EasyJet !!!

[Jonathan64]

My girlfriend and her friend decided to go to Alicante for a 2 week holiday after graduating from Uni. One week will be spent diving the other will be spent drinking and sunbathing (well thats what she tells me anyway lol)

Flights were booked through Easyjet and they paid for extra baggage to take diving gear with them - the usual wetsuits, BCD, regs, fins etc but no tanks or weights as they will get them out there as is the case when going on a diving holiday.

When they got to Glasgow airport they were told that diving was not a sport and were charged £84 in excess baggage for being 14 kgs over limit.

They are allowed 20kg each for their free hold bag and if taking sporting equipment their website states the following

Sporting equipment

"Each passenger is allowed a maximum hold baggage weight of 50 kilos including any sports equipment, subject to available space. The maximum weight for any single piece of baggage is 32 kgs."

I flew with Easyjet last year and took dive kit with me with no problems. Has anyone else had any problems with them?

I have written a letter to their customer services team at Hanger 89 in Luton Airport - you have to laugh at that one, but am not expecting anything great from them.

Can anyone suggest how I can go about getting their money back if customer services don't come up with the goods.

The sporting equipment that they list on their website is Bicycles, golf equipment, and skis, surfboards, wind surfers, hang gliders, and firearms.

FFS how can they say that diving is not a sport and charge them a ridiculous amount of money when they allow things like those listed above to go in the hold for an extra £15 if they book it online or £20 if they just turn up at the airport. All they had was an extra bag each with the wetsuits, fins and jackets in them.

Rant over

[ratcliffe]

Simple, they booked sports baggage, didn't read the conditions and then took non-sports classified baggage with them, resulting in the allowance that they had paid for not being used, and then trying to take more than they were entitled to, hence the charges.

If you got away with it, then you were lucky.

It is well known that with many airlines, diving gear is not classified as sports equipment.

I would suggest rather than ranting, that anyone who thinks they might use Easyjet for a diving holiday (as I will be doing in October) emails their customer service contact and requests why Easyjet do not consider letting people pre-book an allowance for diving gear under the sports policy.

Just my 0.02

[ssteve]

just had a look on the web for "sports" insurance and lo and behold there was "scuba diving" so the insurance companys think it's a sport and they are never wrong! so are we paying for "sports" insurance when it is not a sport at all but just a hobby or pastime.work that one out????????
ssteve

[Kalahari Diver]

I agree that there appears to be little logic about the way airlines allow some sports goods and not others, but too be fair it is their aeroplane, well the finance companies probably, so they can pretty much write the rules. The only answer is to not travel with them and tell them why.

David.

[CotoChris]

Pack the lot in a golf bag, that is the only answer (other than complainning) I can think of.

[JasonP]

Originally Posted by ratcliffe

I would suggest rather than ranting, that anyone who thinks they might use Easyjet for a diving holiday (as I will be doing in October) emails their customer service contact and requests why Easyjet do not consider letting people pre-book an allowance for diving gear under the sports policy.

Yes but ranting is:
a) More fun
b) About as likely to produce results as contacting Easyjet.

Let's face it, budget airlines make their money by screwing you for every little extra thing you want, and by automatically selecting various optional crap for you when you book on their website. So if you do want lots of luggage, book a relatively decent airline in the first place. The same goes for various grotty charter airlines too.

Jason

[ratcliffe]

I agree Jason, but I can *just* make my 20kg include full diving gear, so I'm OK to use them... (based on minimum clothes for warm places!)

[JasonP]

Originally Posted by ratcliffe

I agree Jason, but I can *just* make my 20kg include full diving gear, so I'm OK to use them... (based on minimum clothes for warm places!)

I managed 18.5kgs for everything except a wetsuit on my trip to Malta last week, and I didn't have much hand luggage, so could have squeezed a wetsuit in if I'd tried.

For a lot of European trips, I find BA isn't that much more expensive especially when you take into account the price of a couple of sandwiches and drinks that are included with them that you'd have to pay for on a budget airline. Plus the bus to LHR costs me a pound each way. The train to Stansted or Luton is a lot more.

Jason

[outlaw13]

Just booked some flights to Croatia @ £100 each return on the ist week of the kids holidays. The sports allowance thing seemed vague so I e-mailed tham and they said very clearly that Scuba doesn't count. At least I know and if I pay £50 excess it's still a good deal.

[ratcliffe]

I can normally manage clothes for a warm place, all dive gear except tanks and weights of course, and my wetsuit and can normally fo it for about 19Kg... I'm just working out how to do it to go to Denmark where I hope to get a dive with a friend who lives out there, but including my drysuit... I think the drysuit will have to be hand luggage, no wetsuit in luggage, and include regs in main luggage this time

I know what you mean about transport t the airports. My flights are costing 40 quid, but the bus fare is 28 quid!