easyjet Flight Club

JohnnieDeb

Anybody else had experience of easyjet’s Flight Club which is supposed to give personalised service to those lucky enough to be invited? I’ve had it for two years and tried it out last week when I realized an hour later I had booked online flights for one weekend earlier than I had intended. The prices for the weekend after for exactly the same times and routes turned out to be €30 cheaper than the flights I had booked, so I thought no problem easyjet would rebook and then credit me for the price difference against a future booking as a loyal customer. Instead after arguing the toss with three different Flight Club representatives they would only rebook my flight but not match the cheaper online price on the grounds that I had not made the rebooking online! It would have been far less stressful, much more convenient and marginally cheaper had I bypassed Flight Club altogether and simply cancelled and rebooked as I was within 24 hours. So I ask what kind of useless loyalty scheme is this? BA were slightly cheaper fir that weekend and Ryanair less than half the price!

eDicky

I have often called the easyJet Flight Club's friendly and professional agents based in Durban in order to make a fee-free change to my booking. Sometimes the price of the new flight is a bit more than what I originally paid and the agent has waived payment of the difference. Occasionally the new flight is a little cheaper - the thought of asking for a refund has never occurred to me...

JohnnieDeb

It’s clear that, if the rebooking is for more expensive flights, easyjet stipulates that the difference has to be paid by the customer, and, had that been the case, I would have unquestionably paid the difference. However the Flight Club Price Promise is that if the online price is cheaper even at a later date, the Flight Club Customer will be credited with a voucher for the difference to be used against a future booking. My gripe is that I have now spoken to six different people at easyjet, none of whom is able to give a consistent or convincing explanation, whereas I could have and now I realize should have ignored Flight Club completely and rebooked myself online at no more cost that I have paid now. I’m glad you have had a better experience but I won’t bother again.

eDicky

JohnnieDeb wrote: »

However the Flight Club Price Promise is that if the online price is cheaper even at a later date, the Flight Club Customer will be credited with a voucher for the difference to be used against a future booking.

Are you sure, where do you see this Flight Club Price Promise? In your OP you only mentioned that you 'thought' you would be credited.

Changes to bookings using Flight Club can only be made over the phone, not online, so having not made the rebooking online should not be grounds to deny the price promise, if it exists.

SaveTheEuro

One option would have been for you to have made the second booking online and paid afresh.

Although Flight Club would not have refunded you for the first booking you could have changed the date for this to sometime in the future, choosing a date at the same price level, and left it parked there until you were ready to change the date again to a time you wanted to fly. That way the credit would have stayed alive until you were ready to use it.

JohnnieDeb

Thanks for replies. I didn’t realize that I could have cancelled the first booking and stored the original fare as credit against a future booking. In fact I doubt this is possible, and my whole point concerns lack of transparency in what is supposed to be extra service as a reward for loyalty! Flight Club T & C are clear that you will be credited the difference should you find the online fare goes down, BUT not if you book online which therefore doesn’t apply if you rebook through Flight Club. No big deal at the end of the day. All it’s done is represent their trumpeted loyalty scheme as a joke. I’d previously regarded easyjet as airline of choice rather than necessity as I have four airlines to fly to London: BA is better all round and Ryanair consistently cheaper, so I doubt they will be renewing my membership next year.

eDicky

FLIGHT CLUB MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

FEE-FREE CHANGES
Make unlimited changes to the dates and travel routes of your bookings without paying admin fees. Just pay the difference between the original fare and that of your new flight.

FREE NAME CHANGES
Make up to 5 passenger name changes per year, completely free.

PRICE GUARANTEE
If you find an equivalent flight of another airline cheaper within 48 hours of making your booking, we’ll refund the difference. We’ll also give you a voucher worth 10% of that difference for your next flight. Just let our dedicated Flight Team know within that time.

OUR PRICE PROMISE
We promise you’ll always get the best fares for your easyJet flights. If, on a rare occasion, you find a flight you have already booked on easyJet.com for less, we’ll give you a voucher worth the price difference for your next flight.

A DEDICATED FLIGHT CLUB TEAM NUMBER
To make use of any of the benefits the next time you travel, simply call our dedicated Flight Club team on 0330 365 65 65 quoting your Flight Club membership number and your booking reference number. These benefits cannot be accessed through easyJet.com just yet.

I read 'Our Price Promise' to mean that if you see that the price of a flight you have already booked has dropped below what you paid, they will give you a voucher equivalent to the difference. This used to be available to everyone but now it's only for Flight Club members.

It doesn't mention or refer to flight changes, and I don't see it as applying to when you change a flight, by calling the Flight Club service, to a flight that shows a lower fare online than you paid for your original flight.

JohnnieDeb

Exactly. In effect I was charged €30 to make a change which is the same as I would have had to pay had I not been invited to Flight Club. In my second year of this privilege I don’t see any benefit, and cannot be bothered again haggling over the phone. As least you know the score with Ryanair and I have never had any issues with them - or with BA. I was a sucker for swallowing easyjet’s sales guff about providing a personalised experience.

eDicky

You are demonstrating a major problem in comprehension of what is written both by myself and in the Flight Club info quoted above.

No airline will refund a fare difference when you change your booking to a flight that has a fare less than you originally paid, and there is no such thing promised by easyJet except in your imagination.

The main benefit of Flight Club membership is the unlimited fee-free changes to dates and routes, with only fare difference payable, making a standard fare ticket extremely flexible. Once again, there is absolutely no indication or promise of refund in the case of changing to a lower priced flight, except in your fantasy.

I'm sure the Flight Club agents will be relieved to have one less haggler for something to which they are not entitled, good luck with Ryanair and BA.

budgetflyer

Completely unreasonable expectation of what you should receive.
If the original flight had went down, you would have got a refund. You changed the flight, so no refund due.
Btw I don't think you can cancel FOC within 24hrs with easyJet.

JohnnieDeb

Just a couple of points of information for the general community if interested:

1. The situation would not have arisen with British Airways since they allow ALL customers to cancel their booking within 24 hours WITHOUT ANY PENALTY whatsoever, and then simply make a new booking. This is a huge point in BA’s favour which perhaps is not sufficiently well known.

2. Ryanair can often be so cheap that it is usually no big deal if you simply lose a flight -viz the weekend in question their return fare was less than half the easyjet price.

3. FYI easyjet do let you cancel within 24 hours for a fee of €30. I rang Flight Club to ask if they could help an hour or so after realising my mistake, but in effect had to pay this fee like any other passenger. My point was simply that I didn’t feel I was getting anything out of Flight Club, but maybe one day I too will be a believer. I don’t see why I am being vilified for “haggling”: isn’t that the point of this blog?