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EasyJet experience - no frills travel

I was recently fortunate enough to be in Germany for work and able to hop over to the Netherlands to visit an old friend of mine and meet her new baby! I promise, my life is normally not this glamorous.

Since I live in the US, I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to try out EasyJet, a low-cost, no frills European carrier. No-frills is perfectly fine on a flight less than two-hours. It seems like they hardly finish serving beverages and we’re landing, did I need that ½ a soda for an extra 50 bucks added to my fare? Not really, no.

Of course, I comparison shopped my one-way ticket from Berlin to Amsterdam which was surprisingly difficult. The lowest price “legacy” carrier was KLM (the Dutch national carrier) at around $160. EasyJet was offering fares for $85 from Berlin Schoenefeld to Amsterdam. Berlin Schoenefeld is the smaller Berlin airport but I didn’t really care about this, though it was a little further from my hotel.

What really made my decision challenging was determining the fees for baggage! It was really challenging to tell if I got a free checked bag with KLM or not. It seemed they wouldn't have given be a free checked bag but I was never 100% sure. EasyJet was pretty simple, they charge for all bags but it was still a little work to think about how much I’d need to bring several months before my trip. Normally, I’m a pretty light packer but on a business trip it can be hard to be minimalist. I ended up paying for a bag in advance, it was $27 for a 20KG (44lb) bag. 

So how was it?

The night before my flight I double checked the EasyJet website for literally any extra things I could bring on the plane. I took a jacket and my umbrella out of my bag since these were "extras" I was allowed to carry on. The challenging thing is I'm used to bringing a carry-on bag and a purse (which can also be quite large....) but EasyJet only allows 1 carry-on bag. So  my purse had to also fit in the bag.

When I left the US my bag was 42.5 lbs and I had acquired a few things since then...my hotel weighed my bag for me before I left and it was overweight, almost 3 kilos (about 6 lbs). I went to the airport expecting them to charge me for the overage, their posted rate for 3 kilos extra is 30 GBP (approx 39 USD) as they charge you by the kilo but they let me slide in without paying any extra. Though the gate agent told me not to do it again (lol!). The fee wasn't huge but it's nice when they give you a pass!

There was almost no seating by the gate. I wasn't at the gate very long so this did not bother me but if I had been waiting at the gate an hour it would have been a long time to stand with all of my stuff. There were reserved seats at the gate for EasyJet plus passengers but really I think there should be seats for everyone. This could be the airport but man no frills was really no frills.

The flight attendants were courteous, the seats were normal domestic size and we arrived on time. Overall, I can't complain and I would definitely take EasyJet again for a short intra-Europe flight, especially if it's priced almost $50 below the competition.

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