Tag: A320

A Review of Vueling A320-200 Economy LGW – LPA

En route to join our Windstar Cruise, we needed to fly to Gran Canaria. I thought a one way to Spain would cost an arm and a leg, but was surprised to find an excellent fare with Vueling. Vueling is a budget partner of British Airways, part of the Oneworld alliance, and is based out of Barcelona. So what is Vueling like? Join us as we travel from London Gatwick to Las Palmas in this review of Vueling A320.

This post may contain sponsored content or affiliate links that help support the blog. All opinions are our own.

Our Vueling and London Gatwick Airport Experience

Check In

Let’s start our review of Vueling with baggage. I decided to book one big bag between us as taking a large hand luggage each was more expensive. We were both surprised to see that outside the Schengen region, Vueling’s check in only opens 2 hours and 20 minutes beforehand. That throws my “three hours before the flight” schedule right out. Well, we arrive at London Victoria in time for an earlier train so we decided to go straight to Gatwick airport already.

Vueling’s Self Service Bag Drop

Happily, when we arrived at London Gatwick Airport, we found a self service check in and bag drop area that was already open. I had checked in online so getting our bag tag was really quick. I tagged the bag with expert flair (of course) and we popped it on the belt. The light turned green (thanks for the naughty 300 grams extra that we packed) and it trundled away. So easy!

With more time than expected, we zipped through security and found a lounge to hang out in before the gate was announced.

The Gate

Gatwick has cramped closed gates with no bathrooms so I was very glad that we had popped to the loo before walking down. British Airways staff were manning the gate. I guess they are the handlers at Gatwick. They referred to the airline as “vewling” which probably adds to everyone’s chronic mispronunciation of it.

We were there before most people and grabbed a seat next to the crew. People wandered up to the bank of vending machines with nothing else to do and the time ticked by.

There was an announcement to apologise for delayed boarding. It was due to a slow disembarkation of the inbound from Malaga. We eventually started boarding about ten minutes before we were due to take off. They called groups one and two, which had about thirty people in total. Then group three, which consisted of the rest of the plane. It was slow boarding. There was no call for people with small children and not using seat row numbers seemed a bit mad considering 80% of the plane was in group three.

Why not check out our other flight reviews

Vueling A320 Interior

The inside of the Vueling Airbus A320 plane was bright, but not super clean. The panels above our heads were mucky, as was the tray table and the exit door.

Our Seats

A few days before the flight, we got an email from Vueling advertising a bidding system for extra leg room seats. I popped in a relatively low bid (£13 each) and it was accepted. I hadn’t realised it was for the exit row. In my commuting brain, I was opting for the front rows (1-6 or so) which are called Space Plus. It was a little annoying but it was my misunderstanding and still very nice to have the extra room on a 4.5 hour flight.

The seats themselves were standard budget seats with not quite enough padding and lacking any recline. The colour scheme was odd. The seats were a dark taupe which I find distinctly unappealing with yellow head rest covers which were also leather.

There was small, adjustable tray and a mesh seat back pocket. This didn’t have sides so be careful when putting anything small in here. I think we all know by now that I don’t like to use these as they are hard to clean and can harbour nasty surprises left by previous flyers, but at least this one isn’t all enclosed.

The Storage

The overhead lockers were meant to be reserved for large cabin bags only. In fact, they had stickers that said as much. Most people adhered to the rule but of course, there was the odd handbag or coat in there too. There seemed to be a lot less hand luggage in general and I think that means everybody did as we did and opted for the cheaper check in option. It was nice to see that the crew weren’t struggling to fit everything in as they do on many other cheaper airlines. This does indicate that their boarding strategy is less than ideal though, as the hand luggage is usually what causes delays on the jet bridge.

The Entertainment

This part of our review of Vueling is easy; there is no entertainment but there is a USB A plug each between the seats so best to fill your phone with things before you leave. Saying that, our plugs didn’t work so make sure you’ve got a power bank too, just in case.

