Budget Airline Problems
One Airline Off the List, How Many More to Go?
I think I spoke too soon when I said that I prefer to fly with easyJet. Let's just say I will avoid flying with them if I can afford it. So far this year I haven't had good luck with flights, and easyJet took the crown of the worst experience flying. Then again I've heard horror stories about flights, so I can't complain. And I'd rather be on a safe plane and late. But I always seem to get stuck with some people who just don't know how to do their job or are too lazy to do it.Let me preface this by saying that two out of three times I've flown in Italy I've had some stupid problem. In February we stayed on the Tarmac for two hours waiting to the repairman to try and shove a panel back into place. Eventually he said it was good enough that only part of it was dangling rather than the whole thing. Great for a transatlantic flight. Then we waited 30 minutes for one of those cars to come and push the plane backwards. So naturally when I booked my flight to Milan, I was apprehensive. So I gave my self a 3pm flight just in case my luck struck again. And it did. It always seems to strike when I fly alone. Well the issue in Milan was with the air conditioner of the plane, which could be pretty serious since we need to breathe. So we sat there for three hours with our plane just parked there, staring at us and taunting us by not allowing us to board it. But what really made matters worse was the lack of information. They would update the screen by just adding thirty more minutes to the departure time and the guy at the help desk, in very broken English, or incomprehensible French, or in very sassy Italian would just tell us he had no information other than saying that we might be staying the night. Way to only give worst case scenario buddy and keep us calm. Eventually they got the plane fixed and sent us on our way. But the attitude we concerned passengers received after being scared we wouldn't make it to work the following day was unacceptable. But then again, they don't know what customer service is in Italy either.
So what have I learned about flying with easyJet? First off make sure you only have one bag. They are unbelievably strict about the one bag rule. If your purse doesn't fit in your carry on, then you're going to have to check a bag. So plan accordingly. They follow that rule to a T, no matter how frustrating. Next make sure that you're prepared to pay if you have to call them. Yes their customer service line charges a fee by the minute, so you better hope that they don't put you on hold. And the best part is that it's Europe, so you can't get too angry and have to keep saying thank you with a smile while trying to get your problem solved. Next is the fact that they are known for never canceling flights, just delaying them as much as possible, even if it means flying them out at 4 in the morning. And I've learned that if I must fly with them, to make sure that I know when the next flights leave to the same area that I am going to so that if anything happens I can try and catch the next flight. So while budget airlines are so cheap, sometimes they just cause more hassle than they're worth.
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