EasyJet or a national carrier?

[LaLaLouella]

Is it worth paying the extra or are all airlines going to be affected equally by cancellations/disruption/delays this summer?

Myself and teenage DS (who is a nervous flyer) are going to Holland this summer - it's either EasyJet or KLM? Flight times, duration, airport, are all the same, we will have carry-on luggage only - when I've totted it up, including all the potential extras, KLM is £200 more expensive.

Would you pay it? Money is a consideration but not the deciding factor (we can reduce the budget for other things)

Easyjet has 3 or 4 flights daily from Manchester to Amsterdam so presumably it's a similar frequency down south.

If one flight is cancelled then you can just get the next. It would be different for a weekly flight.

You won’t just be able to just take the next flight! Where do those passengers go? This is all about airport capacity snd staffing. There are no more bookings from Heathrow or Gatwick now until Sept 11. Flights are capped. So take the train! No brainer.

Don’t fly KLM
I work in travel and Schipol airport can’t cope with all the flights coming in and out
Many bookings being cancelled

I guess the OP may be flying into Schiphol regardless @RamsayEaster

So again, sounds like the train would be a better option @LaLaLouella

@tribpot

lol my
mesaage sounds daft
what I meant was it appears to be KLM that are having the most cancellations in and out of Schipol than any other airline who fly this route

I read an article a few days back saying that Ryanair has had the fewest cancellations and is currently the most likely to get you there. Personally I won't fly them but does help at all? Reasons cited were they didn't lay off staff during lockdowns but negotiated wage cuts and they fly to smaller airports so these can usually cope as not so busy. Anyway just a thought.

But as PP have said, it's not the airlines these days that are cancelling - they're being forced to cancel by the airport authorities.

@RamsayEaster
We are due at Schiphol in late Oct to connect to an onward flight! Not looking forward to this now!

When KLM cancel flights, passengers are rebooked to the next available flight which is often an hour or so later. KLM will often stop selling seats to accommodate existing passengers who need to be re-scheduled.

When Easyjet cancel flights, passengers are left to their own devices to find an alternative flight and they often end up paying a premium to get to their destinations.

Avoiding busier airports is probably the best way to reduce the chance of a cancellation.

I’m just crossing everything for late Oct!!! We have a connecting onward flight and two is nearly 4 hours! I wish now if was more! We then have another onward flight 2 days later but it’s far more worrying now than ever before!

Not every flight is full. Looking at July flights to Amsterdam there are plenty of seats available on a lot of the flights. A couple of flights are fully booked but the later flight isn't.

If you live in London, the train from central London to central Amsterdam is great. But not an easy option from the north (I checked before booking for Belgium).