Aviation Discussion

[Butts]

easyJet are pretty decent all in all, but there are a few of the older A319s that are certainly quite shabby inside. But, get a newer plane and you're in for a decent flight.

The key to happiness with Easyjet is to pick the tickets up for a song and then feeling justified in splashing out a few extra wonga securing Exit/Bulkhead Rows. Overall cost still reasonable.

Nightmare is to end up "piggy in the middle" on an old or indeed any A319 for the sake of a few sov's.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If it's a new style A320, ensure you book a seat forward of the exit row - there is significantly more space because they crammed an extra row in at the back with the new seats but couldn't at the front.

 

[me123]

The key to happiness with Easyjet is to pick the tickets up for a song and then feeling justified in splashing out a few extra wonga securing Exit/Bulkhead Rows. Overall cost still reasonable.

I always book the exit rows. Excellent legroom, really cheap to upgrade (a tenner or so each way). You also get priority boarding, which is a bit of a silly benefit but worth it to see the confused look on the everyone else's faces as you walk to the front of the queue.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I always book the exit rows. Excellent legroom, really cheap to upgrade (a tenner or so each way). You also get priority boarding, which is a bit of a silly benefit but worth it to see the confused look on the everyone else's faces as you walk to the front of the queue.

It has a practical benefit for the exit row - to ensure you have space for your luggage in the overhead as you aren't allowed to put it under the seat.

 

[Bald Rick]

If it's a new style A320, ensure you book a seat forward of the exit row - there is significantly more space because they crammed an extra row in at the back with the new seats but couldn't at the front.

I just tried to book a seat in front of the exit row, but apparently there are only two and they are reserved for the driver and his mate

 

[Bletchleyite]

I just tried to book a seat in front of the exit row, but apparently there are only two and they are reserved for the driver and his mate

I didn't mean *that* exit row

 

[flymo]

Had my first flight on an A350 this week when flying Hong Kong - Singapore on Cathay Pacific. Not a bad aircraft all in all, love the curved winglets or are these sharklets.. ?

Great IFE and the cameras were fun too. Snapshot of from the IFE on approach to SIN showing the flight data screen.

 

[fowler9]

Had my first flight on an A350 this week when flying Hong Kong - Singapore on Cathay Pacific. Not a bad aircraft all in all, love the curved winglets or are these sharklets.. ?

Great IFE and the cameras were fun too. Snapshot of from the IFE on approach to SIN showing the flight data screen.

Very jealous, I hope to go on one soon. Regarding winglets or sharklets I am not sure they are either (Perhaps someone in the know can advise). Loads of people on aviation forums seem to be arguing as to if it is a blended wing design or a sharklet. As far as I know the sharklet is what they have put on the wing tips of the A320. The wingtip of the A320 looks nothing like it and I have personally only seen them refered to as wingtip devices.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Just seen that the idea of extending the electronic devices ban to European flights has been rejected, but this is over fears of the batteries being out of sight in the hold rather than any change in the security outlook so there may yet be some other measures introduced.

 

[AlterEgo]

Has anyone ever flown with CSA Czech Airlines? Just looking for some experiences. Doing BHX-PRG this winter to position for another trip.

Looks like they sell business class meals for consumption in economy which suits me (it's an evening flight).

 

[Techniquest]

Ooh now you've given me an interesting idea for a trip...

No gen on Czech Airlines I'm afraid. I keep seeing ads for Eurowings on the forum, for things like Birmingham to Vienna and other destinations. I'm heavily into Trip Planning Process Mode currently, as I have a week off in August and another in October, with no booked plans for either. I'm rather desperate to get a mainland Europe trip in, so I took notice of it.

The question is, are Eurowings any good? Required airline for me and I'm not overly fussed what they operate.

 

[Crawley Ben]

Ooh now you've given me an interesting idea for a trip...

No gen on Czech Airlines I'm afraid. I keep seeing ads for Eurowings on the forum, for things like Birmingham to Vienna and other destinations. I'm heavily into Trip Planning Process Mode currently, as I have a week off in August and another in October, with no booked plans for either. I'm rather desperate to get a mainland Europe trip in, so I took notice of it.