Amenities

No inflight kit was provided.

The bathroom at the front was small but clean enough. It was odd that they had tiny hand soaps instead of hand wash. The amount of plastic waste this generates doesn’t feel great and the idea of touching someone else’s used soap can put a lot of people off. I think anything that makes hand washing harder should be discouraged, especially in the germs world of the aircraft bathroom. At least they had plenty of hand towels.

Vueling’s Inflight Food and Drink

I took a quick look through the on board menu (all chargeable) and was delighted to see the prices. Whilst not cheap by regular standards, when compared to other budget airlines, the prices were pretty good.

Two 20cl bottles of Cava for €11.95 was better than a London pub and a tea or coffee with free refills at €3.50 is a bargain! (I wonder how hard it is to get refills).

This was clear when the cart came down the aisle. Everyone bought something, and not just one thing, people were buying full meals. I decided it would be fun to try an “Codorníu Orange Spritz”. However, the crew got to our row, asked one side what they wanted and then disappeared! I thought they were just letting people through to the bathroom but no, they didn’t come back. A guy in the row behind pointed this out and another crew member went after them. They came down collecting empties and we both jumped at them to buy something. I got the spritz and it probably wasn’t worth the wait. It was nice-ish; a one and done.

Final Thoughts on this Review of Vueling

We hope you found this review of Vueling useful. If you can book early and get a cheap ticket, then it is a good shout. They go from major London airports and I did like the affordable food and drink options. However, if the tickets are a similar price as carriers like BA, I’d opt for the “full service” carrier. That said, I would definitely fly Vueling again.

Rosie xx

14/05/2024
A Review of Tunisair A320neo Economy LGW – TUN

Tunisia is a year-round sunny destination that is just 2.5 hours from the UK. It feels like another world with North African food, culture and sunshine. For many, Gatwick is the gateway to this jewel on the southern edge of the Mediterranean. We flew Tunisair from London Gatwick to Tunis for our 2024 trip on one of their newest planes. Here is our review of Tunisair A320neo Economy LGW – TUN.

(more…)

17/03/2024
A Review of PLAY Airlines A320neo STN – KEF
Iceland has had its fair share of budget airlines. It makes total sense. Iceland is close to Europe and the USA, making it a great stopover between the two. Plus, Iceland one of the most popular destinations for nature lovers in its own right. However. somehow, they don’t seem to last. Well, here comes PLAY Airlines, the latest competitor from the land of fire and ice. A fun, young brand with a name to match, it aims to secure the route that so many others have lost. Read on for our full review of PLAY Airlines, travelling on their A320neo from London Stansted to Keflavik in Iceland.

This post may contain sponsored content or affiliate links that help support the blog. All opinions are our own.

Airport Experience – London Stansted

There were just two check in desks at Stansted, tucked away in Zone A (counterintuitivly, this is to the right when you enter the terminal). PLAY Airlines doesn’t charge for online check in so you can just turn up but of course we still checked in online and picked the seats we wanted. The staff were friendly and told us how to get the transit to the gate. They even knew the gate number ahead of time which is always a nice feeling.

Reminder: Always check the screens as gates can change!

We popped to the Escape Lounge (not a bad one if you have a Priority Pass or similar) for a little breakfast. Iceland is expensive and we wanted to fill our boots before we were in the land of pricy, imported food.

About ten minutes before the gate was due to be announced, we grabbed our bags and made our way to the transit train. Well, it was temporarily broken so they had set up a way to walk out the gates. This was much nicer than last time when we had to queue for coaches. I was very glad that we had ditched our big bags at check in for once as it meant we didn’t have to lug them all the way across the airport.

The gate staff were a little on the snappy side but they were agency staff, so you can expect the same service for plenty of airlines out of Stansted. However, as we boarded, we were welcomed by the cheerful crew standing cozy in their red puffer coats. These must be so comfortable to wear in the Stansted chilly morning, let alone the wintry conditions in Reykjavík.

