How I recreated British Airways Club Europe on easyJet for £107 one-way

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• John McManus says:

  2 Jul2 July 07:28

  Eurostar did not beat flying this weekend. The most chaotic “queuing” I’ve ever seen in my life at Gare du Nord on Sunday. Over two hours to check in and trains delayed a similar amount.

  • Rob says:

    2 Jul2 July 07:44

    No queue on Fri at 4pm!

  • Rich says:

    2 Jul2 July 10:15

    Glad it wasn’t just me!

    I turned up at St Pancras rather early (1515 for my 1701 departure). It looked like chaos but the departures board was showing everything on time. I changed my booking to the 1601.

    Even in Business Premier it took me 45 minutes to get through the queues. Luckily my new train was delayed and got me to Paris 40 min late, but slightly earlier than my original booking. I was able to make my connection to the sleeper and am now in sunny Briançon.

    Not sure what the problem was. Strikes on SNCF?

    • Genghis says:

      2 Jul2 July 10:39

      There were lots of people yesterday sitting on the floor of Gare du Nord as I snaked around them to get my Uber.

    • Lady London says:

      2 Jul2 July 18:37

      I really would like to work it to get into the lounge at Eurostar Paris because there’s nowhere near enough seating for busy trains. It;s a scandal that sitting on the floor there is a norm – Welcome to the City of Light

      • Genghis says:

        2 Jul2 July 21:19

        A cancelled Plat does the trick.

      • Rob says:

        2 Jul2 July 22:11

        Get a Plat, cancel it, keep the card, sorted for 3 years.

• Greg says:

  2 Jul2 July 07:31

  Flying this Saturday at noon from Gatwick. Anyone got recent experiences of security queues – Is premium security worth it?

  • Neil Spellings says:

    2 Jul2 July 10:50

    I’ve never queued at security for more than 10 minutes at Gatwick. They seem to be pretty slick these days.

• the real harry1 says:

  2 Jul2 July 07:44

  I prefer poor man’s CE on BA! Get the exit seat free of charge at the self check-in machines @airport, hope to blazes there’s no middle pax (which happens pretty often in the exit row, surprisingly). Even if you have a neighbour, the extra legroom makes up for armrest issues. After check in go to PP lounge for free on Amex (or Lounge Club) and eat & drink enough so that you don’t get the munchies on board, it is normally easy enough to grab a can of pop & some crisps/ fruit etc & stick in your bag for later. (Failing that, DP pass on TELEPD code or whatever’s current was about £17 last time I looked, see link to DP above. Or pay the £15 on Lounge Club if you have used up the 2 free passes. Or buy the 10 shot PP card for about £11-12 each pass if you can personally fly 10x in a year – passes not transferable unlike the Amex PP).

  Can’t see much point in getting het up about boarding in Group 1 as I’ve never yet had any issues stowing cabin baggage in the locker. Or if in an out-station just board in Group 1 anyway as that’s what half the non-native English-speaking pax do anyway, they never seem to get turned back to Group 4/5 as the gate agents just want the plane speedily boarded! (I HAVE seen wrong Group boarders turned back in UK, though.) And de-planing you’re in the front third so no issues there, either. Nobody much needs 2x 32kg so not an issue. TPs pointless to some as always flying on points I’ll never make status again.

  • Rob says:

    2 Jul2 July 08:52

    With the new A320neo you will find the cabin bag situation getting worse. I have had a few occasions now where the crew are basically begging over the PA for some people to give up their hand baggage. It is demeaning, frankly.

    • RussellH says:

      2 Jul2 July 11:09

      Last time we flew EZY (EDI-CPH) our hand baggage was taken off us at the gate in both directions and put in the hold and we had to queue at the carousel.
      LH, however, using a Canadair Regional Jet MUC-DRS hand baggage was taken off nearly everyone at the foot of the steps, then we collected it there at the end. Quite slick handling, no hanging around, so all the speed advantages of hand luggage without having to manoevere it on board or find locker space.

