Tuesday 28 October 2008

EasyJet vs Ryanair

I flew out to Ljubljana with the family (as it's also half-term). No great change there, but we flew to Ljubljana with EasyJet, instead of our usual flight to Graz/Klagenfurt with Ryanair.

I was surprised at how much more enjoyable flying with EasyJet is. Maybe it's just Ryanair setting a low bar, but it seemed like a much less stressful exercise. One crucial difference is that EasyJet pre-board families, whereas Ryanair makes them pay. I don't understand this - families need to be sat together and they slow things down. It just makes sense to get them on first. EasyJet appear to preboard their Speedy people first, then families, then everyone else.

In addition, they categorize "everyone else" into groups so they can manage the crush to get a seat. Ryanair basically encourages a free-for-all. This just brings out the worst in people. (I remember being pushed out of the way even though I had a leg in plaster and using crutches!)

I expect we'll be flying to Ljubljana in the future...

[The only downside of the trip is that I returned with a stomach-bug that has laid me low for most of today. I had to cancel my seminar at Oxford due this afternoon - I barely made it to the corner store this evening let alone a drive to Oxford :-( ]

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