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Easyjet putting my hand-luggage in the hold against my wishes. Are Easyjet turning into RyanAir?
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Trista...@rocketmail.com
Apr 15, 2013, 11:26:52 AM4/15/13
to
I travel Easyjet a lot, with hand-luggage only. At least ten times a year. They're normally quite reliable.
However, lately they have been employing this awful custom of taking people's hard hand-luggage at the point of boarding and insisting on putting it in the hold, in spite of the fact that the case fits the dimensions perfectly (with room to spare).
I find this practice absolutely abhorrent. In the old days they used to ask for volunteers, but now it's common practice. They even say that they will do it "for free" as though it is some kind of favour they are doing for *me*.
What is particularly bad is that they more often than not completely overcompensate. Just last September, for a flight to Germany, they insisted on putting the hard hand-luggage into the hold for I guess everyone on the flight. When I got to the plane, the stowage areas were almost empty (just soft bags and duty free) and there would have been plenty of room for our bag.
If I had the right to say "no" then I wouldn't mind. If I had luggage already in the hold, then I wouldn't mind. But the main reason I don't check luggage in is because I want to be out of the airport experience as soon as possible and into the smoking area outside the airport asap, so do not want to be hanging around for bags.
Yesterday, Amsterdam airport. A late flight to Stansted. I knew that the South Western train was having maintenance work and that I would need to take a tube from London Bridge, and being Sunday night I knew the tube finishes earlier. The woman insisted on putting my bag in the hold. I complained, said that otherwise I would risk missing the tube in London Bridge. I said that I had my iPad and other breakables in the case, and no alternative bag to carry it in. Plus I had no lock for the hand-luggage. She insisted, and practically said that if I didn't comply, I couldn't board. This kind of jobsworth attitude one has (sadly) come to expect from RyanAir staff, but never from Easyjet. I wish I'd taken her name down, to be honest.
Regretfully, I took out all the breakables from my bag, carried them in my hand trying not to break them, and got to my seat, only to find plenty of room in the overhead lockers.
(Actually, thinking about it, they could never be as bad as RyanAir: if they had resorted to making me put my hand luggage in the hold and I had to take items out of the case and didn't have an alternative bag to put them in, they would have said I was carrying more than one item and had a problem with that. And you think I'm joking?)
Anyway, guess what. I was late for the last tube in London Bridge by about ten minutes, and had to take a railway replacement bus, which took ages to find as there was no signposting directing one to Tooley Street, or staff who knew anything about it, so I was waiting in the nice new busstop along with about thirty other shmucks for ages.
So my question is: do I have the right, under any kind of passenger charter, to refuse point-blank to comply with these orders, assuming that I have a valid reason why I do not want to be waiting at the carrousel? And is EasyJet turning into RyanAir, little by little?
PS - the email address this is sent from does not accept incoming email, so please reply to the group!
However, lately they have been employing this awful custom of taking people's hard hand-luggage at the point of boarding and insisting on putting it in the hold, in spite of the fact that the case fits the dimensions perfectly (with room to spare).
I find this practice absolutely abhorrent. In the old days they used to ask for volunteers, but now it's common practice. They even say that they will do it "for free" as though it is some kind of favour they are doing for *me*.
What is particularly bad is that they more often than not completely overcompensate. Just last September, for a flight to Germany, they insisted on putting the hard hand-luggage into the hold for I guess everyone on the flight. When I got to the plane, the stowage areas were almost empty (just soft bags and duty free) and there would have been plenty of room for our bag.
If I had the right to say "no" then I wouldn't mind. If I had luggage already in the hold, then I wouldn't mind. But the main reason I don't check luggage in is because I want to be out of the airport experience as soon as possible and into the smoking area outside the airport asap, so do not want to be hanging around for bags.
Yesterday, Amsterdam airport. A late flight to Stansted. I knew that the South Western train was having maintenance work and that I would need to take a tube from London Bridge, and being Sunday night I knew the tube finishes earlier. The woman insisted on putting my bag in the hold. I complained, said that otherwise I would risk missing the tube in London Bridge. I said that I had my iPad and other breakables in the case, and no alternative bag to carry it in. Plus I had no lock for the hand-luggage. She insisted, and practically said that if I didn't comply, I couldn't board. This kind of jobsworth attitude one has (sadly) come to expect from RyanAir staff, but never from Easyjet. I wish I'd taken her name down, to be honest.
Regretfully, I took out all the breakables from my bag, carried them in my hand trying not to break them, and got to my seat, only to find plenty of room in the overhead lockers.
(Actually, thinking about it, they could never be as bad as RyanAir: if they had resorted to making me put my hand luggage in the hold and I had to take items out of the case and didn't have an alternative bag to put them in, they would have said I was carrying more than one item and had a problem with that. And you think I'm joking?)
Anyway, guess what. I was late for the last tube in London Bridge by about ten minutes, and had to take a railway replacement bus, which took ages to find as there was no signposting directing one to Tooley Street, or staff who knew anything about it, so I was waiting in the nice new busstop along with about thirty other shmucks for ages.
