EasyJet Hands Free Withdrawn

me881

I am due to fly with them later this month and have tried to book it this morning and it was still there as a headline but when going into the buy before you fly section it was not there.
I called customer services who advised it has just been withdrawn and is being placed by a new system where you pay to take on a cabin bag. They could not advise me of the price and said to check later this evening. 

Shame on you EasyJet I find this a very poor service that they did not publish or give any warnings they were withdrawing the service. They are no better than their competitors now and I have no doubt the new service will be more money but would love to be proved wrong.  

SaveTheEuro

I agree that it's a poor show to give no advance warning of making this change. How hard would it be to announce a change a few weeks in advance and keep customers happy? 

me881

When they dropped the free cabin bag policy they gave advance warning and it was also covered on here and other forums. 

When I called customer services about not being able to book it this morning the agent was aware it had been withdrawn but not what it was being replaced by only that there would be another cabin bag service. No idea on price and although their web page is currently saying NEW: book a large cabin bag for your flight on our app I cannot find it to book it. 
I know they have had challenging times but I’ve always found EasyJet to be a cut above another budget airline but not any longer. 

Westin

This article on Head for Points however gives balance and another view on the withdrawal of HandFree.

https://www.headforpoints.com/2021/11/03/easyjet-abandons-hands-free/

me881

Tosh about prices from £5.99 to take the cabin bag on board. 

On my upcoming flight once the prices were published it was £19.99 on the outward flight and £21.49 on the return flight. Hands free was £7 each way so no way is this not a stealth way of increasing the baggage charges and their revenue. 

Ryanair charge considerably less now for cabin baggage. 

del66

Right, i am finally compelled to join MSE forum with regards to this issue and the unfairness and timing of this policy by Easyjet. The fact there was no notice speaks for itself , and the fact that i asked Easyjet how much notice they gave with regards the withdrawal of Hands Free , and they have not answered my question shows it up for what it is?  Pure underhand Stealth!

The £5.99 cabin bag fee is none existent and the fee actually goes up the more seats are booked for the flight.

I hope this is going to by highlighted by Money saving expert ,and criticised  for the lack of notice given to customers.

My fare has now increased by £70 as opposed to £28 .00 for hands free.

Please feel free to comment

regards Del

me881

I am incandescent with rage about this especially as it is saying it was withdrawn from 3rd November when I tried to purchase hands free on 2nd November but couldn’t do so. It was cheaper to put the bags in the hold than in the cabin. 

Easyjet will not get one more penny out of me anymore for food and drink on board. We always purchase this on both legs but not in future as my hard earned money will be spent on increased luggage charges!!!
I will also look at Jet2 flights now as it is being said there will be little difference between them now due to cabin bag charges.
Interestingly they are not responding to tweets about this. EJ know as well as we do that it’s a revenue increasing stealth charge. 

del66

Very  True , they are not responding to me know either!!

Westin

Can you not buy one or more checked bags for your trip?

me881

I have paid to put one 23 kg bag in the hold at a cost of £64.98 whereas hands free would have cost £28. Passengers on one booking could have taken 6 cases using hands free for £32 return. Imagine the increase in cost for families who had been planning on using the service. 

It stings because there was no notice of this and no honouring of the service for those with current bookings who had planned to use it. 

J_B

me881 said:

I am incandescent with rage about this ............

Methinks you need to write to the daily mail about this .....