The question is, are Eurowings any good? Required airline for me and I'm not overly fussed what they operate.

Am I right in thinking that Eurowings are a low cost arm of the Lufthansa group of airlines..? I believe that they operate from both London Heathrow & Stanstead but can't comment on where else they fly from in the UK as I really don't know. Believe Airbus A320's are part of their fleet used for short haul (not 100% sure so don't take the above as gospel)

Ben

 

[Tim R-T-C]

They have quite a shorthaul network and a selection of longer routes including the USA operated by A330s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurowings_destinations

Passenger experience details are on SeatGuru, the A330s in particular seem pretty good with seatback TVs and wifi.

https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Eurowings_Airlines/Eurowings_Airbus_A330-200.php

 

[atillathehunn]

Am I right in thinking that Eurowings are a low cost arm of the Lufthansa group of airlines..? I believe that they operate from both London Heathrow & Stanstead but can't comment on where else they fly from in the UK as I really don't know. Believe Airbus A320's are part of their fleet used for short haul (not 100% sure so don't take the above as gospel)

Ben

They are a part of Lufthansa group, yes. They also operate out of Manchester (Hamburg, Cologne and Dusseldorf if memory serves) and Birmingham. I think they are all A320 now out of Manchester, though until recently they also operated CRJ9s, and may well still do - just haven't seen one in a while.

They do a fair amount of long-haul as well as the next poster said though not just limited to the US. They also do Bangkok, Cape Town, Windhoek, Mauritius.

A decent airline, though nothing special. Would suggest that given they are a part of Lufthansa group they may have better IRROPS protection than, say, Norwegian. I've been put onto a Lufthansa service after a Eurowings flight got cancalled without any questions.

 

[atillathehunn]

Has anyone ever flown with CSA Czech Airlines? Just looking for some experiences. Doing BHX-PRG this winter to position for another trip.

Looks like they sell business class meals for consumption in economy which suits me (it's an evening flight).

Never been onboard, in fact never actively contemplated them. Quite a normal European airline in many respects - the usual short haul routes you would consider normal for a central bloc airline. Buy on board service, option to purchase business class meals (website says from €9 - seems very good value).

But then they have their 1 A330 that spends its life going backwards and forwards to Seoul.

 

[Techniquest]

They have quite a shorthaul network and a selection of longer routes including the USA operated by A330s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurowings_destinations

Passenger experience details are on SeatGuru, the A330s in particular seem pretty good with seatback TVs and wifi.

https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Eurowings_Airlines/Eurowings_Airbus_A330-200.php

Thanks, I'm about to go and read those links. I have to confess, with a name like eurowings, I didn't think they'd go to the USA or anywhere else long-haul.

Thanks too to Crawley Ben for the comments. Good chance I'll be getting a new airline into my Flightdiary log this year.

Talking of, I see they've merged their options into Flightradar24 somewhat, and have overhauled Flightdiary pages a fair whack. It looks a lot smarter now, although I hope the pages are more mobile-friendly than they used to be. That I need to check and update my bookmarks for.

 

[fowler9]

I've not been on Skyscanner for three years now as all of my trips have been within Europe and I know what I am looking for there. Has the website changed as I used to find it much easier to use. I used to put in where I wanted to fly from and to and it would bring up multiple options over a period of months and it was all on the screen at once. Now it seems to be one month maximum and I'm scrolling down through the screen to look at stuff as only about 2 or 3 flights fit on the screen at once. Hope that makes sense.

 

[atillathehunn]

I've not been on Skyscanner for three years now as all of my trips have been within Europe and I know what I am looking for there. Has the website changed as I used to find it much easier to use. I used to put in where I wanted to fly from and to and it would bring up multiple options over a period of months and it was all on the screen at once. Now it seems to be one month maximum and I'm scrolling down through the screen to look at stuff as only about 2 or 3 flights fit on the screen at once. Hope that makes sense.

You can still select nearby airports and see it as a month by month view on ticket prices.