Luggage

We are usually hand luggage only people but PLAY very kindly included a check in bag each so we took advtantage. Check in bags are provided at different weight allowances for different fares:
- PLAY Basic means hand luggage only.
- PLAY Value passengers can take 20kg which should be more than enough for a week of travel in a chilly place.
- PLAY Flex can pack up to 23kg
- Any passenger can pay excess for a bag weighing up 32kg, which is the legal limit for bags in Europe.
In terms of hand luggage, everyone is entitled to one small 10kg underseat hand luggage (42cm x 32 x 25 cm). If you opt for a PLAY Value or Flex ticket, you can also pack a large 12kg hand luggage (55 x 45 x 25 cm). This would have been absolutely fine for our normal way of travelling but when the bags are included, why not treat ourselves?

On Board

The Seats

The seats are all a light grey colour which is clean but a little dull. It would have been nice to see some pops of red in here as so much of their branding is red and white.(No, I don’t count the safety cards as decor). There was a 3 inch recline function which I wasn’t expecting at all. You don’t get that on the other low cost carriers on this route.. or in general really.

On the back of the seats was a standard tray table and a literature slot. Don’t put anything in here as it may well slide out. At the bottom of the seatbsack is a small net. I prefer these to the deep seatback pockets that never get a proper clean, and I am happier to use them for the bits and bobs I need to keep handy.

The standard leg room on PLAY Airlines’ A320neo is pretty good at 29 inches. This is one inch less than Ryanair and one more than Wizz. Strangely, Ryanair has always felt tighter than that? Mind you, with the little recline offered on PLAY, it feels bigger. Their extra lleg room comes up to 34 inches, the same as extra leg room on long haul carriers.

Entertainment

There isn’t any to speak of. There is no seat-back TV, or streaming service so make sure you bring a book or download some music, podcasts or videos. Thank goodness for that USB charger. Mind you, you cannot always rely on these power outlets so maybe pack your trusty powerbank too! Of course you can browse the inflight magazine but honestly, it was a five minute thumb-through job without much substance.

Food & Drink

There is no food or drink included on any fare with PLAY Airlines. This is absolutely fine on a short stretch but I think this would be hardgoing on the full trans-Atlantic journey. The stopover in Keflavik is not a cheap place to pick up food or drink either so you will be splashing out a fair bit on eating either way.

The only thing that surprised me, was the price of the alcohol. It didn’t seem that bad. Alcohol in Iceland is wildly expensive so €10 for a mini bottle of wine (a large glass) isn’t crazy.

Amenities

Coming straight from a flight with Tunisair, who use the same planes, I was shocked at the difference. This bathroom was spotless, stocked with plenty of toilet roll, hand towels and it was almost pleasant. The space is quite tight but large mirrors made it feel big enough. We were on quite an empty flight so maybe it wouldn’t have stayed as neat if it were being used more, but I believe I saw the crew giving it a quick tidy so maybe they just take more care.

The Flight

I adored the announcements from the flight deck. They were so informative, polite and funny. For example “Dear passengers, It has been an absolute pleasure. It is a lovely day in Iceland….so put on your warm clothes”. It seems to reflect the fun, youthful energy PLAY Airlines is trying to convey. What other airline has their crew in cool, white trainers in the air!?

We had a pretty smooth ride, loving the moment we burst through the clouds and left grey London behind. Well, we landed back in a grey, snowy Iceland…but that is not the point.

