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Written by Dr Eammon Butler   
Tuesday, 13 May 2008

Easyjet operates a priority boarding system called (predictably) Easy Boarding. You get on ahead of other people, and can therefore select your seat more easily (it's open seating on these budget airlines, which allows for costs to be minimized and a faster turn-around –passengers board quicker if they aren't tring to find a particular seat and making other people move in order to get to it).

As we flew down to Nice this week for an ASI awayday, Stelios – the airline's founder and major shareholder – happened to be on the plane. It was a full flight, and quite a few of those who boarded last could not find seats together. "You should have got Easy Boarding," Stelios told them cheerfully. "It's only £5."

Ah true: but what would happen if everyone took his advice. Then everyone would have Easy Boarding priority and the people at the end would still be at a loss. Then of course there would have to be Really Easy Boarding for another £5! Stelios would have raised the price by a fiver all round! But maybe that's why he's incredibly rich and I'm not. Ho hum.
 

Comments (4)Add Comment
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written by geodotto, May 13, 2008
I'm not too sure about this, but I belive that the priority boarding passes are limited. Not everyone can buy one. They are sold on a first-come-first-served basis.
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written by Oli, May 13, 2008
There will never be a time when everyone buys the Easy Boarding facility.

However, people will slowly learn when the £5 is worth paying, and when it isn't.

EasyGettingonabusfirstandgettingoffitlast
written by Edward Scott, May 13, 2008
It doesn't always work that way. If you pay your £5 at East Midlands Airport, for example, you will get on board first - problem is, you're the first person onto a bus.
If you don't position yourself well, then you could end up getting on the plane last. You can't predict which side of the bus will open; speedy boarding is honestly not worth the money.
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written by NotDimwit, May 14, 2008
Their website says it's limited to 20 per flight.

It's called speedy boarding, not easy boarding. Their naming is clearly too unpredictable for you!

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