The rest I would assume depends on the resolution of your screen. I'm on it right now having palpitations about the price of an upcoming trip but I have 10 options on my screen, and reasonable filtering options - stops, timings, connections, alliances, airlines etc.

 

[fowler9]

You can still select nearby airports and see it as a month by month view on ticket prices.

The rest I would assume depends on the resolution of your screen. I'm on it right now having palpitations about the price of an upcoming trip but I have 10 options on my screen, and reasonable filtering options - stops, timings, connections, alliances, airlines etc.

Yeah its alright like but it used to spread left to right across the screen and you didn't have to select months. Using the same computer I was then it did used to seem a lot quicker to use, the website, not my computer, ha ha. I know, I'm probably being petty. Ha ha.

 

[Techniquest]

How did I not think to use Skyscanner?! I spent ages on the Ryanair app last night, could have saved a lot of time

Eurowings look quite a good lot to fly with, but by gum compared to Ryanair they charge a fair whack. Best price I could find for my chosen August dates was £212 Heathrow to Rome. No doubt that's due to flying via Germany. Two required routes and 3 required airports, hmm...

 

[atillathehunn]

How did I not think to use Skyscanner?! I spent ages on the Ryanair app last night, could have saved a lot of time

Eurowings look quite a good lot to fly with, but by gum compared to Ryanair they charge a fair whack. Best price I could find for my chosen August dates was £212 Heathrow to Rome. No doubt that's due to flying via Germany. Two required routes and 3 required airports, hmm...

Can also use KAYAK etc. I usually book directly on the airline's website to ensure that I can manage the booking directly with the airport rather than through the agent, which is often a hopeless and expensive process.

£212 one way or return? If return, that's a good price for high summer.

The other differential for Eurowings vs the other airlines is that they use Heathrow - forgot that when I was writing earlier.

 

[fowler9]

How did I not think to use Skyscanner?! I spent ages on the Ryanair app last night, could have saved a lot of time

Eurowings look quite a good lot to fly with, but by gum compared to Ryanair they charge a fair whack. Best price I could find for my chosen August dates was £212 Heathrow to Rome. No doubt that's due to flying via Germany. Two required routes and 3 required airports, hmm...

Just as an idea Tech, and I know you have probably done this already, rather than picking a place you want to go just book some time off in advance and think of a number of places you would like to go. Shop around and see what is going cheap to wherever.

My last 6 months have been quiet due to an employment setback but in the 2 years prior to that I went to Amsterdam, Brussels, Berlin, Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Warsaw twice, Wroclaw, Gdansk and Budapest. All the flights cost buttons.

 

[atillathehunn]

Just as an idea Tech, and I know you have probably done this already, rather than picking a place you want to go just book some time off in advance and think of a number of places you would like to go. Shop around and see what is going cheap to wherever.

And I would actually not recommend Rome in August. Hot, sweaty and absolutely rammed with half of America and a good two thirds of China.

 

[fowler9]

And I would actually not recommend Rome in August. Hot, sweaty and absolutely rammed with half of America and a good two thirds of China.

Ha ha, I went at the end of September about 10 years ago. It was still hot and sweaty and very busy then. I did something I never would do in the UK and used the public drinking fountains just to get some fluids back inside me. You couldn't really see the Spanish Steps or the Trevi Fountain properly because of the crowds. One tip though, rather than queuing for hours outside the Colosseum for a ticket to go in queue at the entrance to the Palatine Hill and get your ticket there which covers both sites. The Palatine had a queue of about 5 people, the Colosseum would have taken hours to get to the front of the queue. After a lovely walk around the Palatine we walked straight past the queues at the Colosseum and straight in.

Apologies, that wasn't very aviation related.

 

[Techniquest]

Just as an idea Tech, and I know you have probably done this already, rather than picking a place you want to go just book some time off in advance and think of a number of places you would like to go. Shop around and see what is going cheap to wherever.

My last 6 months have been quiet due to an employment setback but in the 2 years prior to that I went to Amsterdam, Brussels, Berlin, Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Warsaw twice, Wroclaw, Gdansk and Budapest. All the flights cost buttons.