Check out 4 Days in Iceland – A Long Weekend in the Land of Fire and Ice

The Return – Keflavik to Stansted

As soon as we entered Keflavik’s departure hall, we spotted the PLAY signs by the self-check in machines. Having checked in online, we had barcodes on our phones. Popping these under the scanner, we were expecting to have to fill out a few screens but instead, a bag tag printed straight out! It was so fast, so efficient, things my airline’s self-service bag drop can only dream of. I expertly attached them to our backpacks (that is ten years of practice not gone to waste) and as I did so, a nice member of staff came over to point us to the out of gauge section. Having strappy backpacks, it was best to send them through the fragile section. The smiling security officer accepted the gas and we made our way through security.

The departure lounge was buzzing and I was having a sad moment, not ready to leave Iceland and super sad that we missed out on experiencing a big northern light display…first world problems, I know. We had some slightly overpriced sandwiches and walked to the gates. Turns out our gate was basically a corridor. It was dark and had no seats. People leaned on every wall, many sat on the floor. It was really weird. Most of KEF is well-designed. At least, once the door opened and we all walked up the stairs, they did a good job of separating the passengers with priority boarding and it was a nice, quick process getting on board.

Final Thoughts on This Review of PLAY Airlines

PLAY has all the ingredients of a decent low-cost carrier, and that is fine for a quick three-hour hop from London to Reykjavík. However, I think I would want a few more included extras if I were a transiting passenger, carrying on across the Atlantic.. A snack would be nice and at least a bottle of water would be good as a minimum. The stopovers are nice and quick (unless you opt for a stopover overnight) so it seems like a very cost-effective way of hopping the pond. Maybe we will get a chance to review the full journey one day soon.

Rosie xx
23/02/2024
A Review of British Airways A320-200 Economy LGW – FNC

British Airways is the UK’s flagship carrier. If you were around in the 1990s, it probably conjures up images of pearls, leather seats and in the background a sweet rendition of Aria on Air. However, in recent years, British Airways has changed. They have bought in lots of new initiatives and cost cutting efforts (do you remember when they took the second olive out of their martini and saved a bundle?). Our recent trip to Funchal, Madeira saw us booking on BA for the first time in years which gave us the chance to see the changes in British Airways economy for ourselves.

The Review of British Airways Economy

Airport Experience

The British Airways app is really very good. We used it to book our flight and then it reminded us to enter our advance passenger information. I did that one day when I was bored and waiting for a train…a very good use of time if I do say so myself. Twenty-four hours before our flight, a little reminder notification to check in popped up. As all our info was already in there, it was a very quick and easy process.

Mr Fluskey’s boarding pass

Our fare was a British Airways economy hand luggage only fare. We were free to take a large carry on bag with no weight restrictions, and a smaller personal item (handbag, laptop bag, or in my case, my beloved Cath Kidston rucksack).

Check out all our flight reviews including Virgin Atlantic and Emirates

Breezing through the airport, not having to stop at check in, we were done with security in a matter of minutes. We bought some food (more on that later) and then the app updated to show our gate number.

Oh the joys of a departure lounge

Here we go!

Boarding was swift and simple. Everyone is assigned a “group” and then they are welcomed forwards by group number. Easy peasy.

Interior

The plane was just that, plain. White lights lit the navy blue and white cabin. Despite the cold colour scheme, the welcome from the crew was very warm…and actually the crew were lovely throughout, so that made the whole flight much more pleasant.

Mr Fluskey with his trusty Fjallraven

The normal light and air conditioning blowers are in the panel above you.

The windows were the Airbus A320 standard. They aren’t huge, and the second layer makes them even smaller.

Seats

The configuration is the normal 3, 3 set up, as seen on most Airbus A320s. Travelling as a couple, this is always irritating. We like the window and so we are always hemmed in by a stranger; not good when you need to pop to the loo.

British Airways have chosen a very nice seat. Well, not the seat per se, but the seat covers. They have a navy blue leatherette cover with nice stitch detailing. On both our outbound and return flight, we were greeted by a previous passengers crumbs. It wasn’t very nice but at least the leather made it easy to wipe it off.

The economy seats

The leg room was pretty average at 30 inches. The width was 17 inches, which was fine.

