You read it here first. Now John Kohlsatt, the boss of the German part of budget airline EasyJet, agrees with us that rising fuel costs might cause the demise of the European low cost carrier industry.
From his point of view, though, there are a couple of exceptions. He's pretty sure that his own company, EasyJet, will survive. It's already the fourth-biggest airline in Europe (amongst all the non-budget carriers, too) and has more planes on order.
Kohlsatt was gracious enough to say that a few other airlines will survive fuel-cost-caused bankruptcy too: namely British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa and, the only other LCC on the list, Ryanair. According to him we just have to wait around for the rest to tumble. There might be new routes on the way, but they might not last long.
Two of the European low cost carriers we like to complain about most, EasyJet and Ryanair,
have apparently been the subject of complaints from others, too. Since neither of them have allocated seating, they both have programs where passengers can pay extra to be one of the first to board. But there's trouble in boarding paradise.
Britain's Trading Standards Office has been looking into a few complaints about priority boarding, particularly that passengers who've paid extra end up on a bus out to the plane with those who haven't, and don't get any boarding advantage at all. Unless they're really good at shoving and pushing, that is.
The Trading Standards people say this is all verging on fraud, and have put the airlines on notice that they're being watched. So are we.
Large European LCC EasyJet--the one that enjoys charging extra for everything--has found another way to take the "low cost" out of "low cost carrier, "although it says it's a new way for customers to save money.
The EasyJet Plus card is a kind of loyalty program that works in conjunction with the Speedy Boarding scheme. Until now, passengers who wanted priority boarding would pay between £2.50 and £7 per flight ($5-$14), or up to £9 ($18) a flight if they also wanted a dedicated check-in counter. With EasyJet Plus, you pay £100 ($200) per year (£125 in the first year) to get Speedy Boarding at no cost. Well, no cost apart from the astronomical charge per year.
You need to fly once every two weeks just to break even. Commentators are suggesting business travelers will benefit the most. Your best bet? Pick an airline that doesn't have so many extra fees.
Ah, EasyJet. If only life really were so easy as the name suggests. Stories about the sometimes innovative, sometimes sneaky airline keeps us wondering if the low fares are worth the hassles. But if your relationship with this British low cost carrier is on more solid ground than ours, you'll probably want to know about their current specials for winter flights--your key to a cheap ski holiday in Europe.
EasyJet is quite excited that it's added new ski destinations in the form of Innsbruck (Austria) and Sofia (Bulgaria), and we hear from HotelChatter that Bulgaria might be the hot new place to ski. EasyJet also suggests ski holidays starting in Ljubljana, Basel, Zurich or Geneva, with most flights from the UK to these destinations starting at ₤22.95 (under $50) including taxes, for a one-way flight.
If skiing's not your thing, EasyJet is also opening new routes from the UK to Gdansk (Poland) and Lisbon and Madeira (Portugal) so you can plan some other kinds of winter action. Just be careful about packing too much baggage.
With winter fast blocking out the joy of traveling in Europe, some of the budget airlines are already looking ahead to summer 2008. Ryanair, for one, is boasting that next summer will be a record-breaking one with over 40 million seats available on 556 different routes. No wonder planes sometimes show up late: There are so many possibilities the pilots probably don't always know the way. For winter travelers Ryanair has a big 50% off sale going at the moment and the airline still offers a lowest price guarantee, so there are quite a few real bargains to be had.
Italian cutie MyAir seems to be more focused on the winter season; travelers who want to fly between November and March 2008 are being offered an all-inclusive rate of €50 ($70) for flights within Italy and €60 for cross-Europe flights.
And over at EasyJet they're approaching the new season with a new look. The airline just debuted a new flight-attendant-designed uniform (above). EasyJet's still following its motto of "injecting more fun into flying" but with a slightly smarter feel. Obviously flight attendants didn't like the original black jeans uniform. Funny--neither did we.
Britian-based LCC EasyJet is constantly doing innovative things, like making it cost insane amounts of money to take large baggage with you. Now they've done something helpful, just when you least expected it: all flights leaving Gatwick now give you the option of receiving a series of text reminders to help make your departure as smooth as possible.
Flights from London Gatwick, as well as flights from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Gatwick, will offer the service to all passengers on an opt-in basis.
It works like this: four hours before departure, you'll get a message confirming the time of take-off and departure terminal; just before check-in closes you'll get another message and you'll get one more before boarding closes. Presumably if they happen to be running late, they'll send you a message about that as well.
Low cost carriers are constantly finding creative ways to turn the rock bottom prices we're expecting into something less than cheap. Earlier this month, it was EasyJet hiking up prices for checked baggage; this time 'round RyanAir wants us to pay for the privilege of checking in at the airport.
While it seems like the check in process is something you can't avoid, Ryanair begs to differ. The airline has online check in, and if you're not checking any baggage, you'll be free of extra fees. (You'll even score priority boarding). However, if you either skip online check in or want to travel with more than carry-on baggage, you'll have to add a £2 ($4) charge to your ticket--plus £5 for each piece of luggage. Be warned: All these "low cost" add-ons can add up to a less-than-low-cost airline.
Life with LCC EasyJet has just got a little bit less easy. Starting October 1, all passengers flying on EasyJet will have to pay for every piece of baggage they check in. EasyJet's trying to discourage checked baggage on the grounds that it'll reduce the weight of the aircraft and thus reduce carbon emissions. Making a tidy little profit would, of course, be an unwanted side effect.
So, the rules go like this: if you register a bag while booking your ticket, it'll cost you £2 ($4); it's £5 if you pay at the airport. The hefty excess charges remain at £6 per kilogram over 20kg. You can take unlimited weight on board with you, as long as it fits into a 55cm x 40cm x 20cm bag. But since there are still quite a few things you can't take on board with you, that's not much consolation.
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by amandak
