A warning for anybody flying with EasyJet to Tel Aviv

(29 March 2011: there is an update to this story at the end)  Also see this story from Feb 2013

We flew EasyJet to Tel Aviv a few weeks ago without any problems, but after our experience last week I strongly advise against people flying with them on this route. What happened to people on our flight might be typical of EasyJet's evil money grabbing activities, but I have a suspicion that there was some anti-semitism involved.

Here is what happened: As we were going for just 4 nights this time we checked in one suitcase between the two of us, paying £18 in advance for the privilege. We each had a small piece of hand luggage (much smaller than the maximum dimensions specified on the EasyJet website). These were exactly the same hand luggage pieces we used last time with no problem. I was surprised when at checkin they asked me to put my hand luggage in the sizer, but there was no problem as it fiitted easily. So they confirmed it was OK.

However, as we were about to board the plane we could see all hell was breaking loose. First of all, it was clear that unlike last time (when we were travelling on a Friday so there were no orthodox Jews on the flight) most of the people on this flight were orthodox Jews. The EasyJet staff were basically carrying out an aggressive inspection process. Everybody who was carrying any kind of hand luggage case was stopped and told to put it in the sizer again. But this was a just a game. Because everybody who had got to that point had already put their case through the sizer and knew that it fitted. The 'game' was that the EasyJet staff now declared a reason why the bag was 'too big'. In my case they first said that the wheels were 'outside the cage'. When I said I was taking photos to prove that the wheels came nowhere close to being ouside, they changed the story to 'the bag did not go in easily enough' - presumably because they felt this could not be automatically disproved by the photos here. Anyway the point is that they were forcing everybody not only to leave their hand luggage, but to pay £30 for the privilege. Bearing in mind that before getting to this point you are only allowed a single piece of hand luggage, this meant that we had nowhere else to put our valuables etc. To add insult to injury when I took out my laptop and asked if they had a bag I could put in to take with me on the plane, they not only said no but said I was not allowed to take it without a bag!

The sight of Jews - including elderly people and mothers with babies - desparately scrambling on the floor frantically trying to work out what stuff they had to take with them on the plane - and being charged for no reason was clearly giving the four EasyJet members of staff great pleasure. When a couple of people not unreasonably became verbally aggressive the EasyJet staff told them that unless they made a grovelling apology they would be refused entry on the flight.

We later discovered that some people had left important medication in their bags and one mother was unable to feed her baby for the entire flight as she had left the formula milk.

Obviously I shall be writing to EasyJet to demand a refund of the £30. But in my view they behaved so appallingly that they deserve to be run out of business.

29 March 2010 update: Easyjet have today apologised and refunded the £30 

28 Feb 2013 update: another EasyJet fiasco