easyJet drops free large cabin bag on certain fares

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• TimM says:

  3 Jul3 July 09:15

  The unbundling of cabin bag and seat location can only be a logical move to compete with RyanAir, though personally disappointing. I was hoping that easyJet would go the other way and create a proper business class in their ‘upfront’ seats to include food, drinks and lounge access. All these can be paid for separately but it is not the same as knowing everyone you are sitting amongst has also splurged on a better experience. A business class on easyJet would truly differentiate it from RyanAir and steal business from the full service airlines.

  • ChrisBCN says:

    3 Jul3 July 09:46

    “it is not the same as knowing everyone you are sitting amongst has also splurged on a better experience”

    Really? That’s what goes through your mind?

    • yorkieflyer says:

      3 Jul3 July 21:28

      Elitism rules ok

  • JDB says:

    3 Jul3 July 10:10

    @TimM – a key element of the LCC business model is load factors and simplicity as complexity = cost. It would be barking for EasyJet to introduce any separate class. EasyJet, Ryanair and Jet2, while all under the broad umbrella of LCCs, have quite individual characteristics and address distinct market segments which already works for each of them.

• jjoohhnn says:

  3 Jul3 July 09:38

  No card/ATM fees are great, in theory, if the retailer allow you to use them. I was in the US recently and the Macy’s till offered me the option of them converting to GBP or paying in $ with my nationwide no fx fees credit card. When I selected the $ rate it was rejected. I tried multiple times and ended up having to accept their crappy conversion rate instead.

  Note that some ATMs also charge you their own fee for withdrawing if you have a foreign card – you can get hit up for dodgy FX rates, your bank fee, and ATM machine fee! Does anyone know of a database or something where you can find ATMs that don’t charge a fee?

  • His Holyness says:

    3 Jul3 July 10:19

    Perhaps Nationwide was too embarrassed to process a charge from Macy’s.

  • Michael Jennings says:

    3 Jul3 July 12:05

    The are obliged by their agreement with Visa/Mastercard to give you the option of being charged in local currency. I have occasionally seen things like what you describe – the option being switched off or the terminal not even having it – but you should complain vociferously if it happens, ideally to Visa or Mastercard. Or if you are really feeling nasty, do a chargeback.

    When we were in the EU, ATM owners were obliged to treat foreigners from other EU countries the same way as locals, so if there were no ATM fees charged by the ATM owners for locals then there were no ATM fees charged by the ATM for Brits either. (They could still try to hit you for dodgy FX rates, but you had the right of refusal). This is no longer so, and there are now some hefty fees. It’s particularly bad in Spain. ATMs that don’t charge fees still exist, but you have to seek them out. (Deutsche Bank have a network of branches in Spain that don’t charge fees, for one thing).

    • jjoohhnn says:

      3 Jul3 July 12:44

      The machine did give me the option, but the card was then rejected for whatever reason! Could have been Nationwide end for all I know.. you can’t tell the reason why when you are at the card terminal.

      Ok, that’s interesting about the EU ATM’s, I didn’t know things had changed. It is the kind of thing that needs to be crowd sourced I think to share the knowledge and help people find the right machine! It also makes the fee-free cards less useful really, but paying by card rather than cash is generally easier.

      • Michael Jennings says:

        3 Jul3 July 13:55

        When I find a machine that doesn’t charge fees, I get a couple of hundred euros for occasions when I can’t pay by card and I might need cash. It’s lasting me longer each time.

        • Rob says:

          3 Jul3 July 14:20

          I do this if I end up at a machine charging a flat fee. Assuming I am in desperate need to get some cash out, I just whack up the amount to minimise the impact of the fee and use the rest later.

  • Michael Jennings says:

    3 Jul3 July 12:06

    The Chase Debit Card is brilliant full stop.

    • John says:

      3 Jul3 July 12:49

      I like the card but it’s a shame the app is so clunky

      • Alan says:

        4 Jul4 July 08:23

        Agree, plus ludicrously slow. Every other app works perfectly but it’s just incredibly slow.

• Rob says:

  3 Jul3 July 09:38

  Not sure if I’ve missed a hotel recipe but any tips from your trip to Seville would be great.

• Nick says:

  3 Jul3 July 09:40

  I wonder if any of the European airlines will ‘break ranks’ and follow Southwest on baggage. Allowing checked bags free means they have precisely zero issues with hand luggage on any flight and can turn an aircraft in 20 mins flat including fully boarding all pax. EasyJet have had to increase turn times in recent years, BAEF is about to follow them by charging for cabin bags, LH now sends staff with the sizer through the queue to pick out victims to force gate checking… there’s got to be a market somewhere for a brave airline to change the chaos.

  • Richie says:

    3 Jul3 July 09:42

    What’s your source for your BAEF information?

  • KevMc says:

    3 Jul3 July 09:50

    Aer Lingus do this on their short-haul routes and have done for a couple of years now; 10kg checked bag included. Only get a small personal item on board incuded.

• Travel Strong says:

  3 Jul3 July 09:53

  Controversially, I think I might like this change.
  Because there is now a better chance of large-bag-bringers being distributed more evenly amongst the cabin.

  My biggest annoyance when flying EZY is the lack of overhead space in the first few rows – because the bundling of large-bags with these seats makes them almost exclusively occupied by large-bag-bringers (I am also in this category!).

  I’ve encountered flights where there is nothing at all in the bins throughout the plane except for those above the Up Front and exit rows

  I’ve often been in Row 1 – 3 and had to put my bag in row 10+, flight against the flow to get back to my seat on boarding, and fight against the flow to get my bag back after landing. Stress I can do without.

  If this helps thaty just a little, then I’m on board.

  • Travel Strong says:

    3 Jul3 July 09:56

    Or in other words – it may make the ‘premium’ product (bag, speedy boarding) more exclusive and, as I am prepared to pay for this – that makes it a better proposition not worse.

  • lumma says:

    3 Jul3 July 14:15

    I’d never pay for front few rows on LCCs for this reason. Booked 1A on Ryanair once and ended up being just about last off as I couldn’t get back to retrieve my bag for above row 6

• vlcnc says:

  3 Jul3 July 10:12

  easyJet is really not low-cost in terms of value now, although the experience remains so.

• Brian says:

  3 Jul3 July 11:08

  Has the main report on the party been published yet? I thought it was due before/at the weekend? Did I miss it??

  • Rob says:

    3 Jul3 July 12:54

    Rhys is literally working on it now, so hopefully tomorrow. The photos needed some touching up because they were a little dark so it took longer than we hoped.

    • Brian says:

      3 Jul3 July 17:10

      Cheers Rob.

• Ramsey says:

  3 Jul3 July 11:35

  Rob, nottrue on the global money fx rates – they are very competitive as posted by users on your forums previously- please do your homework before posting such comments

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