Oh I have the time off already, which is why I'm looking. My choices boil down to my top 4 choices (and last 4 countries in Western Europe to visit), which I would love to get cleared once and for all:

Spain
Italy
Switzerland
Denmark

Of course, I'm not limiting myself to those choices. Countries like Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary also need ticking off, but Eastern Europe has never been as high up my list as Western Europe. Finland needs visiting to finish that part of the world off, but after Norway going that way has gone to the bottom of my list!

Mind you, I'd love to go further afield even more, but that's an objective for 2018. All will be revealed by Q4 2017 once things are confirmed, but I already know what I'm going to ask for for Frothmas this year! Put it this way, my Flightdiary profile is going to look very different...

Anyway, back to the planning...

 

[atillathehunn]

Ha ha, I went at the end of September about 10 years ago. It was still hot and sweaty and very busy then. I did something I never would do in the UK and used the public drinking fountains just to get some fluids back inside me. You couldn't really see the Spanish Steps or the Trevi Fountain properly because of the crowds. One tip though, rather than queuing for hours outside the Colosseum for a ticket to go in queue at the entrance to the Palatine Hill and get your ticket there which covers both sites. The Palatine had a queue of about 5 people, the Colosseum would have taken hours to get to the front of the queue. After a lovely walk around the Palatine we walked straight past the queues at the Colosseum and straight in.

Apologies, that wasn't very aviation related.

You flew to Rome, so I'm sure that counts.

I went in September as well. While still hot (it is Southern Europe after all...) the crowds were a lot more manageable. Nice advice on the Palatine Hill! Wasn't an issue for us, we queued at the Colosseum for about 15 minutes, max, and wasn't so busy inside.

 

[atillathehunn]

Oh I have the time off already, which is why I'm looking. My choices boil down to my top 4 choices (and last 4 countries in Western Europe to visit), which I would love to get cleared once and for all:

Spain
Italy
Switzerland
Denmark

Of course, I'm not limiting myself to those choices. Countries like Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary also need ticking off, but Eastern Europe has never been as high up my list as Western Europe. Finland needs visiting to finish that part of the world off, but after Norway going that way has gone to the bottom of my list!

Mind you, I'd love to go further afield even more, but that's an objective for 2018. All will be revealed by Q4 2017 once things are confirmed, but I already know what I'm going to ask for for Frothmas this year! Put it this way, my Flightdiary profile is going to look very different...

Anyway, back to the planning...

Denmark is barely worth a weekend in Copenhagen. The rest is fairly barren and featureless.

Be wary of going to Southern Europe in August - it's really very busy. You might have better luck in Switzerland.

 

[Techniquest]

Denmark is barely worth a weekend in Copenhagen. The rest is fairly barren and featureless.

Be wary of going to Southern Europe in August - it's really very busy. You might have better luck in Switzerland.

Not exactly

Thanks for the tip on Copenhagen

Copenhagen and Italy are the forerunners...

 

[atillathehunn]

Not exactly

Thanks for the tip on Copenhagen

Copenhagen and Italy are the forerunners...

Copenhagen in October might be a bit grim - whereas Italy might be more acceptable in October. So might be worth swapping them round

 

[fowler9]

Not exactly

Thanks for the tip on Copenhagen

Copenhagen and Italy are the forerunners...

If you want a tip for a hidden gem in Italy then Torino is amazing. My ex had an Auntie who was married to an Italian chap who was the son of someone very high up in FS. They had an appartment on the Piazza De La Republica which was useful. It is a beautiful city, the Italian Royal Family used to live there so it has several palaces, it is right next to the Alps and there is plenty of public transport and other things to keep you entertained. I spent a week there and had plenty to do everyday. It is somewhere different to say you have been apart from Rome, Venice or Milan (Which I thought was massively over rated).

If you want to tic off Finland and perhaps have a taster of Central Europe fly to Tallinn which is a beautiful city with plenty to see. Further to that if you stay for 3 nights you can see most o the sights and spend one full day getting the ferry to Helsinki to visit for a few hours. The flights are cheap, Tallinn is cheap and the ferry is cheap, Helsinki is not but it is worth a visit.