easyJet offers British Airways elite members a special deal to defect

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• babyg_wc says:

  25 Feb25 February 15:03

  arrgh just renewed…

• ADS says:

  25 Feb25 February 15:13

  absolutely agree about a “once in a decade” opportunity … but disagree about offering it free

  Firstly – human psychology is that people don’t value “free” things
  Secondly – if you’ve invested £122 in your half price membership, you’re more likely to actually fly U2 in order to crystallise your investment
  Thirdly – less likely to pee off existing card holders

  Where I do think U2 could have gone further is to make the 50% offer available to BA card holders’ immediate family

  • The Lord says:

    25 Feb25 February 16:18

    Whats this got to do with Bono?

    • Richie says:

      25 Feb25 February 16:59

      U2 is the IATA airline code for easyJet.

      • Rob H not Rob says:

        25 Feb25 February 17:05

        As it only applies to the member and not immediate family the dilemma is to travel with or without you.

        • Skywalker says:

          25 Feb25 February 17:18

          I miss Sarajevo – does U2 fly there?

        • Aston100 says:

          25 Feb25 February 17:23

          Good one Rob H!

        • Michael C says:

          25 Feb25 February 17:36

          Then you’d become an unforgettable flier.

        • John says:

          25 Feb25 February 20:03

          No U2 doesn’t go to SJJ

        • Chris L says:

          25 Feb25 February 22:08

          😂

  • Zain says:

    25 Feb25 February 16:45

    Fully agree with this approach – just like how it works in software sales.

  • babyg_wc says:

    25 Feb25 February 16:49

    exactly… ive signed up to a number of “free” status matches over the years… and never used them…

    • Rob says:

      25 Feb25 February 17:00

      Yes, but so what? It costs easyJet nothing to give you a free year either – and its got your email details and knows you’re a BA elite. Worth setting you up.

      Do you think I complain if 100 people sign up for our weekly newsletter after a burst of PR and only 10 ever take out a credit card after reading about it there?

      • babyg_wc says:

        25 Feb25 February 17:37

        the point i was agreeing with was i am more likely to use something i have paid for, vs something that is free.. and i think the point is to get more bums on seats (multiple times) than more people signed up to a membership they wont use…

        • MPC says:

          26 Feb26 February 07:23

          Hmm we are not wired the same. I’d much rather give something out for free and entice people in and get them hooked rather than charging for something that essentially costs Easyjet nothing (presumably there’s enough wiggle room in the ticket price to also cover a cabin bag, not sure how much they would have to pay for fast track) and put people off ever trying the service in the first place. It’s rare you can acquire customers for free – Let alone get paid to acquire them.

      • ken says:

        26 Feb26 February 09:55

        But why would people swap now when they have status until April 2026 ?

        I suspect offering it free now would attract a load of sign ups who won’t use it (of some use as you get their details) plus people who might have Silver /Gold and already use Easyjet a couple of times a year anyway (plenty of ski flights Manchester / Liverpool).

        • Rob says:

          26 Feb26 February 10:06

          I agree – which is why easyJet (and Flying Blue etc etc) will be back next spring with similar, if not better, offers.

• Richie says:

  25 Feb25 February 15:20

  They’d get more sign ups at an offer price of £98.

• Aston100 says:

  25 Feb25 February 15:23

  “Free speedy boarding – although this is less important if you have a seat selected”

  Not sure I understand this bit.
  As far as I know, everybody gets a seat allocated by the time they check-in.
  Nobody needs to race to the plane to grab the best seats.

  Have I misunderstood?

  • CJD says:

    25 Feb25 February 15:29

    My understanding of Speedy Boarding is that it’s bundled with your on-board cabin bag, meaning you’re more likely to get overhead locker space as a result of being one of the first on the plane.

  • Barrel for Scraping says:

    25 Feb25 February 15:30

    Probably a leftover from a previous article. At one time easyJet didn’t have allocated seating so speedy boarding was a way to be sure to get seats together

    • Rob says:

      25 Feb25 February 15:31

      No, what I meant is ‘less important if you don’t have hand baggage’, not sure how that got in!

    • KathyM says:

      26 Feb26 February 08:09

      I also have memories of that time. At the word GO there was a sprint across the tarmac. What they called ‘slow walkers ‘ got a 30 second start and got flattened by the running group.
      As someone only enticed from EasyJet to BA by the AVIOS scheme (and by HfP) I will be looking to return.

  • daveinitalia says:

    25 Feb25 February 16:05

    If you have a seat selected you’re more likely nearer the front so no need to have to fight through the people in the aisle. When I’m in CE I tend not to worry about group 0 boarding if I only have a small bag with me

• James C says:

  25 Feb25 February 15:29

  Agreed I’d have priced this sub £99- which you must be able to recoup through one flight- but creates an incentive to actually use it. And then go aggressive on better frequencies, bigger European network and illustrating the time savings from having regional bases rather than connecting via LHR. Get some sponsored articles here and elsewhere in the travel press. Agree a real opportunity for them to pick up business.

