[GreggyR]

Coincidentally I had to make a day-trip there this week at very short notice. I usually fly BA or LX from LCY as it’s the most convenient for both home & work. For me reliability, punctuality and cost are the key points to choose rather than the airline’s soft product. I rarely eat or drink on-board (apart from water), as I have spilt far too much down myself in the past. As I needed to be there & back in a day (as I had another trip planned for the next day), I thought about the effect that any morning flight disruptions could have. Also, as my return could have been early afternoon or in the evening depending on work, I wanted some flexibility of return flight. Therefore I chose to fly EZY from LGW. The main reason was that if my outbound flight had a problem I had the chance of getting the next service, and they have several return flights in the PM. Having to drive to LGW via the M25 pre-rush hour is never much fun, but it was OK. The car park was good but costly. The flight out was fine, which I spent working throughout. The work meeting actually finished quickly. I had booked an evening return flight, in case the work took all day, but I headed back to the airport to see if I could switch to an earlier flight home. The Customer Service team at the airport switched me onto an afternoon flight with no fuss or charges, which was appreciated. That got me home a few hours earlier.
The flight cost was £250 with the car parking charge of c.£50 as well. The LCY flights were c.£400, with less options regarding my return flight. As it transpired, the first BA departure that day was cancelled, so it was fortunate that I’d chosen the different option.
Overall LCY is certainly my first choice, but I was happy with my trip on EZY from LGW.

[FDOS_UK]

BEYbrit – 26/02/2016 14:10 GMT

That used to frustrate me, when I lived in Malta – easy/cheap to get to LCA, but awkward/expensive to get from LCA to BEY – when you could see the other one ~5 mins after takeoff 🙁

[BEYbrit]

@FDOS – exactly! it’s the MEA effect lol.

But even worse at the moment is the trip to Amman – We can’t fly over either Syria or our Palestinian neighbours to the south, so we go down and round and up again – taking an hour and a half for what should be a 45 minute trip!

[LuganoPirate]

Having just paid my taxes to the greedy grasping avaricious Swiss taxman leaving me well and truly a pauper while the b.st.rd takes a nice salary for hounding hard working citizens such as I, even I would now consider Easyjet for a £200 saving! 🙁

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

I just looked to Mykonos for a client for 3 people. Club Europe from Heathrow for dates in question over £2500. Easyjet with Row 1 both ways for all of them – so speedy boarding and speedy boarding bag drop – from LGW which is closer airport for him – and No 1 Traveller Lounge Access at Gatwick – £800. Or BA Economy over £1830 before seat allocation fees / lounge access.

No contest really.

[Daytripper]

The lack of seat recline on Easyjet is a PLUS.

I like to work throughout my flights. If the person in front of me chooses to recline on a BA flight in the new SH seating (in either business or economy) then my laptop gets crushed and work becomes much more difficult.

I wish BA would remove seat recline on its short haul aircraft too.

[MrMichael]

For me no contest, save the £200 and put it towards some more IAG shares :-).

I have used EZY a few times now and actually found them pretty good. You get exactly what you pay for with EZY, and for £100 each way I could if I wanted buy lounge access, stuff myself silly on board and have money left over to buy an overpriced Toblerone from the Geneva Tax Free shop.

[bluemooner]

I suppose if you are used to the best that money can buy, then the LCC are not for you. Since most flights around Europe are less than 3 hours, putting up with the minor discomforts for such a short period of time really is not too much of a hardship.
It’s the longer haul flights, 4 hours plus that one needs creature comforts. You may as well save the money and treat your partner to something special. You will get a lot more than 3 hours benefit from doing that!!!!

[Swissdiver]

Wow, I was not expecting so many reactions… So…

@goldaviator: similar experience on the way back, but with a delayed flight (not due to weather or traffic but simply linked to the very nature of LCCs: too short time for turnarounds). In addition, I could not grab a first row so booked an exit seat. As a result, drinks arrived just 20 minutes before landing…

@Martyn: If I had found Avios flights, this thread would not exist… Unfortunately LON-GVA flights on Fridays in Winter are always quite busy.

@All: The GBP 200 is what drove the choice to fly Easyjet. Now beyond the flight experience itself, there is the LGW factor. So I’d agree to take the GBP 200 if I could fly from to the same airports. But the time lost walking at LGW North, going to South terminal and taking that train is also to be taken into consideration. Plus of course the GBP 50 for the train ticket (1st class for the confort, to avoid the crowd and to get access to N1 lounge on the way back – a nice lounge btw). Going to LCY does make more sense when meetings take place in the City.
That being said, GBP 200 is a large difference on this route. Normally LX is less expensive, and Avios flights are available.

Have all a wonderful week-end

[SwissExPat]

@LuganoPirate…

You are living in the wrong Canton!

At least you have a nice lake and mountains to look at!

(Come to think of it… So do I but our taxes are tiny! )

[stevescoots]

save 200 quid with no lounge for a flight under 2 hours, i will happily take the 200 quid.

[LuganoPirate]

But we have nicer weather SwissExPat! 😉

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