Good point, Faina.

I don't know which part is funnier:

1) "careful not to overpack",

2) "intentional, greedy and mean spirited",

3) "a delcaration of war against all of us",

or

4) the fact that after being suprised in London and paying the $514, <u>he did it again</u> and paid $584 in baggage fees on the return - after he knew there was going to be a huge charge.

When I said the &quot;fine print&quot; is two clicks away from the home page, I was wrong.

It's actually printed in bold characters right by the section where you select number of bags on the booking. to quote

&lt;&lt;&lt; One piece of checked-in hold baggage per person, up to 20 Kg, free of charge. All additional pieces of baggage and excess baggage (over 20 Kg) will be charged for. Additional pieces of checked-in hold baggage are subject to a charge of &euro;7.50 if you pay online, or &euro;15.00 if you pay at the airport. The total weight allowance for all pieces of checked-in hold baggage is 20 Kg. Excess baggage fees are charged for each Kg exceeding 20 Kg. &gt;&gt;&gt;

I agree with ET - I think you guys are giving Easy Jet a pass on this one. What happened to the idea of a business behaving ethically?

How is easyjet not behaving ethically? Everything is clearly stated on their website. How about when will some of these so-called journalists start having some professional ethics?

&lt;&lt;&lt; What happened to the idea of a business behaving ethically? &gt;&gt;&gt;

Perhaps Easyjet should have put a message by the &quot;number of bags&quot; box saying &quot;The total weight allowance for all pieces of checked-in hold baggage is 20 Kg. Excess baggage fees are charged for each Kg exceeding 20 Kg&quot;

Alan - what a great idea! If only EasyJet had thought of doing that...

The likes of BA &amp; AA don't put their luggage allowances on their booking pages so are obviously acting more ethically than a company who does.

So it's alright to gouge people as long as you post it on your website before you do it.

Alan,
Baggage allowance information is readily available on AA's web site. But its not as crucial because AA has allowed 2 checked bags up to 50 lbs (23kgs) each for years. The additional charge for an overweight bag (up to 70 lbs) is a whopping $25. They are not trying to rip off unsuspecting travelers.

Mr. Greenberg did, indeed, provide useful travel advice. That is to read the fine print and that a bargain might not be the bargain you want.

However, a seasond travel journalist such as he should be able to give that advice with his eyes closed....On second thought...

If this is on the EasyJet web site in bold characters right when you book, as posted above by Alan, you can't say EasyJet is not clear:
&quot;The total weight allowance for all pieces of checked-in hold baggage is 20 Kg. Excess baggage fees are charged for each Kg exceeding 20 Kg.&quot;

Yes, you could wordsmith the whole section and make it slightly clearer, but how much can EasyJet afford to spend on cost centers like editors if they are all about cutting margins? I actually think it's a bit clearer in French (I was just curious so went to check it out):

Le poids total de tous vos bagages en soute ne doit pas exc&eacute;der 20 kg. Des frais de bagages exc&eacute;dentaires sont factur&eacute;s pour chaque kg au-del&agrave; de 20 kg.

But I doubt that the booker of Peter Greenberg's flight thought very much about it or read it very carefully, in any event.

Oh, yes, this is easy to understand:
&lt;&lt;&lt; One piece of checked-in hold baggage per person, up to 20 Kg, free of charge. All additional pieces of baggage and excess baggage (over 20 Kg) will be charged for. Additional pieces of checked-in hold baggage are subject to a charge of &euro;7.50 if you pay online, or &euro;15.00 if you pay at the airport. The total weight allowance for all pieces of checked-in hold baggage is 20 Kg. Excess baggage fees are charged for each Kg exceeding 20 Kg. &gt;&gt;&gt;


Hiring an editor to go over a paragraph like this would cost about 1/100000 of the marketing budget.

Jack most airlines outside the US have luggage allowances very similar to that of Easyjet. The only difference is that Easyjet charge a lot more for excess baggage than full cost airlines

The problem here though isn't the fact that they do charge a lot for excess baggage but that the &quot;experienced&quot; &quot;travel&quot; &quot;journalist&quot; didn't read what was clearly put on the Easyjet website - my suspicion is that when his staffer asked &quot;how many bags massa&quot; he didn't bother to think

Alan - the really problem here is that they are gouging passengers.

If you are told beforehand and have the option to use the service and pay more or not use the service and not pay, then it's not gouging.

If I knew that I was going to take 4 months worth of luggage for a 2 day trip, I would have not gone with a &quot;no frills&quot; airline - I would have gone with one that had a bigger allowance to begin with.

If I booked with EasyJet, I would have read the luggage limitations and if they weren't clear, called and asked, and then adjusted my luggage to meet the limitations.

And I only fly once a year...

No Barbara - not &quot;the passengers&quot;; &quot;the passengers who don't follow the regulations&quot;.
Either he knew what he was doing showing up with 70 kg of luggage (trying to create a story to report) or he didn't (in which case he carries little credibility as a travel expert).

If you have ever seen this bloke, you would now he is lucky he wasn't charged excess weight charges....

&lt;&lt;&lt; Alan - the really problem here is that they are gouging passengers. &gt;&gt;&gt;

No they aren't - MOST passengers READ the rules and know that for Easyjet there isn't any weight limit on hand luggage and that checked luggage is 20kg - which is comparable to most other airlines outside NA, not jut the low cost ones.

Therefore MOST passengers aren't gouged and pay very little for what used to be very expensive flights.

&quot;the really problem here is that they are gouging passengers&quot;

The last thing they are doing is gouging passengers. They are upfront indeed about there baggage allowances. Also as Alan has mentioned a baggage allowance of 20 - 23kgs is the norm outside of North America. Also enforced are the hand baggage rules of 7 - 10 kgs.

I just had a quick scan of the Easyjet website and checked out a couple of flights travelling in summer which is peak. You can get from one side of Europe (Poland) to the other(UK) one way for 16.50 pounds approx $32. That is international travel, not domestic. To me that is a bargain.

Travelling on Ryanair when they have sale on can be free (Bar travel taxes) when tix are given away or for 10 pounds including taxes ($20) you could travel from London to Turin.

http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/

I am not a cheerleader for either airline, I prefer my comforts when travelling, but to say that either airline is gouging the pax is a bit of a long bow to draw.

I just think the guy who wrote the article made a mistake. One which I am suprised a &quot;travel writer&quot; would make, even crazier that he made it again on the return flight. Instead of putting his hand up and saying oops, he has chosen to make a fool of himself by ranting against the airlines.

&lt;&lt;I wonder if he hectored the Today show into paying for the charges. If not, they better look closely at his expense reports, bet he finds a way to make them pay somehow.&gt;&gt;

He's a pro. He wrote about it. Hel-ll-ooo, tax write-off!