Stansted proved its worth for us again. Within 45 minutes of leaving home we were parked up and at the terminal. This in spite of the rather confusing instructions for using the prebooked mid stay car parking - where exactly in the ticket issuing machine am I supposed to put my credit card per my booking details? Not wishing to debate this disconnect with the non existent staff, I took the ticket and decided I'd worry about it later.
Within the terminal the 5.30 am crowd was a mix of those evidently heading in hope of sun and those seeking out any remaining snow. Harking back to discussions about the market for low cost carriers, I'd say this was a predominantly well heeled, middle class, crowd. Less busy than I'd feared it would be, and both check in and security cleared promptly and efficiently. I hesitate to call the selection for shoe removal random, but it was certainly only a sample of the passengers passing though and happened after the main Xray process.
After a quick full english (can't pass through an airport without one) and a peruse of the bookshops it was away on the transit as the 7.30 flight was shown as boarding, and I wanted to make sure we were on time to take advantage of the Speedy Boarding option that I'd bought. 'Boarding' turned out to be a bit premature as the gate was trying to deal with an Amsterdam flight (which seemed to include someone being deported), so it was back to a hurry-up-and-wait mode.
Then, as advertised, Speedy Boarding was called. Now, either they had decided to sell more than 20 passes or decided to mount no defence to the massed hoards of parents with small children who surged forward at the same time but there was more of a scrum than there should have been and by the time we'd made our way out to the aircraft there must have been half a dozen buggies at the foot of the steps. Still, I have a surprising turn of speed and can still outpace a two year old so aside from the very front rows we had a choice of seats. Unfortunately, the exit rows didn't seem to offer much leg room advantage so I'm not sure that Speedy Boarding was worth the money, given that we arrived early enough to have been assigned one of the higher priority boarding groups anyhow.
This morning's aircraft was an A319. Leg room not bad, interior decor that odd mix of grey and orange and the cabin clean and tidy. One aspect that appealed to my techonerd instincts was watching the crew operate a touchpad screen, situated close to the forward door, that seemed to be their means of managing the doors etc.
A female member of the flight crew (sorry, didn't catch whether Captain or First Officer) announced a wait for pushback due to air traffic delays (at 7.30 in the morning?) and about 20 minutes after schedule we were away, after trundling round the taxi ways past the Harrods Aviation hangar and an EOS aircraft. Unremarkable and
uneventful are the best descriptions of the flight itself. If you wanted to buy something from the food or gifts trolley the service was efficient (though they had loaded without any change, it would seem, as appeals were made for people to swap coinage for notes). The Sunday papers and a readable inflight magazine (with little aspirational advertising) helped pass the time, which was reduced anyhow by Spanish air traffic control offering the flight a shortcut.
Eventually the boy came round...sorry, woke up...and I got the chance to lift the blind and view the scenery on our descent into Malaga. Mountains, villas and terraces of vines ? olives ? presented a not unpleasing aspect before we finally made a smooth and unhurried contact with the runway.
Disembarkation, passport control (which was restricted to 'show me you have something that from the outside looks like a passport') and baggage collection was fairly swift, but then we hit the queue for the hire car......
And so to a week in Marbella. Though the weather refused to play ball, and I'm not sure my decision to hire a car was financially sensible, the hotel (many thanks to a VF member for the recommendation), the chance to spend time with the family, the food and drink, the trip to Ronda and the daily Semana Santa Holy Week processions (I'll try and post pictures - they are quite something) made it another memorable Easter (last year was spent on a dude ranch..).
And then to the homeward leg. A few worrying moments on the drive - top tip, don't drive near Malaga on Easter Sunday, it's like the M25 at rush hour - but we eventually we dropped the hire car off in the building site that is the airport and took our place at check in. Lots of people around were worried about their luggage allowance, but even though many bags were clearly overweight there didn't seem to be any attempt to collect any excess baggage fees.
Many, many euros were then blown on something to eat before what appeared to be a very early call to board. When we arrived at the gate they were still off loading baggage from the inward leg, but within 10 minutes Speedy Boarding was called. This time around the desk staff appeared to apply the rule rigorously; this, however, had some disadvantages as the gate then clogged up with passengers who were being held back. Again, beaten to the front rows so just selected some rows ahead if the wing. In summary on the Speedy Boarding front I don't think I'll bother with it again.
Another A319 for this flight. Slightly less tidy than on the outward leg which I guess is not surprising given the turnaround times and presume the aircraft have done a few legs that day already. A couple of spare seats available, but otherwise full with those heading home from holidays or taking a break from life on the Costa. Service again efficient, and this time around the rubbish collection split between food rubbish and newspapers / magazines.
Though hazy cloud prevented much rubbernecking over Spain, by the time we hit France and the Channel skies were clearing up and good views were had of Jersey, the Isle of Wight, Hampshire and then, as we began our descent, Terminal 5 and Heathrow (at least I think it was...). No mountains or villas on this run in, just a classic patchwork of English fields, farms and hedgerows before landing on time.
Disembarkation was swift (both forward and rear doors used), passport control painless and baggage a little delayed.
Overall impression is that Easyjet do try to make the whole experience as painless and efficient as possible. Granted it has the same glamour quotient as taking the 06:35 to Kings Cross, and a combination of peak time pricing plus some of the marginal money making schemes push the price up beyond somewhat beyond the lowest advertised prices, but I'd certainly be happy to book with them again...
Paul
We can get better, because we're not dead yet