The head rest is nice and adjustable. It goes up quite a way. The side flaps bend well, and are nice and stiff, but they are not that big so are a little too small to hold your head very well. It also has an indent of the BA logo which is cool.

Head rest goes down

It rest goes up

Head rest goes round

The logo

The arm rests are a little thin, and ours had a sticker that wouldn’t come off.

Not the end of the world, but it shows a little carelessness.

The seat back pocket space is pretty good. There is a magazine pocket at the top of the seat. It only has a plastic piece at the bottom to stop the magazines falling out so don’t put little bits and bobs in here or they will get lost.

The magazine pocket

Below the table is a mesh pocket. On our outbound flight it was nice but on the way home, both Mr Fluskey’s and my pockets were ripped. It was a bit shabby.

The seats reclined, but by about half an inch. I have read that they are doing away with even that on their new planes. Four hours is quite a long flight, surely that deserves a better level of comfort.

Storage

British Airways has a very clear policy when it comes to hand luggage. You are allowed one larger piece of hand luggage to go above you in the overhead locker. Additionally, you can have a smaller item that must go under the seat in front of you. This got a yellow tag in the airport.

The overhead lockers were a bit battered

Check out Top Ten Tips to Pack Your Liquids Bag for Carry On Luggage Like a Pro!

Some people didn’t understand this so the crew had to go along and request that anything with a yellow tag was removed from the overhead bins. The bins weren’t deep enough to have bags on their thin side. This always reduces the capacity quite badly. People near us had their bags somewhere near the front as there was no room left nearby.

Feeling smug because we managed to get our bags in the locker above us

Read all about our travels in Portugal

Entertainment

Considering this was a four hour flight, the entertainment provision was very poor. British Airways considers this a short haul flight and so they provide no video or audio. This is the same for economy and business.

The only entertainment was the High Life and Business Life magazines in the seat back pocket. Neither interested me all that much so after a quick flick through, they were abandoned.

Thank goodness we had brought the iPad chock full of Netflix content!

Amenities

We weren’t given any kind of amenity kit on this flight.

The bathrooms were very tight and had no cute little extras in…it was just like being on a budget flight.

Food

So if you are flying on British Airways, you get a snack right? Wrong! Again, as this was a short haul flight, no food or drinks were included. Luckily we already knew about this and so had bought lunch at the airport before boarding.

If you are in British Airways economy you are given a book full of Marks and Spencer’s products that you can purchase. I like to have a look through and see what’s on offer.

Bottoms up!

The only things that appealed to me were the Globetrotting Percy sweets (who doesn’t love Percy Pigs?) and the drinks at the end. We decided to treat ourselves and got a drink each.

Cheers

Final Thoughts

Considering the length of four hours, this was not a particularly comfortable or enjoyable flight. Other than the fancier seats, and the extra handbag in out hand luggage allowance, we may as well have been on the easyJet flight that goes to Madeira! It would have saved us a bit of money and we would have spent the same on food and drink anyway.

Hello Madeira

Honestly, I am quite disappointed in British Airways economy offering on this short haul route. The hand luggage allowance is great, as is the app, but other than that…? I can’t say I would recommend it. At least their long haul offering is still very competitive.

Now you’re in Madeira, why not go Whale and Dolphin Watching with VMT Madeira

Rosie xx

Love it? Pin it!

24/06/2018
A Review of easyJet A320 STN to DBV
When I say to people that I am taking a flight with easyJet, there are two very distinct reactions.
- Reaction 1 – Nose wrinkles as if a bad smell has entered the room, “Oh, sleazyjet!”
- Reaction 2 – Slight surprise followed by a genuine smile, “Oh OK”.
It seems that easyJet has its fans and it’s detractors and ne’er the two shall meet.

easyJet

In 2006 a seemingly eccentric, Greek Cypriot businessman named Stelios Haji-Ioannou (or just Stelios in his adverts) set up a low cost carrier that was very orange. It originally flew between London Luton and Scotland before expanding all over Europe. It now flies to over 30 countries, as far away as Israel. London Luton, a small airport north of London, is its hub.

