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EASYJET’S NEW CABIN BAG POLICY


➜ V KIMI_CD G Since February, only a small bag (maximum 45cm x 36cm x 20cm) is now allowed in the cabin on Easyjet flights. Only customers who have booked an “up front” or extra legroom seat will be able to bring a larger suitcase (56cm x 45cm x 25cm) into the cabin.


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➜ ONTHERUNHOME A bonkers move and one that may drive passengers to BA. I am going to positively avoid Easyjet until this policy is reversed, and I hope others boycott them too.


➜ F AR OF LYER This will drive me away from Easyjet. I normally use them as an alternative to other low-cost carriers [LCCs] such as Transavia. Easyjet’s USP was the ability to buy speedy boarding with two bags, with no weight restrictions. Now there is no benefit.


➜ ONTHERUNHOME BA must be watching this development – let us hope they do not follow suit.


➜ M AR T YN S INCL AIR I don’t think passengers will care. Look at how Ryanair treats its passengers, even charging ridiculous amounts for printing boarding cards at airport check-in. Pre-pandemic this never affected them. Perhaps Easyjet realises that it can do what it wants and passengers will still fly.


➜ CEDR IC_ST A THER B Y Of course this move will be unpopular. But if one thinks at all about overhead locker space, several things cannot be denied: it is in short supply, with demand regularly exceeding capacity; it is a major advantage for time-pressured travellers as it avoids the need to use baggage


MAY/JUNE 20 2 1


reclaim; it is widely abused by people trying to stuff far more than their allowance in; it slows down boarding and disembarkation badly; it is a constant source of conflict and frustration both between passengers (later boarders finding no space within several rows of their seat), and between passengers and gate staff (as people try to persuade staff that they should be allowed to take their oversized wheely, suit bag, laptop and duty-free into the cabin). Nobody likes to be asked to pay for something that has up until now been free but charging properly for this useful and scarce resource would solve these problems, be fairer to all and also raise money. Why should Easyjet not do this? Personally, I would like them to offer free hold luggage, while cabin baggage above one small thing that can go under the seat in front [should be] charged. That would go even further to charging appropriately for the different ways of taking luggage with you and solve all of the current issues with overhead lockers.


for 180 trolley bags. Now the airlines want to screw us again as they have lost the previous battle to the passenger (however good and improved their turnaround times were at the gate).


➜ ONTHERUNHOME BA was often compared with the LCCs. Now there is clear blue water between them and these airlines. With lounge access and the frequent flyer benefits I will be making BA my first choice again.


‘A bonkers move that may drive passengers to BA – I will avoid Easyjet until this policy is reversed’


➜ AMC WHIR TER I did a lot of flying with LCCs soon after they started in the 1990s. Back then there were none of these charges. Go would allow free seat selection at the airport (online seat selection was unavailable at that time). Over the years, it has all come down


to having the lowest headline price. That applies


to both conventional airlines and LCCs.


➜ CEDR IC_ST A THER B Y Does anyone still choose an airline by


➜ AL AINB O Y5 6 Cedric, in many ways I agree. But let’s go back, say, 15-20 years and most of us probably put the case in the hold. Then we waited by the carousel and eventually collected our bag. It was the airlines that started this “conflict”. They started to separate fares with no baggage and with a quite ridiculous extra amount for an added case. Airline websites then asked us two or three times during booking: “Are you sure you do not need luggage space? We are 50 per cent cheaper than at the airport…” So we all got wise to this, acquired a trolley bag and rarely used the extra hold luggage option. The onus then fell on the poor cabin crew to find space


the “lowest headline price”? Has not even the most infrequent of flyers learnt that the headline price is misleading at best and an outright lie from most airlines? If I am booking a route that means I have to use LCCs with their despicable pricing models, I open tabs for all airlines on the route, go all of the way through the booking with each, and only choose when I see the final price at the pay screen.


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