    • Lady London says:

      2 Jul2 July 18:38

      Routine for Easyjet and Ryanair, that, every time.

• Alan says:

  2 Jul2 July 08:03

  Sadly flying BA is no guarantee of a jetbridge! Went from bus gate at LHR to bus gate at EDI – way at the opposite side of the airfield near the cargo planes! Took ages to load everyone on then had to walk through the terminal building. Easyjet would have been quicker as at least they tend to be at stands you can walk into the terminal from!

  With a decent lounge and short flight I’d also not bother with BoB, so saving a bit more (and also making CE less valuable if not bothered about the food/drink).

  • sunguy says:

    2 Jul2 July 09:41

    This at EDI is actually the abomination of the management at the airport and not BAs fault (for once).

    Ive often flown into EDI late on in the evening and the aircraft has gone to some remote stand and PAX are collected in busses. Often the bus gives us a complete tour of the ramp – literally going from one far end of the ramp to the other far end, and making us get off at one of the furthest away gates into the terminal that is possible.

    This means an awful lot of un-neccessary walking and dragging of belongings, etc.

    Unfortunately since GIP took over from BAA, this seems to be the way they like to treat the airlines…..its very much gotten worse…..

    Im sure there is a reason that GIP require BA to give passengers a full tour of the ramp at 11pm followed by a very, very long walk rather than bussing them to a gate close to the airside exit – and Im sure the reason will be money related – but possibly just bad management!

  • Rebecca says:

    2 Jul2 July 11:01

    I flew from LCY to Paris in CE, was in boarding group 1. Boarded the bus first, but ended up one of the last able to board the plane as I was on the wrong side of the bus. Somewhat defeats the point I feel!

  • RussellH says:

    2 Jul2 July 11:12

    Had a similar experience many years ago LHR-GLA. We were told once on board that the huge bus journey was because Princess Anne was flying with us, and they like to board / de-plane her in the middle of nowhere for security.

• Jovanna says:

  2 Jul2 July 08:07

  Not many wardrobes left on the BA fleet out of Gatwick. It never was a benefit of CE. Crew would hang your jacket or coat but no obligation to do so.

• Alex W says:

  2 Jul2 July 08:14

  Is it really such a hardship sitting next to someone else for 2 hours? Jees

  • Rob says:

    2 Jul2 July 08:50

    Yes, people don’t like it and will pay to avoid it. BA doesn’t leave 6-10 unsold seats on every flight for fun.

    If you were offered a guaranteed empty seat next to you for £2 you would take it, if travelling alone. You know you would. It would be illogical to say no. Other people are willing to pay a lot more than £2 though which is why BA CE exists.

    • Rob says:

      2 Jul2 July 11:01

      BA thinks not, because it only started offering the empty middle seat a few years ago in an attempt to revive Club Europe. Most other major European airlines also do ’empty middle seat’ in Business.

    • marcw says:

      2 Jul2 July 11:22

      The only reason you get a “free” middle seat in CE is because there are 3 seats. Look at CE in BA CityFlier… no free seat next to you. So… BA does not think people would pay a lot extra for a free seat…

      However, probably the “free” middle seat in a 3 seat row is the only good selling point, because the problem is not that someone sits next to you, but when 3 seats are together (or 4) it can be annoying and very tight for the one sitting in the middle and next to the window. it´s all about comfort. The difference between an Y aisle seat and an C aisle seat is very very small, however.

    • Alex W says:

      2 Jul2 July 11:38

      Which is fair enough. My point was more that if the middle seat is that important to you, then you should be flying on one of those carriers that offer it instead of inventing fake musical instruments etc!

