EasyJet pile of pants - so fed up and dissapointed

[PamShipman]

Yesterday evening the DC (16,13) and i were meant to be flying to Berlin for 4 days. We were really looking forward to it. DS did his GCSEs this summer and loves European history; DD loves travel and exploring new places and has never been to Germany and I have always wanted to go since I watched the wall come down on a little b&w telly in my student flat in 1989! I was also looking forward to not having to think about food, entertainment or driving for a week.

Our plane was an hour late. We started to board. People with young children were on board. 40 mins later the (full) flight was cancelled. EastJet gave us forms to fill in for refunds and escorted us back landside. We had to go back through passport control without having been anywhere. Just at the time we should have been landing in Berlin, DH arrived to pick us up and take us hime.

We booked flights + hotel as a package through an independent travel agent, who was looking for all the alternatives to get us there, but nothing doing in the time I have booked off work. She’s arranged a full refund.

Any ideas for a very last minute break this week with two disappointed teens in the UK, that involves land travel only? We’re halfway between Leeds and Sheffield.

What about Shropshire? Not too far away compared with some of the other suggestions. Loads of history, countryside etc

https://www.visitshropshire.co.uk/things-to-do/historic-sites/

Another great option - I love Shropshire. Much Wenlock, Church Stretton, Bishop's Castle are all great. Ludlow's a nice day out with a gorgeous church and a good castle, and some nice shops and eateries. Stokesay Castle is nearby - fascinating English Heritage manor house.

And you could go to Ironbridge/Blists Hill!

North Wales is nice and has castles and history and stuff- you could also do Liverpool. We had a nice time there .

I was also going to say Glasgow and Loch Lomond. Accommodation might be hard but there is a lovely big Premier Inn on the River.

Northern France for the history stuff?

If you have a car then Northumberland offers a lot. Can stay in Berwick upon tweed or Newcastle which is cheaper and do day trips to Alnwick, Bamburgh, Wallington estate etc.

What about north wales? Lots of castles, historical sites etc and lovely walks and beaches. Places will be booked up though as it’s school holidays but you might get lucky with a last
minute hotel/B&B. Conwy, Caernarfon or Beaumaris would be good areas to try.

I know you said European history but if he or DD like social history the People's History Museum in Manchester is excellent as is the Football Museum.

This is why it’s always better to fly a legacy carrier. Often it works out at a similar cost once you add baggage and seat fees into the equation. Although I’m BA Gold so don’t pay for seat selection, and get additional baggage, lounge access plus a welcome onboard - I’d take that any day over EasyJet. And especially Ryanair.

But if I did have to pay, I’d still go for BA over EasyJet or Ryanair. I do enjoy SAS too. And have a soft spot for Air Baltic. But BA is home, even if it feels like a declining service - for ever better than budget airlines!

Fly from Leeds Bradford to Bratislava (v cheap), then train to Vienna (v fast). We're just coming to the end of 2 weeks doing this (rather than 4 days). Not sure how much flights are now

New Forest and Isle of Wight could be a nice couple of days?

I would recommend Glasgow and loch lomond for a UK break.
Or a Welsh coast road trip along the north to anglsey do porth wen brick works, newborough beach. Maybe snowdon, fairy pools etc.

Could it possibly be because an easyjet had a man trying to 'hijack' a plane to glasgow yesterday?

Obviously still disappointing for you but I'm guessing that will have had a massive knock on effect with their operations.

Either way, they should/will compensate you for your loss.

I suppose it's not impossible but that incident shouldn't have had a massive knock on effect for Easy.

It will probably have thrown at most one aircraft and one or maybe two crews off schedule for the rest of the day.

This is really helpful to the OP. Maybe just check your privilege and don’t show off.

Fine if you have the disposable income to pay the price difference, which in my experience can be huge. Not to mention how restricted legacy airline schedules from non-London airports (which is the OP is using) tend to be. Any BA route from near me goes via London which is obviously environmentally silly and takes forever, as well as costing more.

Cambridge, Oxford and Bath.

I came on here to say Shropshire and I can see some people have beaten me to it - gorgeous countryside and so much history - Ludlow, Blists Hill, Ironbridge, Carding Mill Valley, Shrewsbury etc
Oxford/New Forest also lovely as suggested but will be v busy & harder to find accommodation.

You"re not wrong with a lot of the above,.especially the Londoncentric nature of BA but certainly on occsions if you have to route via or to London and if you fly HBO, BA can beat both Easyjet and Ryanair in terms of price.

Given you have a history buff I'd go for Northumberland - Alnick and Bamburgh castles are lovely. Walks in the Cheviots and or body baording on the beaches. A boat trip to the Farne Islands (plus fish and chips at Seahouses) and if you want something extra special coasteering off Craster.

Seriously, if you're flying with a family in school holiday times, BA prices are often twice those of budget airlines. If you can use BA (or other similar airlines) to go to a non-touristy airport (and onwards ground transport if needed) they can work out OK if you can face doing the longer journey, but for what most people need flights for, they are not competitive. I always check them as an option when researching flights and they have never so far won out. Taking a connecting flight for what would be a 3/4 hour direct flight is also not on my list of fun life experiences!

@LondonPapa Of course it isn't "always better" to fly with a legacy carrier. If it were, no-one would ever fly low-cost budget airlines. Even us povvos understand how to calculate the total cost and net benefit of things 😃

Northumberland - Lindisfarne.....

I'd recommend Newcastle. One of my favourite cities.

Thanks for all your input. We’re going to Whitby and York. We’ve got a family room in the youth hostel. Whitby is lovely,we’ve been a lot, but it’s not quite the post - GCSE trip DS had planned.

Interesting discussions. I’d happily pay more for a reliable service witn a standard carrier, but shorthaul from Manchester/Liverpool/Leeds tends to be served entirely by budget carriers. In the past when we’ve deliberately booked with SAS and BA, they’ve sold our flight/route to budget carriers anyway!