easyjet boarding ?

lyla

weve got an easyjet flight booked at the end of the month, fling from bristol, check in opens at 5.30am and closes at 6.55am. i would like to get there for when check in opens but DH thinks that its a waste of time as you dont get allocated seat numbers so hes thinking of not getting there until later. what do you think? we are 2 adults, 2 children, do we get priority seats?

Doonhamer

Boarding

We operate a free seating policy which means that you can choose where you sit on the aircraft. easyJet operates a strict priority boarding system and you will be boarded by the sequence you checked-in at.

The aircraft is boarded in groups, starting with passengers travelling with young children and passengers requiring assistance first, followed by passengers with group ‘A’ boarding cards, then B, C and finally group D.

We appreciate that there are some passengers who require assistance and wherever possible we will do our best to assist. After prior arrangement with our check-in and gate staff, the following are some examples of passengers who may be allowed to board first:

Parents with babies and young children
Passengers who require assistance

Pre-boarding is always at the discretion of our airport staff, and is designed to give passengers who may need a little extra time to board an opportunity to do so. So if you need assistance in any way, please do let us know at check-in and at the departure gate.

robin123_2

What age are your children?
If they are under 11 (i think) then you get priority boarding regardless of when you check in. Can anyone else confirm this?

poppycracker

It doesn't seem to matter. I flew with easyjet down to london and back the other week. Got to check-in literally minutes after it opened and still found myself with number 38 on the way down and 44 on the way back (group B for boarding).... But like robin123 says, since you've got kids, ring and ask them about priority boarding, don't wait til you get there. Oh and note down when and who you spoke to to get the information.

ynot2005

get there early and ask for PB to be put on boarding passes, otherwise if you are in A or B boarding groups you should get enough choice to be sat together

im sure there is a law which states children should be sat with their parents on flights..i have seen many times passengers moved about to accomodate this, but the ages of the children might matter

delorean_2

lyla wrote:

weve got an easyjet flight booked at the end of the month, fling from bristol, check in opens at 5.30am and closes at 6.55am. i would like to get there for when check in opens but DH thinks that its a waste of time as you dont get allocated seat numbers so hes thinking of not getting there until later. what do you think? we are 2 adults, 2 children, do we get priority seats?

If it's the same as Ryanair, parents with young children (ie: under 12?) get to board first. It doesn't mean you'll get the front row of seats each side or the last row of seats each side. For some reason it's illegal to have children and the elderly or disabled in the front 3 rows.

You'll get priority boarding though as far as I know.

lancsman_2

Children are given priority boarding to sit with their parents for safety reasons. If there is an emergency the parent needs to attend to the child.

charlie2309

i would also go early to a)avoid unexpected problems on the road, b)if its anything like gatwick the baggage belt at check in often jams, c)passport control q's often long at that time of day and last but not least everytime we have been with easy jet we have a ten mile hike to the boarding gate!!!

a few times we have arrived as check in opens and had v.little time to spare when finally reaching the boarding gate

hope you have a nice time x

iceman_2

The first 30 to turn up get in group A, the next 30 in B, next 30 in C and the rest in D. You generally have to arrive seriously early to get in group A.

Bristol's check in desks are all for all flights so as soon as they're open you should be able to check in for your flight (as long as you don't get a jobsworth check in agent). They'll open 2 hours before the first flight of the day, which is usually Malaga at 6:15. So they should be open at 4:15.

That's if you can be bothered to turn up that early.

Or as mentioned above you can prob pre-board depending on the age of your kids so no need to turn up early if that's the case.

I dont have kids, and always aim for about an hour before the flight departs. I've never had a problem getting seats together.

Enjoy the flight

WiseInvestor_2

Children do not legally have to sit with their parents (many children travel unaccompanied) and there is no law preventing them from sitting in the front 3 rows. If it's enforced it must be easyJet policy. Children may not sit in an overwing exit row for obvious reasons.

jetboy

Easyjet don't do unaccompanied minors therefore they must be with their parents on board. Part of row one is designated as an emergency exit seat..that's why kids don't sit in it.
When travelling with kids you get preboarded no matter what time you check in as long as you get to the gate quick enough. Beware buses to the aircraft though. First on the bus usually means last on the plane.