  • John says:

    2 Jul2 July 10:12

    No, I don’t care, and good for BA if people want to spend money on it

    I wouldn’t pay the £2. The most I’d pay is 9p if it was accepted in cash on board and I had the right amount of coins (but I usually don’t have any coins)

    • Rob says:

      2 Jul2 July 10:47

      I am assuming you therefore do not pay to select a seat and accept whatever you get at check-in, since if you did pay to select a seat then you clearly do have a preference for a certain level of comfort / convenience, which paying to remove the person next to you would increase even further.

      • Olly says:

        2 Jul2 July 12:22

        ????

  • HAM76 says:

    2 Jul2 July 19:10

    Yes. I fly business HAM-MUC and wanting some breathing space is one reason. The other is boarding first and not worry about overhead bins.

    • the real harry1 says:

      2 Jul2 July 19:16

      no overhead bins are allocated to the seats beneath them 🙂

• J says:

  2 Jul2 July 08:24

  OT (but still Easyjet). I had a two day cancellation last month, Easyjet offered a hotel, but we were able to stay with family so I asked on online chat if they would reimburse reasonable food costs if we opted not to take the hotel, and was told yes. I submitted a claim with all our receipts (total 55 euro for three of us for 48 hours – one cheap meal out, the rest supermarket spend). Claim was rejected on the grounds that “food was provided in the hotel”. No come back so far to my email replies. Any ideas on a quick way to get this sorted?

  • John says:

    2 Jul2 July 10:13

    Did you record the chat?

    • J says:

      2 Jul2 July 10:22

      Yep, screenshots of the full conversation. It’s one of those annoying cases where I have all the evidence I need to show it’s a simple mistake, but need to find a way to contact someone who can make a quick decision.

• marcw says:

  2 Jul2 July 08:32

  I fail to see the value around this (experiment?). Anyway, you should compare objectively. You´re comparing Easyjets flight cost, bought 16 days in advance, with the cheapest CE BA fare? Surely, in that case, you should be able to find cheap £30 fare to Paris from LGW if booked well in advance.
  I’m sure many readers would agree that there’s really no value in flying CE in short haul (let’s say up to 3h) – unless you are desperate for some TP or you need the luggage allowance. As TRH says, exit row is what you should aim for when travelling short haul.

  • Rob says:

    2 Jul2 July 08:39

    We always fly CE. Cannot put the kids into an exit row seat and, as a family of 4, 4-across works.

    Some women also refuse exit row seats (and bulkheads) as they are not willing to put expensive handbags into the overhead lockers.

    • Rebecca says:

      2 Jul2 July 11:05

      I wouldn’t sit in an exit row/bulkhead for this reason. I’ve had a scarf mysteriously go missing from an overhead locker on a flight. My handbag isn’t going in there. It wasn’t even an expensive scarf but it was very nice, and had great sentimental value.

  • Rob says:

    2 Jul2 July 08:45

    True, but the base fare was only £63 and I doubt a peak 8am weekday flight would get massively cheaper.

    • marcw says:

      2 Jul2 July 08:53

      11th september, 8 am, £36,22

      However, using Avios to travel CE is “just” fine – it’s not “expensive” (you get some value back with Lounge entrance and fast-track, which most of the times compensate for the extra Avios needed). However, would you still fly CE if, for instance, instead 9k Avios to Paris, you would need 30k, like Miles&More asks you to par for a FRA-Paris?

      And you clearly don’t fly always CE. Like this post, or remember that Niki flight you took with your family 🙂

      • Rob says:

        2 Jul2 July 09:10

        No Business Class on NIKI either 🙂 I would not pay 30k – plus £120 of taxes – via M&M though, I think we can safely say that. Bizarre system when for 50k in Business I can fly LHR FRA Dubai (on Singapore miles).

      • marcw says:

        2 Jul2 July 09:16

        Agree, those values do not make sense at all!

      • Lumma says:

        2 Jul2 July 10:24

        Those M&M redemptions are up there with using virgin miles on Delta on USA domestic flights. JFK-Buffalo 12,500 points plus $5.60 is the same as JFK-LAX

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