarding the plane.
Flight
The flight itself was just a short hop from Geneva to Nice, 45 minutes in total. Our flight had an hour delay but the flight itself was smooth and fine. No complaints, it got us from A to B. It is worth noting that if your Easyjet flight (or any other flight) arrives more than three hours after the scheduled time of arrival, or is cancelled within 14 days of departure, you may be able to claim EC261 compensation, as long as the delay is the fault of the airline. If the cause of your delay or cancellation is classified as an “Extraordinary circumstance” (like an air traffic control strike or bad weather) you will not be entitled to EC261 flight compensation.
In 2017, figures released by Civil Aviation Authority now officially showed that Easyjet was the worst airline for flight delays, and this certainly seemed to ring true for our flight, so bear in mind that the probability of a delay when flying on Easyjet is higher than on other airlines and plan accordingly.
Food
I photographed the current food menu on the Easyjet which you can see in the scroller above. They seemed to offer a sandwich meal deal that offered decent value, and snacks and drinks, but as our flight was so short, we did not buy anything off the menu.
Final Thoughts: Just How Bad Was our Easyjet Flight
Our Easyjet flight got us from Geneva to Nice. 61688g was stressful and the cabin was fine but pretty basic. Would I fly them again? Well, the delay was a pain and would actually put me off flying with Easyjet, but in the situation where Easyjet was the only reasonably timed flight on the route I needed to travel, I would fly Easyjet, even though I would prefer not to.
No, it isn’t all that bad but flying Easyjet. It’s like taking a bus in the sky. Flying Easyjet knocks all the joy and romance out of flying but it does get you from A to B.
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