Another stellar performance from easyJet with staff once again going above and beyond by throwing the book away and using initiative and trust.
The real test of an airline is how does it respond under pressure or when “things” are not in the training manual.
So, the story starts for us when we had to cut short a business and leisure trip to Croatia.
We were booked to fly from Split to London Gatwick on Thursday, September 12 but on the 6th made the decision we needed to get home to Australia (via London on Qantas).
A late-night online change was made for a 10 am flight (EZY8394) the next morning. While the booking was confirmed no boarding passes were available, which meant the flight was overbooked.
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At our early check-in (7 am) at Split Airport on Saturday the 7th our fears were confirmed that indeed it was overbooked.
However, the senior check-in agent at Counter 1., assured us that it was almost certain we would get on.
At Split Airport all airlines are handled by one agency and the whole operation is very impressive as is the airport terminal. Counter 1 is where problem issues are handled.
As promised 30 minutes before departure we had our boarding passes from two ladies who really knew their stuff.
However, the extra we had paid for speedy boarding and exit rows, was lost in the system so we had the row behind.
No worries about the speedy boarding as we were almost last to board due to having to wait as standbys.
Once onboard I noticed that the exit row in front of had a number of free seats.
I inquired with one of the flight attendants if I could move and she rightly said that you had to pay extra, which had to be done beforehand.
I then explained our situation and said I had the paperwork for the original flight in my bag and she said she would have to check with her senior. (Because of my height of 194cm we always select exit rows.)
Back she came and said “no problem”.
No proof required – although we had it.
So, from being on standby with most flights out of Split fully booked we went to exit row seats on our desired flight.
Now that is a win, particularly on a low fare airline.
And the service on board didn’t stop there with the crew in fine form interacting with passengers and getting everyone fed and watered.
I thought to myself that this crew looked more like a team you would find in first class on Emirates or Singapore Airlines.
For a snack, I chose the Mezze Snack Box at a cost of Euro 6, plus orange juice and coffee, which really hit the mark.
The cockpit crew were excellent keeping us informed all the way to Gatwick.
The landing was silky smooth.
All in all an outstanding experience with ground staff and cabin crew going out of their way to assure us and help us.