So Why easyJet?

There are several very happy days in my year, that I like to call “easyJet Thursdays”! This is when easyJet open booking for the next alloted time period. Its like when a designer reveals their new collection (spring/summer 2018 for example). This always happens, as the name would suggest, on a Thursday and it’s on this day that bargains are to be had.

As well as flying to the location I wanted, I also think that they do a slightly better job than their nearest competitors. Ryanair is fine but can be quite stressful to pack for (their hand luggage isn’t very generous). You can also get a good deal on British Airways European routes but they have stopped providing food and drink, and it’s a whopping €22 to pick your seat, even at check in.

Why not check out our other plane reviews including British Airways and Emirates

Booking

Sitting on a runway, on an entirely different flight, I decided to get us a flight. I booked a one way ticket from Split, Croatia for the pleasingly low price of £35. We had time off in June and I knew I wanted to visit the Balkans. We didn’t know the time span of the holiday yet so the one way seemed like a good plan.

I have the easyJet mobile app and it is surprisingly great. It’s very easy to book with, boasting a simple design and I find it very intuitive. You can also manage your booking and get a mobile boarding pass.

Fast forward to early May and we realised we really needed to book our flight out to the Balkans. We decided to fly to Dubrovnik and started to search flight prices. EasyJet came up with a price around £70. Cheap as that was, we decided to make it even cheaper. We used our Sainsbury’s Nectar points and it made the flight completely free. That’s ten years of brand loyalty which has finally paid off!

What Next?

Our trip was a two week jaunt and so I decided to treat us to an extra carry on bag each. This allows you one regular hand luggage bag (56x45x25cm at any weight) and then one personal item to go under the seat in front (45x36x20cm). It also comes with a seat in the first few rows of the plane (which you can pick in advance) and Speedy Boarding. This means you can board first. We are SO fancy!

Again, I used the easyJet app to check in and it was fast and easy.

The Airport Experience

We were flying from London Stansted Airport, in which Easyjet only has a small presence. Stansted is the hub for their main rival, Ryanair. The check in area (which we didn’t actually use) was small, cramped even but the hand luggage cages gave us a chance to test our backpacks and make sure we wouldn’t have a problem at the gate. The good thing about the Easyjet colours of orange and white, is that you can spot them a mile off against a sea of red and blue airlines.

The gate was set up with two queues, one for Speedy Boarding, the other for the remaining passengers. We were at the head of the Speedy Boarding queue and so were the first to be scanned through. They took a quick look at our bags surreptitiously but we weren’t asked to place them in the cage. (We have noticed that budget airlines are much hotter on this on flights back to the UK so watch your souvenir shopping!)

Although there are jet bridges, we took an escalator and some stairs down to the ramp level and walked across the tarmac to the boarding stairs. This doesn’t seem so bad on a nice summer’s day, and when you are first in the queue. However, it can be utterly miserable in winter, or in the rain, when you are stuck in a queue on the stairs.

The Interior

The inside of the plane looked a little worse for wear. Many of their planes must be 15 or so years old and these small Airbuses work extremely hard. The lining on the back of the seat in front was coming away.

The plastic elements of the plane are a standard light beige, unexciting but inoffensive. The pattern on the chairs is designed to hide a multitude of sins but is reminiscent of dodgy train seat covers. The headrests have adverts on which, if nothing else, give you something to read. There is a standard size tray table and a seatback pocket which has a duty free catalogue, the “Bistro” menu booklet and the laminated safety card.

