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

[wishingchair]

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!!!!!

I have to say that the best system ever is the Monarch system. When you book you can pay extra to reserve your seats in advance, i.e. you actually pay for something worthwhile. So DH, DS and I are flying to Mallorca safe in the knowledge that our seats are already reserved, where they are and so on. Beats Easyjet every day of the week!

I've heard Monarch are good.

When I flew with FlyBe my ex OH paid extra to reserve seats and then on the way back they had to move me to sort out the balance of weight anyway.Am a bit dubious about that system now though.

I do like with BA how you can check in online & pick your seats, although I don't think you can do that if you're flying with children which is annoying.

The problem I've got now is deciding where to go let alone who to go with!

It's the OP here - a really mixed bag response! I still hate them though. I've flown with them to and from Mallorca and also Geneva quite a few times and speedy boarders go in front of families at these airports.

I now fly BA ... they're often as cheap, if not cheaper, and I can check in online and reserve seats up to 24 hours in advance. No stress at all.

ok ok .i've never flown with em before but will be in July. I've got x 3 young..ish kids and I've paid the extra as 1.I hope to be sat with my family 2.I'm FAT...and don't like blocking the aisles for other people. Does this make me a bad person?

I fly easyjet edinburgh to Bristol and back at least 4 times a year and can't remeber ever having a problem . Think Speedy Boarding is a waste of time - most people are OK about moving IMO, Maybe some routes are better than others ?

When British Midland set up bmibaby, they moved all their 'proper' flights out of East Midlands airport and left the airport for no-frills airlines.

BA staff are just as rude as budget airline staff, just with posher accents! Qantas and BA code share from Sydney so if you book with either you wonder if you're going to get the "can't be arsed" crew or the superior bitches.

As BA crew I find your comment highly offensive , I gather you had a bad experience for that I am sorry but I am a very nice person thank you!!!

most people will move when faced with sitting next to a child who has to hold a sick bag - so never a problem for us.

Realised that I posted on this thread before our holiday. Speedy Boarders weren't too much of a problem on the way out to France, as they obviously had a limit on their numbers. It was all a bit pointless though as we had to take a bus to the plane, therefore the last on the bus ('normal' people) were first on the plane!

But on the way back (typically French not understanding how to queue) suddenly everyone got up when the boarding was called. There was an almighty raucous and I was trying to get in front with dh and ds. I was temporarily confused until the staff called out 'Are there any speedy boarders?'.... Everyone gave a resounding "YES!"

Lol what's the point of that?!

Anyhow I am never flying easyjet again with a child. Not worth it.

Gosh I've waffled. Sorry been up since 5.30am.

I flew to Milan with easy jet 2 weeks ago,they called passengers with children under 5 to board before the speedy boarders,no extra charge although there did seem to be quite a few 4 year olds that looked about 8

Can I just say have flown easyjet and Ryanair, with toddlers, teenagers and alone, to Spain Cyprus, France, Glasgow and Finland from Bournemouth, Bristol and Stansted, have never paid speedy borders, have never been split up, (I wish DGD can talk a hind leg off a donkey) and never had bad service!

Over here (Australia) our 2 budget airlines are Virgin Blue and Jetstar. I've flown with both, and having also flown with Ryanair and Easyjet, the difference is remarkable.

You get allocated seats, you turn up 1/2 an hour before and we didn't even speak to a person on a desk, just swiped our boarding passes (printed off when we booked online) at a terminal thingy and went through (no passport control as they were internal). THe crew were friendly, airports clean and well staffed, the whole thing was a pleasure from beginning to end!

I don't understand why the other airlines have to make it so difficult - the ones over here are just as cheap but they cope.

I posted on here earlier about dreading our easyjet flight from Gatwick...

It was great! No bus to the plane. They let the people with children under 2 on first - there were quite a lot and the staff were smiley. The buggy gets given to staff at the plane door and is free.

I took an easyjet flight to ireland when DS was 6 weeks old. He was due a bfeed around the time we were due to be boarding.
The staff were wonderful, allowed me to head through to seats close to boarding area so (a) i was front of the queue and (b) i had some privacy and peace to bfeed DS.

I dont know any other airline irrelevant of price who would do that. Have flown with them since and had superb service.

If you dont like people boarding before you, then pay the extra and get on first. If you dont want to pay extra, then dont begrudge the people who have and thereby have a right to get on first surely?

Oh and YABU IMO....if it wasnt clear from my post.

hmm... i think they are much better than ryanair- i got to go on first with my 3 month old baby: before the SBs some of whom were virtually spitting at me!
I do think that not having a designated seat brings out the worst in people and if i have a choice i will always fly with an airline that has designated seating. Often the cost difference is negligible.

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As a parent with a 2 year old, i don't see the problem with speedy boarding /priority boarding. the way these budget airlines work is that you have the choice to pay for extras, boarding first being one of them. Just because we have children, doesn't give us the right to "queue-jump", however nice that might be. It would be illegal, if the airline suddenly decided that all people of a particular race could board first or sit in the front rows (as happened in the US on buses in the 40s/50s until a very brave women called Rosa Parks stood up for peoples rights). Airlines will ask people to move to place children with their parents, if they cannot be seated together, but i can't find any regulations that they have to. Be thankful that they do this.

Mutt - never said voicing opinions on here wasnt allowed. Please point out where my post actually said that?

I just look at the facts, and deal with it.

Fact 1) They have introduced the service
Fact 2) If I therefore want to get on the flight first, I pay for the service and dont expect any preferential treatment otherwise (with the exception of those who need assistance to board the flight, elderly etc.)

I'm not saying whether it's fair or right. But if you are going to boycott Easyjet - dont bother travelling on planes ever again. Because Business/ first/ upper/ club europe class (whatever you want to call them) are all run along the same principles....you pay more, you get a higher level of service.

Easyjet are fie if the flight is empty but if its full the speedy boarders get to choose where they sit.

One year on a packed flight to Majorca the only seats we could get were in front of a "speedy boarder".

She tutted any time my one of my 3 kids moved and asked us to shut up our dd (only 2 at the time). I thought they were being pretty well behaved given they had been strapped to chairs unable to move for nearly 3 hours and told her so (as well as a few other things!!!!)

Think I made the point clear when I told her that rather than get on the plane first she should wait until last and that way if she was so intolerant of children she could see where they were all sat and avoid them like the plague.

The chap next to her actually started to applaud when I had finished my ranting

You did well not to wallop her imo sb66