I’m the first to admit, I’m not really a big fan of flying. Being a bit claustrophobic, I can think of nothing worse than being cramped up with a load of rowdy holidaymakers and having to sit still for hours upon end. But it’s one of those things when you know you have to grit your teeth and get on with if you want to enjoy holidays abroad like everybody else.
For our first flight, my husband and I weren’t particularly bothered about extensive frills and the best quality service, we just wanted a simple, basic yet safe and economical flight by an operator we felt we could trust. We chose EasyJet primarily because they were a well-known name and one of the cheaper operators at the time. Plus, they were offering flights from our closest airport at Luton in the UK, just 20 odd miles or so away.
We were flying to Corfu from Luton Airport, and the flight time was estimated to be somewhere around three and a half hours. EasyJet have two main offices here in the UK, one at our local Luton and the other in Liverpool. We were to fly on one of EasyJet’s Boeing 737s and we arrived at the airport some two hours before departure, as had been recommended in our booking details.
Check in was fairly fast and straightforward, there was a small queue as we’d arrived early but we did notice the queue did get steadily longer as departure time approached. The check-in staff were incredibly helpful, polite and full of smiles. When we explained this was my first ever flight and so I was feeling a little nervous, they really did go out of their way to put me at my ease by suggesting ways to quell my nerves and the rising nausea and by keeping us entertained with funny stories of previous passengers and their exploits.
Luckily, there were no delays and we boarded on time, despite this being a charted flight and being pre-warned that long delays were par for the course! A polite and friendly hostess showed us to our seats, which were surprisingly roomy. I’d been aware from various consumer TV programmes, that many people had found legroom on budget flights to be somewhat cramped, but this wasn’t the case with us. Even my very tall and long legged husband discovered that his knees weren’t wedged tightly against the seat in front as he had worried they might be. The seats could be reclined too, not too far but enough to give you some added comfort without feeling you were resting your head in the lap of the passenger sat behind you!
The hostesses went through the standard safety procedures and demonstrated how to use the masks and aids etc, even before we’d taken off. And they offered us all boiled sweets to suck before take off to reduce the uncomfortable ear popping sensation often suffered during gradual ascent into the skies.
One thing that I found to be quite disconcerting was EasyJet’s chosen colour scheme. Everything they provide, including literature, uniforms worn by the stewards and stewardesses, the plane itself etc were all a very vivid bright orange colour and not really the best tonic for somebody feeling airsick and nervous. Everywhere you looked was ‘carrot’; not the best when your stomach is churning and you’re feeling slightly nauseous!
An hour into the flight or so, a meal was provided for us by the stewardesses. It certainly wasn’t the most exciting of gourmet experiences but the meal was hot, fresh and certainly very edible. It included a roll and butter, a hot main course with steamed vegetables and a fruit salad to follow for dessert. We were also plied with as much tea and coffee as we could manage and hot towels were on offer after the meal so you could freshen up.
The flight actually passed very quickly despite my initial apprehension, and the stewardesses always ensured something was going on so you didn’t really have the time to be bored. If they weren’t serving you food and drink, they were trying to sell you duty free products, if they weren’t trying to sell you things, they were offering you things to read, mostly EasyJet magazines in that same delightful shade of bright orange! The flight captain also kept us entertained with reports of temperatures in Corfu, time differences, weather, time of arrival etc along with some good banter so the flight passed in a blur!
Overall, we found the service provided by EasyJet to be excellent, and much better than we’d first imagined knowing they were a budget flight operator. Although there were no frills or major perks, the price we paid reflected this and we believe we got incredible value for money. So much so that we were able to spend more on our chosen resort and the accommodation there, and less on the flight itself. Nice going EasyJet!