So my question is: do I have the right, under any kind of passenger charter, to refuse point-blank to comply with these orders, assuming that I have a valid reason why I do not want to be waiting at the carrousel? And is EasyJet turning into RyanAir, little by little?
PS - the email address this is sent from does not accept incoming email, so please reply to the group!
Ian Clifton
Apr 15, 2013, 4:08:39 PM4/15/13
to
Trista...@rocketmail.com writes:
> I travel Easyjet a lot, with hand-luggage only. At least ten times a
> year. They're normally quite reliable.
>
> However, lately they have been employing this awful custom of taking
> people's hard hand-luggage at the point of boarding and insisting on
> putting it in the hold, in spite of the fact that the case fits the
> dimensions perfectly (with room to spare).
>
[...]
> I travel Easyjet a lot, with hand-luggage only. At least ten times a
> year. They're normally quite reliable.
>
> However, lately they have been employing this awful custom of taking
> people's hard hand-luggage at the point of boarding and insisting on
> putting it in the hold, in spite of the fact that the case fits the
> dimensions perfectly (with room to spare).
>
> So my question is: do I have the right, under any kind of passenger
> charter, to refuse point-blank to comply with these orders, assuming
> that I have a valid reason why I do not want to be waiting at the
> carrousel? And is EasyJet turning into RyanAir, little by little?
>
> PS - the email address this is sent from does not accept incoming
> email, so please reply to the group!
only. I’ll see what happens.
--
Ian ◎
pe...@nospam.demon.co.uk
Apr 16, 2013, 2:37:41 AM4/16/13
to
On 15th Apr 2013 at 08:26 <Trista...@rocketmail.com> wrote:
> I travel Easyjet a lot, with hand-luggage only. At least ten times a year.
> They're normally quite reliable.
>
> However, lately they have been employing this awful custom of taking
> people's hard hand-luggage at the point of boarding and insisting on
> putting it in the hold, in spite of the fact that the case fits the
> dimensions perfectly (with room to spare).
> [..]
> I travel Easyjet a lot, with hand-luggage only. At least ten times a year.
> They're normally quite reliable.
>
> However, lately they have been employing this awful custom of taking
> people's hard hand-luggage at the point of boarding and insisting on
> putting it in the hold, in spite of the fact that the case fits the
> dimensions perfectly (with room to spare).
> So my question is: do I have the right, under any kind of passenger
> charter, to refuse point-blank to comply with these orders, assuming
> that I have a valid reason why I do not want to be waiting at the
> carrousel? And is Easy Jet turning into RyanAir, little by little?
> charter, to refuse point-blank to comply with these orders, assuming
> that I have a valid reason why I do not want to be waiting at the
Not that I'm aware of, and even if there were, convincing the check in
jobsworth who insists "Non" is something else. They know that you
want to get on the flight and if they take the line of denying you
boarding unless you do what they say, they have you by the proverbials.
Perhaps this is a backlash against more passengers taking cabin
baggage only in response to exorbitant extra hold baggage charges?
And in so doing, increasing boarding time and consequently turnaround
time in a highly competitive, fast turnaround business. Were you one
of the last people to check in? There might be some unwritten practice
of limiting the number of items of cabin baggage simply to speed up
boarding -- I've no idea, just speculating.
I don't fly much these days, but have certainly never been prevented
from taking properly sized cabin baggage only.
Pete
--
Believe those who are seeking the truth.
Doubt those who find it. - Andr� Gide
Graeme Wall
Apr 16, 2013, 3:28:34 AM4/16/13
to
On 16/04/2013 07:37, pe...@nospam.demon.co.uk wrote:
> On 15th Apr 2013 at 08:26 <Trista...@rocketmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I travel Easyjet a lot, with hand-luggage only. At least ten times a year.
>> They're normally quite reliable.
>>
>> However, lately they have been employing this awful custom of taking
>> people's hard hand-luggage at the point of boarding and insisting on
>> putting it in the hold, in spite of the fact that the case fits the
>> dimensions perfectly (with room to spare).
>> [..]
>> So my question is: do I have the right, under any kind of passenger
>> charter, to refuse point-blank to comply with these orders, assuming
>> that I have a valid reason why I do not want to be waiting at the
>> carrousel? And is Easy Jet turning into RyanAir, little by little?
>
> Not that I'm aware of, and even if there were, convincing the check in
> jobsworth who insists "Non" is something else. They know that you
> want to get on the flight and if they take the line of denying you
> boarding unless you do what they say, they have you by the proverbials.
>
> Perhaps this is a backlash against more passengers taking cabin
> baggage only in response to exorbitant extra hold baggage charges?
> And in so doing, increasing boarding time and consequently turnaround
> time in a highly competitive, fast turnaround business. Were you one
> of the last people to check in? There might be some unwritten practice
> of limiting the number of items of cabin baggage simply to speed up
> boarding -- I've no idea, just speculating.