The Seat

As with most budget airlines, leg room is something that is only available for the chosen few who pay to sit in seat 1ABC by the exit allowing them stretch out. Seat pitch is 29 inches. This doesn’t normally bother me being a stumpy 5ft tall, but I dropped my lip balm and couldn’t squeeze enough of myself between the seats to retrieve it (with a sleeping husband blocking me on one side and a window on the other). I had to interrupt the canoodling couple behind so that they could pick it up for me.

Mr Fluskey’s seat had a random seat cover on it which seemed more than a little suspicious to me. Was the need to operate a super-fast turnaround stopping the seat being cleaned properly?

Amenities

I have found the duty free on Easyjet to be surisingly good (I got a great deal on my wedding perfume on our little pre-moon trip to Copenhagen). On this flight they were offering an additional 20% off all items which made them 36% off the full high street price.

No food or drink items are provided in the price so you have two options:

1 – Buy your snacks on board at an inflated price. It is a bit more expensive but they do have quite a decent selection of hot and cold sandwiches (including a fancy new falafel wrap) as well as posh ramen noodles. They also have crisps and sweets, or the healthier fruits and nuts. Finally, there is good selection of soft drinks or alcohol. I was pleasantly surprised to see mini bottles of prosecco and cans of Rekorderlig cider as well the usual wine and beer offerings.

2 – The budget travellers friend; buy your snacks before you board. We favour a Boots meal deal.

No inflight hygiene kit is provided on easyJet, but none of their flights are too long so I’m sure you’ll cope. The bathroom on this aircraft is very tight and so changing or washing may be an impossibility without a yoga body anyway. There is soap and water but little else to mention in the toilet.

The Crew

The easyJet uniform has definitely been improved and so they are all very smartly turned out. They seemed very friendly, something that isn’t always true on low cost carriers. They even smiled when collecting everyone’s rubbish. A mum came to wait for the bathroom with her six month old baby and she got a really lovely fuss made of her. We had Maria Anna, Emma and Karen and the First Officer who was making announcements was called Alex.

The Journey

No bumps came along to disturb our flight so we ate in peace and slept a little. It was quite a cold plane and so I am glad I was still in my cold weather gear from the UK. I felt for the keen beans in their maxi dresses and man vests.

The views on the descent to Dubrovnik were glorious. We skirted the Dalmatian coast, the sea was deep blue and rocky cliffs looked startling and dramatic against it. Unfortunately, this was the point Mr Fluskey decided to get his nap in so he missed the whole thing. Pleasingly we landed ten minutes early.

Read about sunset in Dubrovnik and the cable car

Info

App – That app that I keep raving about can be found here:

iOS

Android & Google Play

Website – If you are using a laptop/PC the you’ll want to get into the website:

easyBus – Luton, Gatwick and Stansted airports (as well as a few European resorts) served by easyJet can be reached by Easybus. Tickets can be purchased for as little as £2 and they are a little flexible. You can use them on the buses and hour before and after your booked time slot subject to space. This means if your journey goes too well, or you are delayed you still have a chance to squeeze on. The website is here.

Luggage – If you intend to take any more than your one piece of hand luggage you have two options. Both of these I strongly advise you to do ahead of time.

1 – Extra Leg Room or Up Front seating. This costs a bit extra but allows you that extra handbag/laptop bag/personal item. If you choose to check this bag in (maybe you bought some fancy wine during your trip) I was sent an email which allowed me to book that for just £4 extra. You can also have this if you are a easyJet PLUS customer or have FLEXI fare.

2 – Hold Item. This is so much cheaper when booked in advance online. Easyjet offers a 20kg weight allowance with extra weight purchasable in 3kg units up 32kg.

Final Thoughts

I think that when you book a low cost flight, you need to know what you are getting (or aren’t) in advance. My motto is, it’s just a coach, but in the sky, and then I don’t expect any more. easyJet are a good option, not disguising their extra charges until the last second, and having a generous hand luggage allowance. They also win big brownie points for their brilliant mobile app. I will definitely fly them again (and not just because I need to get home).

Rosie xx
Also on:
10/06/2017