Hello all,

I've never used Easy Jet before and have some questions first. We will be flying Easy Jet from Paris Orly to Rome Ciampino in June.

1) Speedy Boarding - I see this as an added option, what are your thought on this, is it worth the extra 15 euro a head? I think no but then again I've never done this.

2) They have a 7 am or 6 pm flight - how much time do we need to give ourselves to get to safely Orly from Paris's city center? We will most likely take a shuttle and not a cab.

3) Any opinions on the flight times too? Not really liking the idea of getting up so early for that 7 a.m. one, but then again maybe we could just stay up all night if it meant we leave the apartment at 3 a.m.

Thank you for any help,

Eileen

Have you thought about getting the overnight sleeper to Rome?

http://www.seat61.com/Italy.htm#Rome

Or have you checked Air Berlin from CDG.

Either way Easyjet's flight times are not nice - either you spend half the night awake getting to Orly or you arrive in Rome late one evening

Thanks Alan, but yes we do know we want to fly easy jet.

I have not had the opportunity to do the speedy boarding which is a new thing, but I always thought Easy Jet's boarding policies were a joke and I'm not sure if this system works any better. Once we were almost the last people to check in, and had the lowest number. But at the gate we were the last ones through to be put on a bus, then when the bus got to the plane we were the first ones off and into the plane. So being last put us first! Another time, they had some of us boarding the front of the plane and some the back. The "first" group got delayed as they were loading a woman in a wheelchair on, so the "second" group was coming in from the other direction and taking all the "good" seats.

By the way, we pay about 25 euro at most for a taxi from the 5th to Orly. How much do two shuttle tickets cost? At that hour, I'd sure consider a taxi.

And I also agree those are horrible times! But I'd still do that before taking an overnight train!!

I personally like late flights. You have close to a full day of sightseeing in one place, and then can go straight to the hotel in the new place. In contrast, the day seems much more broken up if you have say a 1 PM flight.

A taxi to Orly is not too expensive - rather cheaper than CDG in most instances. It might be possible to take the Air France bus, depending where you are staying. When I took the Air France bus from Montparnasse, it took no more than 20 minutes to get there, but that was with little traffic.

Thank you. So it's sounding to me like you need to get there pretty darn early in order to get a boarding pass. I guess my question is, what time should we realistically be at the airport prior to the flight? Is two hours before our flight enough of a cushion to get a boarding pass, or do you suggest longer than this?

I know with an international or domestic flight I get there 2 to 3 hours prior, I'm just not sure with Paris to Rome especially on easy jet when I see the speedy boarding option.

Again thank you for your help,

Eileen

I'm taking a Paris-Rome flight at 7 AM with easyJet too in May. You need to be there 2 hours prior to check-in. Some people may tell you 1 1/2, and some 1 hr. But be there at least 2 hours just to be sure.

At the moment, we're considering staying at an Accor hotel close to the airport or just sleeping in the airport if we can't find any reasonable rates.

The usual practice is that check-in starts two hours in advance of the flight, but people typically start lining up before then. That's been the case on the EasyJet flights I have taken (including one from Orly), at least going by memory.

With London Stansted, apparently there has been a real issue with people not having enough time to get through security, after having been checked in. I don't know if this is the case at Orly. But rather than chance it, I'd personally try to be at the airport 2.5 hours in advance, in case of delay getting there. Most of the time, that will be too much time, but not always.

I agree that you'll see people lined up before the check-in for your particular flight even opens..and that is yet another reason to get there in plenty of time...so that you get TO the check-in counter before they CLOSE the check-in.

Not trying to frightrn you..just be prepared.

The last time I flew EJ they were very strict about the numbering system in terms of allowing people to board.

I'm not exactly sure how someone could check in after everyone and still get "the lowest number."

EasyJet has introduced a new fee-based system where you can pay to be at the front of the line to get seats. That's how you can check in later and get Speedy Boarding. Ryanair has started the same thing.

Dukey, perhaps I said that wrong. I guess what I meant was checking in after everyone and getting the highest number. I was thinking the numbers went from high to low, but I guess I was thinking backwards. My point was that the first people to check in were the first people to board the bus, but since the later people were packed onto the bus afterwards, those later people were the first ones off the bus, therefore the first ones onto the plane. Is that clearer?