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jet2.com
by milmol7
Apologies for the deceptive title... this reads very long, but hopefully be helpful if Jet2 are on your flight-booking radar...
My review of Jet2.com is based on a return flight to Portugal over the last weekend...
SELECTION = SUPER
Planning a trip for 8 friends is mainly about getting the best value - or cheapest ... price - to suit everyone. That usually means Ryanair. When we spotted the Jet2.com flights for our preferred weekend, though, they beat Ryanair by a few pounds, but had far better flight times. They offered an early morning flight out, and an early evening return flight - just what we were looking for in order to get the most out of a short break. I have since been on the website browsing other flights, and for some reason, they do appear to have more attractive flight times than their immediate competitors.
BOOKING = BORING
When you input your destination and dates, the search is quick, and the available options are clear to see. As soon as you select, your selections are summarised in a panel on the right. Booking was a boring and time consuming operation. There was lots and lots of "Do you want to add X" and "are you sure" and plent of reminders to BOOK MY 22KG LUGGAGE NOW's ... but again, I've found that to be typical of most budget airlines. By the end of the process I was screaming "Yes, I am sure I don't want to check a bag in" "Yes I realise we may not be guaranteed sitting together" "Yes I'm sure I'll be very hungry if I don't order an in flight meal" etc - you get the picture.
FEES = FRIGHTFUL
As you may expect, there seems to be a fee for everything. However, we did avoid fees by travelling with hand luggage only, online check in and pay with debit card. You do need to be prepared to take time though because for instance if you select a hold-bag (£17.50 each way) you also incur an extra fee to check in online (£6.00) so just be aware. They also try to scare you into prebooking seats warning you may have to sit on your own if you don't reserve at a minimum £6.00 each way. More on that coming up...
CHECK IN = CHARMING, SEATING POLICY = SUSPECT!
When you check in you enter all passport details, which is a clearly laid out screen easy to follow and easy to check before submission. Then you are shown to the plane layout screen. If you have not pre-booked & selected seats then you are allocated seats free of charge. You are shown on the diagram where you will be sitting. Very good to see. As a group of 8 we were all together on the outbound flight. When it went through to the return flight, however, 7 were together with me (the booker) two rows behind against the window on my own! However- I could, if I wished, purchase any one of 3 available seats which would have sat me right next to another member of my party ... hmm. Why me you wonder? Well cynical me thinks that as I was the one doing the booking I would be more likely to take up their generous offer! I declined. Two of the seats were still empty on the return flight when it actually came around so I sat there for free anyway!! A bizarre little interlude you might like to be aware of. After completing your seat selection (or allocation) you are checked in, and can print your boarding passes ready to go.
GREETING = GREAT!
On arrival at our airport (East Mids) a lady approached us to ask who we were flying with. She happened to be a member of Jet2 staff and when we were told her we were flying with them, she told us that they were checking hand luggage into the hold for no cost that morning if we wished. We took advantage of that, going straight to the check in desks to check our trolley-cases in. This was a good bonus, not being laden down with our bags in the airport ... although, being bleary-eyed-o'clock, we failed to weigh that against the waiting time to collect our bags at the other end ... still, when you're offered something for nothing, some greater instinct kicks in!! You live and learn. The staff at the desk were friendly and chatty, there was no queue and they were quick and efficient. One of our bags (only one!) was slightly over weight 11kg v 10kg allowance, but the lady just said to be aware of it coming back and popped it through. The flight was almost full so we still don't know why the free hand-luggage check in was offered, and obviously it should be remembered as a bonus rather than something to count on.
BOARDING = BRILLIANT
Boarding was stress free and super quick. It's hard to know whether that's down to the airline or the airport, but a few minutes after the gate notification went up we went to the gate to find no-one waiting, and the staff at the desk checking passports and allowing people through to board. No stampede that tends to be a feature of Ryanair flights. There was no evidence of them weighing or measuring hand luggage had we carried any, it all felt very relaxed.
