Save 25% on Aer Lingus Avios flights this week

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• Dubious says:

  4 Nov4 November 03:35

  I suppose the original policy was intended to improve on-time performance and turnaround times. Good for the shareholder KPIs including aircraft utilisation…
  …but not clear if there was an overall impact upon revenue.

  I suppose the new policy is an attempt to introduce some flexibility for purchasing the cabin baggage option (i.e. no longer restricted to buying certain types of seats), WHILST ALSO discouraging it.
  i.e. allow it but discourage the purchase of it by every passenger – nudge them towards check-in baggage instead.
  This I may be why the pricing seems to be linked to some form of inventory, i.e. the prices increase the greater the demand.

  This is not a bad idea in principle but perhaps the execution and optics need to be better managed?

  Perhaps the biggest issue they should look at are the permitted dimensions for the ‘small bag under the seat in front of you’. I guess they know that if they give an inch a lot of people will try to take a yard so have started with compact dimensions.

  Would be nice if they considered whether the dimensions of multiple carry-on bags are still within the limit for under seat storage. This might alleviate some issues.

• Andrew says:

  4 Nov4 November 05:37

  Not that I care as I wouldn’t fly EasyJet anyway, but this second retraction article has confused me even further about what the policy is/was, has changed/not changed.

  • TimM says:

    4 Nov4 November 07:40

    Very little has changed.
    1) Those with seats that do not already include a second larger bag may now do so, subject to payment & availability.
    2) The ‘Hands Free’ option of checking in the larger second bag has been removed.

    What has not changed:
    Those paying for seats classed as ‘Up front’, front and emergency exit rows, members of easyJet Plus and those on more expensive Flex fares may still take a second larger bag (56 x 45 x 25 cm) without payment.
    All passengers, including the above, may still take a smaller bag (45 x 36 x 20 cm). In both cases there is no weight limit, separately or combined.

    Even the correction above is full of errors, some small e.g. 55 cm instead of 56 cm, some large:
    “The article yesterday was talking about the fact that easyJet will now let you pay to take hand baggage into the cabin.

    “Since February 2021, this has not been allowed. You were forced to pay for an ‘Up Front’ seat or an exit row seat if you wanted to bring hand baggage on.”

    As stated above, all passengers have always been allowed to take a bag of up to 45 x 36 x 20 cm, without weight limit and without payment. The idea being that a bag of this size could fit under the seat in front if the overhead bins were full.

    Loss of the Hands-Free option is indeed the major change and should have been better understood and communicated in the article yesterday. Being able to check-in a max-sized cabin bag with liquids etc., with no weight limit and still have a second cabin bag allowance comparable to many low-cost airlines for just £3-£7 was an absolute steal. It will be sorely missed by wily travellers.

    Allowing others to pay for a second larger cabin bag is a minor pragmatic move and not worthy of the headlines and certainly not of the misleading treatment HfP has given it and continues to give it.

    The article was a classic case of grabbing the stick by the wrong end and proceeding to beat it about the bush.

    • Briand says:

      4 Nov4 November 08:04

      Give the guy a break…

      • Bearing up says:

        4 Nov4 November 09:05

        +1

    • Toddy says:

      4 Nov4 November 13:03

      Tim being a drama Queen for the second day in a row Zzzzz

• Mark J says:

  4 Nov4 November 08:18

  We fly mostly domestic with Easyjet (we live near Inverness) and used Hands Free quite a bit. For our next trip south we’ve just booked Standard Plus with an up-front seat, speedy boarding, seat selection and a cabin bag plus underseat bag included. Not much of a cost-difference vs Hands Free to be honest, and no hassle with bag drop or baggage reclaim. We also buy fast track security at Gatwick. I used to find this morally repugnant but then thought; “life’s too short, why not?”

• Dave says:

  4 Nov4 November 08:39

  Yes, the article yesterday was confusing, difficult to read and understand as far as I was concerned. It would have been far better to simply provide the link to the easyJet site which explains things far simpler. It is concise, to the point and sticks to the facts. I think the HfP article should have stuck to that brief on this occasion and left opinions and additional comments to feature in the comments section only.

  This is just my opinion though.

  • Mikeact says:

    4 Nov4 November 08:50

    OK then, on this occasion Rob got it misleading wrong, but he’s apologised….which is more than you get from some on here….He made an error…put his hand up…so I suggest we all move on.

    • CarpalTravel says:

      4 Nov4 November 09:21

      +1

      Both apologised and clarified.

• Mikeact says:

  4 Nov4 November 08:44

  I have next to no experience with EJ.
  As an aside, my youngest son and girlfriend arrived back safely on Monday from Tenerife into Gatwick, less their one suitcase. This morning, he has just WhatsApp me..luggage found but that’s it. Four days seems quite long, but then I understand these things happen in life.

• Robin says:

  4 Nov4 November 09:25

  The strange thing is that easyjet wants to attract business travellers.
  A check-in bag slows their travel experience before and after.
  They need to use the overhead space if they’re staying overnight.
  Offering the overhead via the app only is not a solution as business travellers usually book through a TMC or have their PA arrange

  • Richie says:

    4 Nov4 November 10:26

    Wouldn’t a TMC or a PA have access to an app?

    • Lady London says:

      4 Nov4 November 15:03

      Generally not.

      The app has stopped working for me ages ago, it was never that good and no update or reinstall fixes it. From CS it seems some passengers are known to experience this

• Matarredondaaa says:

  4 Nov4 November 09:32

  As a regular EJ flier since they began 25 years ago I understood Rob”s article yesterday but those who rarely or never use would have found it confusing as they have no understanding how EJ work.
  A lot of the frankly, uninformed comments, made me chuckle.
  Find it amazing people, who proclaim they never use EJ but are happy to be critical.

  • John says:

    4 Nov4 November 09:49

    Exactly. Also a lot of snobbery in some of the comments.

    • bazza says:

      4 Nov4 November 14:32

      You are on the wrong site if you are expecting anything different. Terrible attitude from many towards the less privileged travellers

      • Anuj says:

        4 Nov4 November 15:16

        There’s barely any difference between Easyjet and BA Europe flights anyway ! I’d rather spend the money saved flying easyjet (with an almost identical and sometimes better experience than BA) on hotels or holiday spend.

• lumma says:

  4 Nov4 November 09:46

  I’ve never owned a hard sided suitcase, but have never thought twice about checking in my other luggage. I wouldn’t put my laptop or expensive camera in checked bags but I’ve never had any issue with having bottles of spirits inside breaking.

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