To think low cost air travel is insanely uncomfortable

"Real" airlines are becoming the same as budget airlines without the discounted tickets. I don't mind Ryanair, maybe a but less space but it is only a few hours. For me lower price is more important tha comfort

Oh yeah @notimagain i realise they had to move with the times a bit in order to remain competitive. It was just more of an observation I guess that it used to be pretty luxurious but is now just the same as all the other budget options.

I actually don’t find flying any of the budget airlines chronically uncomfortable tbh - they’re not exactly comfortable but it’s fine for anything up to about 6 hours for me. Anything above that and I book extra leg room or bigger seats. But I find sitting at my desk chair at work tedious for anything more than 3 hours without getting up for a leg stretch, something I avoid when flying because I’m generally terrified and frozen with fear in my seat not wanting to tip the aircraft by my getting up 😂😂😂

BA used to be quite a prestigious airline when we flew long haul with them (remembering from my childhood). Now it’s more like all the other budget low cost no frills airlines.

BA pretty much had no choice but to follow the market..

Large numbers of the paying public migrated to the Short Haul.LoCos when fhey arrived in Europe in the 90s, similar has happened in the Long Haul arena more recently.

Folks will grumble all day long, here and elsewhere about seat pitch and comfort but the reality is the first thing most peopel look at when booking flights is the basic ticket price.

You must be flying with a different BA to me. All short haul flights are pretty much the same.

BA used to be quite a prestigious airline when we flew long haul with them (remembering from my childhood). Now it’s more like all the other budget low cost no frills airlines.
I mean I don’t find any of them mega comfortable, no, but they do the job in getting me from A to B.
It’s a lot more pleasant flying since I lost weight though, has bought me a little more manoeuvring space in my tiny seat 😂

I've never noticed the seats being particularly uncomfortable. The rest of the experience is far worse in my opinion: the passport control, security, bloody restrictions on the size of liquids, the other passengers, the bag size restrictions. All of that said, it suits my budget and you get what you pay for.

We could all stop driving, flying and eating meat tomorrow and it wouldn’t make a difference. Private jets are more of an issue than the ordinary working person going off on their summer holidays. Corporations who pump out more greenhouse gases in a day than the gases produced by one person going on their holidays are to blame, but they’ve gaslighted us into thinking we can do anything about it.

We once made the mistake of flying Thomas Cook (standalone flight, not package) to South Africa. It was like sitting on a park bench and the flight staff were truly dreadful, just rude and uninterested.

Luckily our return flight was Emirates so we had a bit of comfort and good treatment to look forward to on the way back.

Air travel accounts for approx 3% of greenhouse gases by comparison farming methods account for between 12-16% but the single biggest contributor is electricity and heat production which accounts for between 22-28% depending on the figure you use. Combatting global warming comes down to Govt and MNCs policy not Smith family going to Tenerife.

I travel several times a year for work, sometimes business class (depends on time/distance/event) and sometimes economy. Of course the seat is better, but the other issues of being able to use the lounge, early boarding, early seat selection, fast pass through airport, ... they are all the things that make it that bit better as an overall experience.

I do fly Ryanair and Easyjet for personal reasons from time to time, primarily for cost reasons (and sometimes location, easier rental car pickup at smaller airports). The reality is those types of companies have transformed the industry. I could afford to fly on BA business for example, but just don't feel it's worth it for me personal travel.

You get what you pay for, which is true for most things. Presumably a private jet would be luxurious.

YANBU. Whoever coined the phrase “Hell is other people” had clearly never experienced a Ryanair flight.

I love Ryanair. I can fly to Finland without having to trek all the way to Heathrow. Last time it cost me £105 return with a 10kg cabin bag. The same dates were slightly more each way with BA. Bus with wings is definitely the way to look at it.
EasyJet always seem to change the time of at least one leg of a trip to something less convenient.

I can’t get worked up about this. For me, the travelling is generally an unpleasant but necessary part of any trip away. There are many other things to worry about with flying: delays, luggage, security, so I don’t care much about seats.

And as for destroying the planet… we can talk about that when eco-celebrities and politicians stop using private jets, range rovers, super yachts, helicopters etc.

Pretty much..

It's same old story about the airlines needing to keep ticket prices down..v

Certainly verses prices (corrected for inflation) a handful of decades back most economy fares these days are a bargain.

If people want the sort of legroom that was available in Economy maybe 30 years ago they are going to have to consider travelling Economy plus or whatever the appropriate brand is called.

..

Did 4 hour flight with easyjet last month in a normal economy seat. Absolutely fine.

Whaaaaaaaat

Still worth it! Family of four flying from London to Rome was £800 with all bags included (hand luggage x 2 and a checked bag each), the same from Bristol with easyJet was £1600!

They are stopping the water

If you think easy jet is bad don't try Ryan Air! Even less room and the seats are plastic rather than fabric.

But it is incredibly cheap when you think about it - the last 5 easy jet/Ryan Air flights I've taken are less than one train journey to London (and I live less than 2 hrs away).

Why do you need to sleep on a 4hr flight anyway?

There’s no difference in comfort between your easyJet/ryanair and BA/Tui. In fact some of the worst flights I’ve had (both short and long haul) have been BA.

I’ve started flying only with BA. They’re just a better service all round. Quieter flights, snacks and water even on an hour long hop to Amsterdam and the customer service is second to none

@Tia247

*We flew BA and found them awful, we only fly them for longer flights that Easyjet don't fly as actually find them worse

the way the seat legs of the seats in front were configured meant under seat storage was impossible if everyone had had under seat bags (like us).*

Wasn"t a 787 by any chance was it?

Rumour has it distribution system for the In flight Entertainment (IFE) system on some of those can compromise space under some economy seats..

Sorry, whose sanity is in question?

They’re pretty much all uncomfortable these days.

even long haul ones.

yeah, bus with wings really resonates for me.