To be peeved at EasyJet...

[Sushipaws]

When you fly EasyJet, they have no seat allocations, so you just sit where you want. This usually means the pushy people get the best seats, but thats what you expect from a budget airline and it pays to get your shopping elbows on.

However, when you have kids, you get a pre-board to go on the plane first so you can sort out your spawns before the mad rush.

This works great and it's not like it would be hard for my dh, dd and myself to get a seat anyway and it wouldn't matter too much if we were separated.

But in Milan we had to board a bus to take us to the plane, so all the pre-boarders got on first. Then they just put everyone else on the same bus, so when it drove the 20 yards to the plane, everyone jumped out and ran up the steps. One woman who was travelling with a baby and her young daughter was expected to put her daughter half way down the plane while she sat up the back. None of the families could sit together, or the elderly people. I was shocked at how inconciderate EasyJet was towards families. What's the point of giving a pre-board if it makes no difference. We would have been better off boarding last, then we would have been first off the bus.

Am I being unreasonable to think that if a pre-board makes things harder, don't offer it at all.

no you are not.

It's unreasonable to expect a child to sit away from their family. You would also think that other passengers without kids might be more considerate to elderly people and families.

YANBU but it often happens at the other end tbh. You just have to get the elbows out or send someone on ahead to grab seast. Failign that tell the passneger you need to move how your child may be sick/cry/need the loo (tummy upset) and need adult help. Rarely would they allow a child to sit alone.

We had a similar situation on TAP (Portugese airline) where DS was seated across the aisle from me and DH. Ds was in seat in front of me. It's not free boarding but we hadn't checked seats when we checked in. I stood up and refused to sit until they sorted it out. They did.

May be worth pointing out that some airlines are now refusing to take children as "unaccompanied" and if you are one end of plane and your child is the other they may as well be unaccompanied. Affects their insurance.

I would remain standing and blocking the aisle until they sorted it. But I am a bolshy bitch.

same thing happened to me when i was travelling to malaga on my own, 5 months preg and with ds (age 3 at the time). We boarded the bus first but when the packed bus stopped, there was a mad scramble to get off first and people were literally shoving me out of the way to get on the plane first!

A couple of people said "let the lady and the little one off first" but the majority were just out for themselves

I never saw what happened with the child on her own, I presume someone moved. I was stuck in between two rather large Italian ladies who where travelling together but for some reason didn't want to sit next to each other. The one on the aisle side soon offered to move when I got my feeding tackle out though

I felt so sorry for that woman and for the elderly people, neither could have been pushy and they end up in a crappy situation.

I've writen to EasyJet about it, but doubt it'll make any difference.

To be fair to EJ, they do mention that pre-boarders aren't much better off when they drive you to the plane. The only thing to do is have one person stationed by the door of the bus ready to leap off and bag seats on the plane.

I think pre-boarding is by and large a waste of money since you often see the PBs get about 1 second head start on everyone else as they queue everyone in ticket groups first before anyone goes through. But it must be frustrating when you need the extra time to get good family seats .

Yeah, as a Mum I'm definately learning to get my bitch on, I used to be such a nice person.

Gertie, that is shocking, I would have thought people might've been a bit more understanding to a pregnant woman.

I didn't think you had to pay for pre-board, I just thought they offered it to those who needed a bit more time. I know you can buy pre-board if you don't have a real reason for needing it. I think if I'd paid, I would've had a real rant.

I'm shocked as well but then part of me isn't that people would trample a pg lady to bag seats on a plane. Cheap airlines seem to bring out the worst in some people.

I don't really see how allocating seats at check-in is supposed to cost so much money- they've still got to print a boarding card so the seat number could go on there as BA etc do.

Easy Jet are shite. They don't give a toss. Be grateful they didn't cancel your flight for bugger all reason - that's happened to me twice and I'd never fly with them now.

just got back from a trip to belfast & was expecting to have to do the - that's ok, here's the cloth for when she's sick on you, i'll just be down the bcak' bit, but found that they were fine - those who paid for speedy board, those who needed assisatnce (under 2s), then in order of check in. if a family got on towards the end they sorted it out.

did notice, you can 'check in' online now & that gets you on quicker, so worth remembering

I was very angry when I took my elderly mum on easyjet. They put her as priority boarding, which meant she got let out of the door about 2 seconds before everyone else. Everyone else then sprinted past her up the stairs and knocked her over. She walks with a stick so obviously is frail

Same happened coming home too. She was first on the bus, which meant last off the bus at the plane end.

Just back from holiday, we flew with German Wings. All the mad sprinters dived onto the bus, DH and I strolled down leisurely and got on the bus last. We were almost first on the plane.

It depends on the airport/airline. I have flown with Ryanair and been first on the plane when my DD was a toddler and DS a baby. I had to be really organised though, otherwise other passangers would shove past me while I was getting the buggy folded.

Really horrified to hear of pensioners being knocked over in the rush.

You'd think the passengers could sort themselves out reasonably though. Far be it from me to stand up for budget airlines, but surely you see someone needs help or someone wants to sit with their family and you just work it out?

People can be such sods.

You'd think so but I think it's partly the blame of the airlines. They have a limited time to off-load and re-load people/baggage or get hit by a fine for missing their slots that they don't have time for niceties like letting people sit together or helping people with young children or less able people. Anyone moving seats to help others is likely to get short shrift from the cabin crew for wasting time . This is after hours of hanging about the bloody airport in the first place!

Apart from parents OBVIOUSLY needing to sit next to children, i don't understand why people get in such a het up state about seats anyway. It's a plane, it will be horrible wherever you sit, on EasyJet you will be on it for a couple of hours. They don't DO long haul.

The worst thing about easyJet is that they show the very worst side of human beings. If humans behaved kindly or even rationally, EasyJet would be fine. Everyone seems to want cheap, cheap, cheap - has to be achieved somehow.

But I agree about children.

Though the prospect of sitting next to an unaccompanied child usually makes most people suddenly reconsider whether thire precious seat is so irrelinquishable, and they see sense and re-arrange themselves!

That is true, blu. You see couples getting their elbows out to get a seat together. Then when the plane takes off they each get their newspaper or book out and proceed to ignore each other for the rest of the flight.

sushipaws, pmsl at 'get my bitch on!'

I thought it was illegal for a parent to be seperated from their child whilst on a plane, i.e you sit at the back while child sits at the front. I'm sure I read that on here somewhere once long ago. Maybe it depends on the age of the child.

YANBU!

Have also just arrived back from an Easyjet flight where they didn't allow us to take DS's car seat on for him to be strapped into on an extra seat they gave us.

And am I the only person shocked at the lack of safety regulations for babies on planes???

You're not, naturopath. I often look around on flights at all the unsecured babies and toddlers and think if we hit turbulence now, it would be like someone was lobbing cannonballs around the plane.

I use easyjet and ryanair a lot and always bee Priority boarded usually they have walked us out to the plane folded my buggy for me and carried my hand lugage on to the plane,and generally been very friendly and helpful but these are all small airports where you walk to the plane.

The only time we have had the bus and mad rush thing was when dh was with us and it was a complete nightmare people were barging past it was awful, we were lucky we did all get seated together because dh sent me up with one dd to get a seat.

I would be interested to hear easyjets response to you, because I think it is a safety issue and as someone pointed out they dont take unaccompanied minors so a child sitting apart from you is effectively unaccompanied.