My experience is that Easyjet, like Ryanair, have more generous seating space than some other carriers in their standard seating so you will not have 28" ! The last times I had standard seating on a Thomson and Monach flight the space was smaller than Easyjet / Ryanair.

It is always a sprint to get the seats you want when they are not preallocated but having Speedy Boarding will give you the very best chance of getting those emergency exit seats that have longer legroom.

I'm not sure how many Easyjet allocate for speedy boarding on a flight but Ryanair allow up to 50% of a flight to have priiority boarding. I believe Easyjet have a much smaller number - I think it used to be around 20ish - but times may have changed.

Even with Speedy Boarding you have to play the game and make sure you are at the front of the queue, or even start the queue - someone has to so why not you !

We always have Speedy / Priority boarding for flights longer than 2 hours, never had a problem getting the seats we wanted, but you have to play the game !

If you are boarding the plane using the front / rear steps ie not an airbridge and at the front of the queue board by the front steps and get your seats. If you are a few back in the queue board by the rear steps and hopefully get the seats you want as others will be blocking the aisle from the front - they always do !

Regards, Chris

Chris,

Thank you very much for that information, it was very very helpful.

JW

They are now saying on their website that groups are 1 (SB & SB+), then SA & finally 2 (which is anyone else) with no mention of online check in's at all. The online check in help notes also now mention nothing about group A, though presumably as they've already got people online booked group A in the last 60 days they'll have to honour that.

Just as a final note on the eJ boarding groups.

I've not checked their site for a few weeks, but I notice they are now actually stating that the old Boarding Group A (on-line & early check in) ceases to exist from 11th Jan 2010 i.e. as I thought above allowing for punters booked in 60 days before they changed the system on 12th Nov 2009. So now it's simply SB/SB+, next SA & then everyone else.

Pete

Ryanair in the early days of online checkin gave those passengers checking in online priority boarding 'free'. Those days have long gone - if you want a chance to be in the group that are first on you have to pay !

Chris

I checked in online almost as soon as they introduced online check in with hold luggage for my flights to and from Malta in January - it was probably fairly close to 60 days when I did it. I was allocated group 2 which is according to what is on the website.

I would also agree that you do get more leg room on Easyjet than some other airlines. EJ are not my favourite airline as I hate the boarding scrum - but sometimes needs must!!

Pippa

now don't shoot me down as this is our considered opinion having come home today NEVER AGAIN will we use Eastjet for the couple of quid you save we found the whole experience a nightmare.. our out bound flight delayed 3 hrs due to a faulty diverter valve the noise and vibration would indicate it was not a sudden fault but probably been on the way out for many flight , looking out from our 27 inch seat pitch window seat i could see some of the bolts on a small cowling were not fully screwed down, when i mentioned this to the pilot on leaving the aircraft he smiled and said don't let everyone hear, to top it all our return flight arrived late due to a technical fault [dont know what] on both legs of the journey they ran out of hot snacks before reaching our row [A319 row 9]

one tech hitch occasionally would be acceptable but 2 in two flights would make me think that maintenance was an issue

these are the personal views of the pendle witch and wizard

27" pitch - blimey someone who takes a tape measure with them !

Chris

Sorry you had a bad experience. I flew with Easyjet over the Christmas Holidays, I'm not normally a fan of any of the cheap airlines but find that Easyjet are usually pretty good. There was enough room for my long legs on the short flight. We did have a 90mins delay on the outward flight to Gatwick but were pleased to even get there due to the awful weather and our inward flight actually left the airport early. The cabin staff were very pleasant and apart from the scrum to get on the plane both flights were totally acceptable.
I usually fly to and from the UK with either BA or Lufthansa but chose the EJ flight as it was considerably cheaper and I can say I didn't notice any real differences in standards.
I fly numerous times each year both long haul and short and have flown with a variety of airlines, my worst flight ever was with Cathay, one of the few 5* airlines, I have also had two very bad flights with Singapore, their economy seating in the 747's seemed very cramped and they are regarded as the best airline in the world.

Judith

I like easyjet too and find leg room always better than the likes of Thomas cook etc. We may have just been lucky but never had a delay with them either other than the normal half an hour that is always made up by the time you arrive at your destination. I think the likes of Ryanair/Easy do that on purpose anyway .

It's a bit hit n miss with the emergency seats but I have never booked priority boarding and we have still managed to get them a few times . This year my son went ahead of us in an attempt to bag those seats (usually 4 rows - halfway down the plane ) . He was way behind the early boarders ,probably about a third - half had already boarded and they were still free . Unfortunately him and his brother were unable to use them as they are under 18 but they saved them for us anyway.

lyn

While I agree with much of what you say Lynn you highlight what in my opinion is the worst aspect of EJ and RA the saving and atempted saving of seats.

Have just booked return flights from Lanzarote in September, (flying out with Monarch) booked luggage and did the API form , do i just do online check-in and print off boarding cards before i leave home? and thats it?

the price for 2 adults was nearly £120 cheaper than monarch/thomson/flyTC and at the time slot i wanted , the flight was 2 days later , so i've got 9 night holiday and the £120 pays for the extra 2 nights at the villa we booked!

andy66,

Once you've filled in all your details online and checked-in, you'll see your boarding card on the screen. Just print it out and that's it. Take the page with you as it wll have a bar code that is scanned at security / the boarding gate. Simple as that!

Darren

Thanks Dazbo, it just sounded too simple! i flew with them years ago when you gave them a reference number at the checkin desk.

Flying out from Gatwick to Malta on a 7.15am flight in January. What sort of food items are available on the flight that time of the morning and roughly what price.

It is a while since we have flown easyjet!

Pippa

Pippa,

You can download a copy of the latest Boutique & Bistro (October-December 2009) - 13.4Mb from Easyjets website. Page 36 onwards lists available food / drink.

Darren

Hi,we are flying to Lanzarote with Easyjet and have paid extra for speedy boarding,we opted for this because of the chaos at Palma Airport last June when the queues for Easyjet were so long some people were refused boarding despite having got to the airport well on time!My question is will there be any point in checking in on-line for our flight from Manchester considering we are already allocated in the SB group?Does it save you much time at the airport?
Thanks Helen

Sorry its Liverpool Airport we are flying from!

HelenRad,

Are you taking any luggage with you? If hand luggage only, online check-in is much less hassle as you can just go straight through to departures when you get to the airport. If you're taking luggage with you, it probably won't be much different checking-in in the normal way or using online as you'll still have to queue to check your bags in.

Darren

Yes we are taking luggage so dont think we will bother checking in on-line, thanks for the reply.