Easy Jet

We have used EasyJet several times and never had a problem. In fact I would say we have got our checked luggage quicker with them than any other airline. The flight is basic, with no food or seat selection, but just as comfortable(?!) as any other airline. Our flights have always been on time.

we used easy jet once and yes it is no frills but considering what you are paying it is great service and a great flight.
Will be using them again from paris-nice

You don't have to fly. There is direct TGV/Eurocity service from Paris to Milan. It takes 7 hours; not much longer than flying when you account for travel time to/from airports, checkin two hours early, security, plus flight time, and it would be a lot less hassle. It is particularly time consuming to get from Milan airports to downtown.

If you book early, which you have to do to get good fares on EasyJet, you can get really good rail fares from French Rail (SNCF). I was able to find non-refundable PREMS fares as low as €25 and refundable fares as low as €60 for that connection.

You should also consider a night train. You would not only save a night's hotel cost, but you would save a lot of usable day time.

When you look at airfare, make sure you include all taxes and fees plus the cost of getting to and from airports. Flying is often a lot more expensive than just the advertised fare would indicate.

My experience with Easyjet has been positive, make sure their baggage restrictions meet with your plans; they are a little more liberal than Ryanair, but not much. I also agree with Lee, do not rule out the train; while a 7 hour train ride is a candidate to consider air, you need to consider all the time and costs for both options. I would even consider comparing against just the normal train fare (as opposed to very early booking), which has the added benefit of flexibility, both an air ticket and sleeper train lock you in tight to schedule.

I posted a question about airline connections at the fodors talk board and they all scared me about the budget airlines like EasyJet. You guys seem like a good source to ask this question.

My daughter (13yo) and I are flying out of Amsterdam in July to return to the US after a 3 week trip to Central Europe/Eastern Europe. We are currently planning 2-3 days in London before we leave. We are leaving from Amsterdam because I used SkyMiles and to fit in the allotment that I had, that became the departure point. I don't think I can change it. When I checked Delta's partner airlines for connections from London to Amsterdam, the prices were all outrageous.

Our plane in Amsterdam doesn't leave for the US until 1:10PM. I was planning to fly that morning from London to Amsterdam on either a British Airways flight or an Easyjet flight. I think there is a "Flight Pass" flight available as well from europebyair that we could use. All would put us in Amsterdam between 8:30 and 9:40AM.

I know that the other airline would not have an obligation to "fix" things for me if I missed my connection.

All that stated, what is the track record of these other airlines? Do they have a good record of reliability? I know that if I can actually GET to Amsterdam in my projected time frame, I should be fine to make my connection home. At the Fodor's boards, they were suggesting we fly on Monday evening (the night before). That really won't work because (a) we are only spending a couple of days in London as it is and that would negate going to London (which my daughter really wants to do) and (b) we want to see the "Sound of Music" on stage in London and it isn't offered except on Monday night. If we flew to Amsterdam that night, we wouldn't be able to see the show. We can't get to London any earlier because we are in Europe for a 2 week ballet intensive and it ends on a set date and we just don't have any wiggle room.

Any reasurrance out there? :-) Thanks.
Kellye

The airline that is transporting you from Amsterdam back to the US will honor your return ticket even if you miss your connection. Legally they don't have to honor it, but in practice they always will. If you find yourself in this situation keep your cool, be flexible, and the airline will do everything their power to get you on a later flight. But if the reverse happened and you were flying from the US to Amsterdam and you missed an Easyjet flight because of a delay taking off from the US, you would be out of luck; this is one of the shortcomings of flying on budget carriers. Schipol and the London airports sometimes have horrendous problems with fog in the mornings and this can cause delays. So if you miss a connection from London to Amsterdam fog will usually be the culprit. Thus using one of the major carrier vs Easyjet won't make much of a difference in this scenario. If you think your gonna miss a connection, it is important to communicate with the airline about your situation; so have their phone numbers handy.

Rest assured, I have flown the budget carriers in Europe and they are great. Don't let the others scare you away. Just do your research before you go on how to get to/from the airports (from the airport websites directly) and you will be fine. Have a great trip.

I would be a bit wary about tight connections. You'd certainly be fine with a direct connection. However, coming from a non-Schengen country with 2 unrelated tickets, you will probably have to clear immigrations, get your luggage, recheck your luggage and yourself and then go through security in order to transfer flights. (Remember, ONE carry on bag only from the UK). That could be quick, but it could also mean long lines and long walks.

I would see if you can get any information on how far in advance your international carrier would recommend arriving at Schipol if you were leaving from there, and then add in another 30 minutes to an hour to account for immigrations & claiming your luggage. Check the Schipol website too for clues on busy times and approx times for parts of the process.

That all said, I would trust Easy Jet more than British Airways with luggage, and had bad experiences connecting directly to/from BA. So full-price doesn't mean good service.

Kate

I've used EasyJet a number of times as well as RyanAir, Baby BMI and a handful of others.

I was intending to fly from Istanbul back to London before heading home on a month long trip through the east this past Feb-Mar period. However, I was mugged by gypsies on a busy street corner in Bucharest - interesting story - and my girlfriend and I decided to detour to Ireland for a week after this. We wanted to get away from the linguistic challenges (we'd been to Krakow, Prague, Budapest, Brasov and planned to go to Sofia and Istanbul) after I ended up losing a hearing aid to the kids..

So I was only on RyanAir as far as budget airlines go on this trip. Frankfurt-Hahn (90 minutes from Frankfurt) to Krakow, and Derry, Northern Ireland to London.

I've used EasyJet from Belfast to Edinburgh and also from Paris-Orly to Berlin-Schoenefeld. Funny Scotsman was the chief purser on that trip. The fun part of that was running into him two days later in an out of the way Irish pub in Berlin!