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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To boycott Easyjet because of its stupid "Speedy Boarders" system

78 replies

wishingchair · 03/06/2008 14:49

I just hate it so much. The only people who really NEED to be located together are families with small children and obviously other people with carers. Yet you can pay an extra £5-10 and that allows you to get on the plane first, in front of all of these people. Last time I checked there was no limit on how many speedy boarders there were on the flight (although they did say they were going to limit it). So in theory you could have everyone other than you and your kids able to get on the stinking plane before you leaving you scattered all over the place.

And why do the speedy boarders turn into such twats ... like the fact they've shelled out an extra fiver gives them the right to shove you and your baby out of the way because "we're speedy boarders, we get on first, in front of families and everyone" as some bitch-dog-from-hell shouted at me once in the queue.

I'm just sick of easyjet and their staff that treat you like plebs (one actually 'showed me the hand' at check in once) and the fecking speedy boarders.

OK so I know this is a dull AIBU compared to most but I just wanted to vent. I HATE THEM!!!!!

OP posts:

ChopsTheDuck · 03/06/2008 14:54

Flying seems to turn a lot of people into twats. Even flying long haul we were assigned seats away from our 2yo twins and nobody wanted to swap.

ive actaulyl booked with easyjet this yeah and was wondering whether to pay the extra. I really couldnt care less about being close together to dp or the older two kids for the sake of a few hours but our three year old twins do need to be with us. The older two will be fine whereever.

nametaken · 03/06/2008 14:56

Just pay the money - get your holiday off to a stress free and relaxing start.

I flew Easyjet once with my kids - I would use them again if they paid me

nametaken · 03/06/2008 14:57

wouldn't use them again

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 03/06/2008 15:35

I would pay them not to be seated anywhere near anyone with small children.

cheeset · 03/06/2008 15:40

Im sure people would move to accommodate a family on the plane once the wee ones kicked off with the screaming and moaning for mummy?

Society is going downhill me thinks.

Bumdiddley · 03/06/2008 15:49

lalalalalaalala I'm not listening, got my fingers in my ears...

Got a 4 hour Easyjet flight with ds 21mo and dd 3y...

W're gonna get on last and thenhopefully dd will go apeshit if we're spilt up...

cheeset · 03/06/2008 15:50

you go girl, get your own back

bergentulip · 03/06/2008 15:51

Just don't fly Easyjet. Not worth it. Pay the extra 50 (which is really aaaaall it ever is more in the end!) to got with a decent airline, where you get allocated seats, a drink, a paper, a bit of service, and also don't have to pay extra for every extra sponge bag you decide to bring with you.... and problem solved.

I flew Easyjet once, fine as a single 20-something yr old student- ONCE!- but now I refuse.
Also, after watching a few of the episodes of Airline on a few years back, based in Luton/Liverpool, following the Easyjet staff, there is NO WAY ON EARTH I would give good money to those people.
Customer service? Jesus, some of the mouthy cows on the desks should not even be allowed to leave their homes they are so unbelievably rude!!!

cestlavie · 03/06/2008 15:52

If anyone else wants to spend a flight sat with DD other than me then they're completely welcome... quite frankly, I'm hoping that we get split up!

Alderney · 03/06/2008 15:54

I avoid EasyJet as much as possible - used them once, just after they started up and I lived in London - needed to get to Edinburgh.

Not only was it a huge hassle to get to Luton, but they had a very very glib attitude to cancelling flights - they cancelled my flight and put everyone on a flight 4 hours later that was also only half full, rather than have 2 half full flights.....which was a huge hassle for me and the person collecting me who had already left the house.

It wouldn't have cost me a penny more at the time to fly from Heathrow (easier to get to) and fly British Midland to Edinburgh.

bookswapper · 03/06/2008 16:03

do what we do....locate speedy boarders on entering aircraft...smile a big smile and plonk yourself down right next to the smuggest of them complete with toddler and pingu on dvd....open big bag of haribo....and enjoy!

We will have three under three next flight...what fun!

alittleone2 · 03/06/2008 16:03

Message withdrawn

LadyMuck · 03/06/2008 16:07

Have to say that I've never had any problem with Easyjet's boarding policy, nor have I ever encountered anyone who was separated from their young children during the flight. Are you just het up about the policy, or had this in fact happened to you? I suspect that you are upset about something that might not happen.