PLANE = PLASTIC
Thinking of one word to describe the aircraft interior, plastic came to mind. The interior (to me) is quite garish in red and grey plastic seats, and the way they are crammed in it didn't add any feeling of indulgence anywhere along the way! Legroom was minimal. I'm small and whilst not cramped, if I dropped anything on the floor it definitely had to stay there until we got to the other end - there was no room for manoeuvre. The plastic fold down tray "table" was very small - you couldn't really lie your book on it for instance, it was only really to put a drink on or hold a snack. There's also a cup holder which is just a metal ring which folds down and holds their shaped cups, it won't hold a bottle or other drink because it's literally just a ring, no bottom in it. There's also a lack of seat pocket to pop your magazine into, there's a metal rail behind which their inflight magazine should be mabye (ours were missing), the menu card (which surprisingly were all In place! (See, I'm such a cynic!!)) and the emergency procedures card. Again - being metal there was no way you could put your own mags or things behind the bar. I had no problems with the plane itself for a short flight but wouldn't have enjoyed say, 3 hours plus.
FLIGHT = FINE
The flight itself was good, there was a full trolley service serving hot and cold drinks, alcohol, and snacks, and duty free trolley. Prices on board were on a par with others, and as with others, there were offers such as buy a hot drink and get a chocolate bar for £1 - that type of thing. In flight information from the flight deck was clear to hear and there wasn't an excessive amount of scratchcard-selling or uneccessary announcements. Our flight attendants were very pleasant. Landing was very bumpy but I'm a calm flier and inclined to think that was due to it being incredibly windy at our destination. We took off 5 minutes late going out, and on time on our return and arrived 20 minutes ahead of schedule in both directions. We also disembarked from both sets of doors on both occasions which also added to the ease of the overall flight experience.
SUMMARY = SUPER
This flight experience was really good. When using budget airlines you need to be prepared to run the gauntlet of turning down all the generous optional extras and be prepared for pretty basic conditions on the aircraft. So amongst their competitors, this experience with Jet 2 puts them at the top for me. We had everything including a good price, perfect flight times, punctual flights, efficient boarding and disembarking and friendly staff. All you could wish for. Maybe it therefore seems harsh to only put 4 stars on my rating, but I am so miffed by what I perceived to be an attempted con to get me to buy that seat that I knocked a star off! Considering our booking was over £1200, I can't persuade myself otherwise than to regard that attempted extra £6 was a bit of an unecessary, (and a bit of a naughty!), trick.
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Ryanair
by milmol7
Whenever I start to plan a trip abroad, Ryanair is always my first port of call. Why? Simply the cheapest flights.
Ryanair are basic and cheap. That's all they set out to be and it's what they achieve. If you need to take any amount of luggage - which admittedly to many people will be an integral part of the trip - then the ... situation changes. In fact, you could say it almost becomes prohibitive. In my latest booking, adding a 20kg suitcase would have added £60 onto a return flight which cost only £34! BUT if you can get by on hand luggage for the duration of the trip, and you can be flexible in dates and/or destination, then I genuinely don't believe the other budget airlines come close.
When booking, it's essential that you make time and take care to go through the stages ensuring you don't buy any extras and this can make the booking process more time-consuming than would be ideal. But again, it comes down to how much it matters to you to get the lowest price. Recent changes in the law means they now have to display their "pay by credit/debit card" charges up front, so on my latest booking there were no nasty surprises at the checkout stage.
In terms of the flight experience I find no difference between Ryanair and any of the other budget airlines either. No frills it may be, but I don't especially want frills for a 1 or 2 hour flight, I just want a seat and to get there on time, both of which I have had on every occasion I've flown with them.
Looking for negatives, their seat room is tight and the seats are plasticy rather than fabric. They aren't the most comfortable you will experience. Again, this may become a factor for a 3-4 hour flight but not for me if it's a short one.
Their in-flight food prices are little short of extortionate, although they do have food & drink 'deals' which are pretty much on a par with other airlines, none of which are great value in my experience.
The only seriously annoying part of the flights are the incessant tanoy announcements trying to sell their lottery cards. They always seem to time these for when you are in danger of nodding off for a snooze.
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