>
It's an oddity as most cheap-skate airlines prefer you to have hand
> On 15th Apr 2013 at 08:26 <Trista...@rocketmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I travel Easyjet a lot, with hand-luggage only. At least ten times a year.
>> They're normally quite reliable.
>>
>> However, lately they have been employing this awful custom of taking
>> people's hard hand-luggage at the point of boarding and insisting on
>> putting it in the hold, in spite of the fact that the case fits the
>> dimensions perfectly (with room to spare).
>> [..]
>> So my question is: do I have the right, under any kind of passenger
>> charter, to refuse point-blank to comply with these orders, assuming
>> that I have a valid reason why I do not want to be waiting at the
>> carrousel? And is Easy Jet turning into RyanAir, little by little?
>
> Not that I'm aware of, and even if there were, convincing the check in
> jobsworth who insists "Non" is something else. They know that you
> want to get on the flight and if they take the line of denying you
> boarding unless you do what they say, they have you by the proverbials.
>
> Perhaps this is a backlash against more passengers taking cabin
> baggage only in response to exorbitant extra hold baggage charges?
> And in so doing, increasing boarding time and consequently turnaround
> time in a highly competitive, fast turnaround business. Were you one
> of the last people to check in? There might be some unwritten practice
> of limiting the number of items of cabin baggage simply to speed up
> boarding -- I've no idea, just speculating.
>
luggage only as that reduces handling costs and turn-round time.
>
--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at <http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail>
Trista...@rocketmail.com
Apr 22, 2013, 7:12:41 AM4/22/13
to
On Tuesday, April 16, 2013 7:37:41 AM UTC+1, pe...@nospam.demon.co.uk wrote:
<SNIP>
However, this has happened to me on flights where it's happened to practically everybody. I flew from Alicante last January for instance, and Berlin in September. Both Easyjet, both times wasn't among last, both times they took my handluggage. I didn't mind with the Alicante one so much as I had hold luggage as well, but I do wish that they provide bags for people who comply with this, so that we can take out our breakables and the stuff we need for the flight.
I am surprised that they can enforce this to be honest; I am flying to Denmark next month and am giving SAS a go as I'm a bit fed up with Easyjet doing this to me and I need to be out of the airport quickly to get the train to Malmö, so I don't want to be held up waiting in the baggage hall. So their policies are already begin to have an effect on the company I choose to fly with. It's a slippery slope.
I have not flown with RyanAir after their treatment of a young Spanish girl who was frogmarched off the plane by police after insisting on getting on, in spite of the fact that the book she was carrying (to read on the flight) and a bottle from Duty Free wouldn't fit in her hand-luggage (which was not that big, she should have brought a larger case), and in spite of the fact that when the police arrived on board the plane, other passengers were saying that they had room in their on-board luggage for her items. Since then I have refused to fly RyanAir.
I am hoping that I am not going to have to start giving Easyjet a miss as well.... I am finding their attitude to the passenger increasingly Ryanairish.
<SNIP>
> Were you one of the last people to check in?
In that particular flight, I was not one of the last though by the time I'd finished arguing with her, then unpacking my bag to retrieve the breakables and the stuff I needed on my flight such as my iPad, laptop etc I was!
However, this has happened to me on flights where it's happened to practically everybody. I flew from Alicante last January for instance, and Berlin in September. Both Easyjet, both times wasn't among last, both times they took my handluggage. I didn't mind with the Alicante one so much as I had hold luggage as well, but I do wish that they provide bags for people who comply with this, so that we can take out our breakables and the stuff we need for the flight.
I am surprised that they can enforce this to be honest; I am flying to Denmark next month and am giving SAS a go as I'm a bit fed up with Easyjet doing this to me and I need to be out of the airport quickly to get the train to Malmö, so I don't want to be held up waiting in the baggage hall. So their policies are already begin to have an effect on the company I choose to fly with. It's a slippery slope.
I have not flown with RyanAir after their treatment of a young Spanish girl who was frogmarched off the plane by police after insisting on getting on, in spite of the fact that the book she was carrying (to read on the flight) and a bottle from Duty Free wouldn't fit in her hand-luggage (which was not that big, she should have brought a larger case), and in spite of the fact that when the police arrived on board the plane, other passengers were saying that they had room in their on-board luggage for her items. Since then I have refused to fly RyanAir.
I am hoping that I am not going to have to start giving Easyjet a miss as well.... I am finding their attitude to the passenger increasingly Ryanairish.
Ian Clifton
Apr 27, 2013, 7:13:02 PM4/27/13
to
Ian Clifton <ian.c...@chem.ox.ac.uk> writes:
[...]
> I’ll be flying EJ myself in a few days, hoping to travel hand‐luggage
> only. I’ll see what happens.
Just for the record, I had no problems either direction, Gatwick–Zürich
route.
--
Ian ◎
[...]
> I’ll be flying EJ myself in a few days, hoping to travel hand‐luggage
> only. I’ll see what happens.
route.
--
Ian ◎
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