On the other hand I have been separated from my 4 and 6 yo on a Flybe flight (which is a ticketed airline). I needed 3 seats and ended up allocated 2 on one side of an aisle and one on the other. We coped, though had they been any younger, or if the flight had been longer I would have asked to have been moved.

Fennel · 03/06/2008 16:11

I do tend to feel that if the system separates me from my young children on a flight that's really not going to be my problem but the problem of the people who are next to my unaccompanied children. They would crack, those seat-hoggers, when placed next to my little charmers for a whole flight.

Though actually when we've used easyjet or similar we've always been waved through to the front without any problems.

mm22bys · 03/06/2008 16:26

Oh I hate Easyjet! We flew them last week.

Speedy boarding is a joke. So you pay an extra amount, and it's the people who least need it who take advantage of being able to get on a plane early!

It wasn't so bad leaving Gatwick, but leaving Malaga - they got the speedy boarders up the front so they could get in their bus, which then proceded to leave 3/4 empty!

Those of us who were PBs (whatever that means) then had to wait for a good 10 or 15 minutes while the bus came back. Which then left full, so everyone without kids pushed us out of the way...

Easy jet turns people into animals....I hate it, not in a hurry to fly them again!

I absolutely refuse to fly Ryanair.

Oh I have flows Emirates, and booked and confirmed a skycot, long haul. When I got on the plane I realised we just had normal seats, and we had to rely on the goodness of other passengers to move so I could have a seat with a sky cot - I flew on my own with two kids.

Goes to show that even if you pay good money for a good airline, it can still go pear-shaped!

JaneHH · 03/06/2008 16:46

mm22bys "Easy jet turns people into animals....". Quite agree. It starts when they herd you into sheep pens according to boarding time (what they do at Schiphol, anyway). You then have to stand for half an hour in your holding area...

I will never ever ever fly Easyjet again unless I can help it. It's worth paying the little bit extra not only for all the things Bergentulip mentions but also for the fact that the decent airlines have higher priority when it comes to bad weather and reduced landing / take-off slots. The airlines which land and take off on time every time build up higher priority than the ones who frequently don't turn up or are late...

So to cut a long story short: YANBU.

Sputnik · 03/06/2008 16:58

I fly often with Easyjet. They give priority boarding anyway to families with children, ahead of the "speedy boarders". You don't need to pay extra.

ChopsTheDuck · 03/06/2008 17:00

agree that even on more expensive airlines things don't always go to plan. Air canada split us all up, BA lost our luggage. Flying is just a pita. I don't want to give them any more money than possible.

clam · 03/06/2008 17:11

Am I being dim? Why is getting on the plane early a bonus? Surely you've just got longer to sit in a cramped seat, entertaining the kids before take-off?
And Chopstheduck, whilst I agree it was ridiculous for you to be split up from your twins, could you and DH not have taken one child each if no-one would shift?

lisad123 · 03/06/2008 17:14

LOL speedy boarders. We didnt use this once and about 2 3rds of the plane had, they werent much quicker. I hate easyjet too, its terrible, pushy people who dont give a damn about families and babies.

amidaiwish · 03/06/2008 17:36

don't use it then
fly with another airline
let the people who want/need cheap flights and no service use it
you need service, allocated seats etc with young children and so don't fly easy jet.

i would NEVER fly with them with children in tow. why oh why would you put yourself through it? the same reason why i would not take a flight at midnight now i have children. i would rather not go on holiday.

squeaver · 03/06/2008 17:38

this sums it up

amidaiwish · 03/06/2008 17:44

ha ha, that really does sum it up.

meemar · 03/06/2008 17:44

Squeaver that article made me pmsl

We flew easyjet with the boys (aged 4 and 2), and a lovely man actually swapped seats so DH could sit with DS2

Why can't they just bloody well allocate seats? All it takes is a computer system. Surely it can't be that expensive?

MeMySonAndI · 03/06/2008 17:47

I worship easy jet, albeit not the twats that sometimes use it. HAs the best policy for nut allergy sufferers of all airlines I have travelled with, simple, effective and with no room for mistakes.

Sometimes simplification has some immediate advantages. So yes, I will continue to choose them over any other airline whenever is possible and even if it turns out to be more expensive than main airlines.

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