• Ben says:

  25 Feb25 February 15:47

  Warning: to apply, EasyJet are requesting proof of ID (driving license or passport) by email. This is horribly insecure, because your details will be transmitted unencrypted over the open Internet – the analogy often given is that it’s like sending a postcard that all en route can read.

  The mailbox will also become a juicy target for hackers!

  • CheshirePete says:

    25 Feb25 February 16:14

    They give a link in the t&c if this is a concern to anyone.

    You can raise any concerns about the way easyJet handles personal data with the Information Commissioner’s Office via their web-form at: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ or call the ICO helpline on +44 (0) 303 123 1113.

  • CheshirePete says:

    25 Feb25 February 16:15

    It’s also worth noting if the email is intercepted and you’ve sent your driving license with address, your BAEC card with the number and they have your email address also! That’s enough to pass BAs DP questions. It’s a very good point Ben.

  • memesweeper says:

    25 Feb25 February 17:23

    ” This is horribly insecure, because your details will be transmitted unencrypted over the open Internet ”

    highly unlikely to be unencrypted as easyJet.com is managed by Microsoft, so the *senders* email system would need to be horribly misconfigured for it to be sent unencrypted… and you, the sender, are able to check on that (and indeed insist on it for receiving domains you care about).

    • Panda Mick says:

      26 Feb26 February 10:06

      SMTP (The protocol for sending email) supports *opportunistic* Encryption, meaning that, if both client and server supports encryption, then the message will be encrypted.

      BUT, this is not guaranteed, so there is a possibility of the email being intercepted by a rogue wifi access point (FreeWiFi, for example). But if you’re at home, office, using cellular, it’s unlikely

• Pogonation says:

  25 Feb25 February 15:58

  This genuinely seems like a good offer. I had never really looked at easyjet plus (mainly because it doesn’t have a good network from NCL for me) but it seems as though it is fairly easy to recoup the spend.

  If we look at a return flight:
  Seat selection – Average £10 for a normal seat (but huge benefit of being able to select premium seats)
  Free large cabin bag (this is where the big savings are) – Average £25-30 per flight
  Fast-track – Average £5
  Free switch to an earlier flight home – Hard to put a value on it but incredibly valuable for some people.

  So for a return flight you’re already making around £80 in savings. Your investment is recouped after 3 x one-ways but could be be after just one return if taking advantage of premium seats etc.

  I may consider this as I probably take 3 return flights NCL-BRS per year anyway.

  • Olly says:

    25 Feb25 February 16:15

    The figures on their site, quite slightly higher values:
    Seats: £22.50
    Bags: £29
    Fast-track: £8

    If you’d genuinely pay for these things then the value is there for 3 flights+

    • The real Swiss Tony says:

      25 Feb25 February 16:36

      The extra charge to take a sensible bag onboard is infact so high that it has previously tipped me away from easyJet.

      • Stuart says:

        25 Feb25 February 17:22

        I looked at an EasyJet booking the other week and it was cheaper to take a hold bag than a large carry on. Ridiculous!

        • Tim says:

          25 Feb25 February 19:29

          not ridiculous if your priority is fast boarding and unboarding. Cabin bags slow people down and Easyjet have tight turn arounds to maximise use of their aircraft.

        • CJD says:

          26 Feb26 February 09:48

          Not really. If I’m using easyJet for a city break in Europe for a weekend, I probably only want a small cabin bag rather than a checked suitcase; charging more for that reflects the convenience of being able to disembark and head straight for passport control and out the airport rather than wait around for luggage to be delivered and come off the carousel.

      • Mark Janes says:

        26 Feb26 February 09:00

        Me too. Easyjet is in direct competition with BA for my regular route from Inverness down to London. BA often works out cheaper as they include an under-seat bag and a full cabin bag.

  • NorskSaint says:

    25 Feb25 February 16:35

    Pogonation – SAS started offering free same day switch to Diamond members last year and have to say its the most useful benefit they have for me. I have purposely booked a later flight while watching boarding happening for a flight boarding and closed to ticket sales. Then headed to the boarding agent and asked to swap on to that flight.

    As you say subjective depending on route and circumstances but could be of use.

• Olly says:

  25 Feb25 February 16:08

  Do the benefits apply to already booked flights or only new bookings?

  • babyg_wc says:

    25 Feb25 February 17:08

    @Olly you can add your easyjet number to existing bookings in my experience … but you wont be refunded for any seats etc youve already paid for.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.