Low cost airlines improving?

[roy4eyes]

Following Mr. O'Really's comments that he was going to be nicer to his customers (additional competition from Norwegian anything to do with this ?) in future I wonder if they are all following suit.

My wife booked a cheap (€30) EasyJet flight from Gatwick to Faro and was allocated seat 13E. As this could not be changed once she had printed the boarding card, I e-mailed EJ to ask whether - as she is both superstitious and prefers an aisle seat - this could be changed. Within 2 hours I got a reply to say it was no problem to change to 6D although there would be a fee to pay. Following day I got a phone call to confirm this and to get card details for the surcharge. Gulping I asked "how much" and was pleasantly surprised to be told "£3" when the phone call must have cost more than this !! To cap it off I then got the following e-mail which I am copying in full.

Dear Mrs. Carpenter
Re the phone converesation your husband has just had with my colleague, I can now confirm that your seat has now been changed to 6D.
Please reprint your boarding card as the one you have is now invalid.
Should you have any additional questions, please contact us again and we will be pleased to help.
Have a nice day and a lovely flight to Faro on Monday.
Yours sincerely
Katazynia
EasyJet customer service.

I feel compliments should be given where due and for service like this I am prepared to pay a little extra.

[Octopus]

Seems like good customer service there.

I'm not saying you are (or have been) moaning about them in the past, this comment is just 'in general'. I really don't understand the hatred for the cheap airlines and/or their customer service.

Treat them as what they are - buses with wings. They're just a no thrills service to get you quickly and cheaply from A>B. Who really cares if you can't get a meal, they hassle you about buying scratch cards, or charge you to change bookings etc.

None of the things they do bother me in the slightest - I turn up, sit in whatever seat is free, and read a book for a couple of hours. Before I know it, I'm in Portugal. My gran had a million things to complain about when I put her on one recently... what is it with old people and complaining

[joeysoap]

Seems like good customer service there.

Agreed, teriffic customer service. Good article in the Irish edition of the Sunday Times, in it the writer states that at the turn of the millennium Ryanair was 18 months behind EasyJet in introducing online booking, but it did catch up, and overtake in due course. Now MOL is now saying that it will take 6 months to match the online offering of other airlines. And he is using the off peak period to do it so and by June hopes to be fully up and running with new website, mobile app and all bugbears eliminated. EasyJet are definitely more customer friendly at the moment, so it will be interesting to see how this pans out. Can only be good for passengers.

what is it with old people and complaining

Comes with the territory.

[pete-flint]

.. what is it with old people and complaining

We are from an age where civility, manners and respect meant something. Something which is lacking in a lot of todays adolescents.

[e-richard]

We are from an age where civility, manners and respect meant something. Something which is lacking in a lot of todays adolescents.

I remember my grandfather saying the same to me.

[tricky]

Please,thank you and sorry. Some of the most important words in any language

[sam]

Please,thank you and sorry. Some of the most important words in any language

When visiting a foreign country I always learn these and the important phrase - to order a beer.

[Craig]

I thought the most important phrase to learn in a foreign country was " My friend will pay for these ".

[widge]

Easyjet's rising fortunes help explain why struggling rival Ryanair has launched a charm offensive to win back customers. Ryanair, Europe's largest no-frills carrier, recently announced it was introducing allocated seating, after issuing two profits warnings in two months.

Easyjet attributed a 10% rise in revenues to strong demand in its key markets of the UK, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy and Portugal, as well as a "benign" competitive environment. A host of regional airlines and legacy national carriers have run into trouble in recent years, reducing the number of players in the market. Small carriers have closed, while British Airways owner International Airlines Group, have cut routes, allowing rivals to fill the gaps.

Almost 61 million passengers flew with the airline during the year and the group said it made an average profit of £7.03 on each seat sold, up from £4.81 a seat in 2012.

[joeysoap]

Ryanair might be putting on a more ' friendly' face , but the one thing I am certain of is that their fares next year are considerably up on this years. This probably applies to all airlines and will continue to so. Ryanair are commencing flights into Lisbon next year. Wonder if they will continue to fly into Porto once the Lisbon route is up and running?

[HampshireRich]

Ryanair might be putting on a more ' friendly' face , but the one thing I am certain of is that their fares next year are considerably up on this years. This probably applies to all airlines and will continue to so. Ryanair are commencing flights into Lisbon next year. Wonder if they will continue to fly into Porto once the Lisbon route is up and running?

I would imagine the flights to Faro will be busier than those to Lisbon during the peak season - may make Ryanair consider out of season flights.

[Bruce Wallis]

Faro is a main Ryan air hub.
They already fly a winter service from Faro, and are extending their routes out of Faro.

[EMM]

I have to come out on business and am using EJ out ( day and flight time suits ) and RA back ( price ).
Having both airline operating allows us even more flexibility.

[Wiltsie]

Easyjet's rising fortunes help explain why struggling rival Ryanair has launched a charm offensive to win back customers. Ryanair, Europe's largest no-frills carrier, recently announced it was introducing allocated seating, after issuing two profits warnings in two months.

Easyjet attributed a 10% rise in revenues to strong demand in its key markets of the UK, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy and Portugal, as well as a "benign" competitive environment. A host of regional airlines and legacy national carriers have run into trouble in recent years, reducing the number of players in the market. Small carriers have closed, while British Airways owner International Airlines Group, have cut routes, allowing rivals to fill the gaps.

Almost 61 million passengers flew with the airline during the year and the group said it made an average profit of £7.03 on each seat sold, up from £4.81 a seat in 2012.

Hence , why they're charging almost what they like now. Flight prices going up v quickly once released. Only if you can be super flexible on time and day will you get lowish priced flights between April and October.
One part of their release you did omit is that they said the charging of seats to book your selection has helped drive profits up.

We've flown Easyjet 8 times (incl returns) this year from and to Bristol - Fuerteventura twice, Portugal once and Alicante once. Everytime the plane has been at 98% capacity or full.
Any travel/foreign holiday recession there might have been in last few years is well and truly over; and Ejet are reaping the rewards.

[SAM SPARKLE]

Tip for my fellow Irish travellers which you may or may not be aware off, Aer Lingus now fly from Belfast City to Faro.