I am usually a relatively calm traveller capable of dealing with the various inconveniences of airline travel with a shrug of the shoulders. I have grown used to the inevitable queues at security, delays to flights and the often interminable waits to reclaim my luggage but some things are simply beyond the pale. My recent experiences at Stansted with EasyJet had even my blood boiling and by the time I finally boarded the plane I could have cheerfully punched someone in the face!
A Not so Festive Spirit
So here’s the thing. We live in the technological age where you check in online, print your own boarding passes and then deposit your luggage at the bag drop when you reach the airport. The online check in should ensure a swift passage at the airport but with EasyJet it really doesn’t. At Stansted EasyJet have a row of desks for dropping bags which service all of their flights. As the airline operates a large volume of flights there is constantly a large number of passengers to process particularly over the festive period. This does not explain why the Airline provided just two agents to deal with all of their customers apart from those who had paid a premium to stand in a shorter line.
The Line
The queue to drop bags snaked around the concourse of the airport like a giant conga line and was obstructing access to the desks of the neighbouring airlines. I had arrived early to give myself time to grab some breakfast before boarding but spent so long in the queue that dropping my bags was followed by an unseemly dash across the terminal with barely time to ram my food down and to visit the loo before I was called to the gate.
Terminal Boredom
My time queuing for the desks was punctuated by the cries of stressed agents looking for the hapless passengers who were about to miss their flights as they had been wasting their lives away in line. As the agents searched desperately for those bound for Majorca and Amsterdam the rest of us got increasingly more annoyed as the forward progress of the queue was stalled by plucking out the tardy travellers and promoting them to the front of the line. I was beginning to feel that I would spend my entire holiday right there in the terminal at Stansted.
Oversized
To make matters worse I was travelling with sports equipment and so after finally reaching the desk I was asked to take myself off to another location to drop off my skis. Oversized bags must be dropped at a dedicated zone which I always find provoking as my sports bags for skis or a variety fishing tackle are rarely any larger than some passenger’s regular luggage.
The Ploy
The situation was all so unnecessary as there were plenty of desks available, there just weren’t any staff to man them. Perhaps this is an unfortunate EasyJet ploy to encourage their customers to pay extra for a more speedy check in. It could also be a method of ensuring that travellers spend so long in the queue that they have no time to shop or eat in the terminal forcing them to purchase goods and meals on the plane instead. I shouldn’t think the merchants in the terminal find the situation particularly amusing as they watch thousands of potential customers rushing past their doors in a frantic attempt to make their flights.
Come on EasyJet! Please provide a sensible service to your customers or you may find that you don’t have any left as travellers defect to competitors in the hope that they can at least eat breakfast and relax before boarding their flight. A few extra agents would have solved the problem and kept my blood pressure at a reasonable level!
About The Author:
Sally Stacey is a keen writer and frequent traveller who could have written a book waiting for the bag drop at Stansted!
0 comments :
Post a Comment