I’m all for saving money when we travel but I must admit that I was very reluctant to book a trip with Easyjet because I’ve heard such bad reports about them in the past. In the end we booked through them for our trip to Milan because the price was literally unbeatable.
I was very pleasantly surprised with our Easyjet experience and having traveled with British Airways recently, I thought I’d share my experience with you so you can decide whether to book your flights with Easyjet who are known as a ‘budget’ airline or their more premium competitors, British Airways.
Cost
First of all, let’s look at the cost difference! I can’t compare the price of our last break to Milan with Easyjet because it wouldn’t really be a like for like comparison seeing as we went last week but what I can do, is compare the price of our next break to Monaco and Nice in October as we’ve booked that with Easyjet. 😉
Flights from London Gatwick to Nice in October had has us £211 in total for the four of us with Easyjet whereas flights on the same dates at around the same times with British Airways were coming up at £431 in total. That’s more than double the price!
Luggage Allowance
You can take 23 kg per person with British Airways for that price whereas hold luggage with Easyjet costs £35 for a return trip on this route. We added on one hold bag which is more than enough us considering you can also take the smaller cabin sized suitcases which we did when we went to Milan. One hold bag and one cabin sized suitcase fit in everything we needed for a short trip so personally, I definitely wouldn’t pay so much extra with British Airways simply for the luggage allowance which you probably won’t use!
Check in
We checked in online for both flights and they were both as easy as each other to check in and choose our seats. We checked in the day before both times but I believe you can do it earlier than 24 hours before departure with Easyjet if you’re more organised than me.
Airport Experience
The airport experience was great with both of these airlines with the baggage drop queues being long but very quick moving. We were met with helpful, friendly staff and got on to the flight in plenty of time for an on-time departure.
The flight
OK, here’s where the difference between budget and premium is evident! I’m going to compare our Easyjet flight to Milan to the flight we took between Newcastle and London rather than our transatlantic flight to New York from London as that’s a whole other ball game. The flight to Milan was on a smaller plane and the seats were noticeably smaller with Easyjet – not uncomfortably so by any means but you definitely felt more cramped in and you could really feel that the plane was smaller if you know what I mean.
In-flight service was very much the same on both flights with almost identical snacks and drinks to buy at the same sorts of prices so there’s nothing to choose between the airlines on this point!
The Verdict
Honestly, I enjoyed the flight with British Airways and with Easyjet and aside from the space on the flight, there was nothing to choose between the two of them. The difference in space was noticeable as I said but it wasn’t uncomfortable in any way so I definitely wouldn’t consider paying the extra for the difference it would make to have that bit more space with British Airways.
Looking at the difference in the price in the flights to Nice for October, booking the Easyjet flights has saved us over £200 which is a huge saving for us!
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