Instruments on EasyJet? Now they charge for locker use
mainYou may not be flying for a while yet, but be aware that the rules have changed on EasyJet which used to be very accomodating for musical instruments.
As of February 10, it seems, EasyJet passengers will have to pay extra for the use of overhead luggage lockers.
Nice company.
Don’t miss them a bit.
Geez it was already hard enough. I remember helping the Estonian Festival Orchestra musicians trying to find places for all their instruments on a full Tegel to Vienna flight a few years back…
Of course they’ll be expecting to recoup losses from months of inactivity – or vastly reduced activity – from Covid-19. Don’t be naive. Just think of it as tiny part of your share of saving the geriatric cohort.
I’m happy to make a personal decision about using a fee- based overhead bin. Yet, as a US citizen, I will be very unhappy if economically challenged US carriers are given huge government subsidies, which then limit my ability to make such a choice as all taxpayers are then helping to pay for those bins whether we use them or not.
Over the past few years, all the airlines have been padding their bottom lines using extra fees for all sorts of things. The question is how much Easy Jet will charge for overhead storage.
A number of years back (over 10) there was a very funny movie–forgot the title–about an airline that had coin-operated overhead bins. We all knew it was coming.
A few airlines already do this and it’s actually can be great- you pay the fee and suddenly there’s no longer a debate if you can bring your instrument on and there’s space pretty much regardless of boarding group. I’d obviously rather not pay extra, but the security of knowing your instrument gets on when does relieve a lot of anxiety.
Remember when Ryanair contemplated charging for loos?
A seat has to be bought for a musical instrument from Feb 10th:
‘To take an instrument on board it must be smaller than 30 x 117 x 38 cm and placed in the overhead locker. Violins, violas, flutes, piccolos clarinets, trumpets and bugles fall into this category and count as one cabin bag each. You can’t book a seat for small instruments as we’re unable to secure them safely into a seat.
If you’re carrying an instrument as your only cabin bag and you’re unable to fit everything in it, you can also bring a small under seat bag for free.
A large musical instrument of similar size to a cello regardless of shape can go in the cabin too, but you have to buy a seat for it. If you’d prefer, you can check your instrument into the hold instead by buying a hold luggage allowance.
To book a seat for your instrument, you’ll need to add a passenger to your booking and then use ‘Mr Seat Cello’ for the passenger name. For safety reasons instruments can only be placed in window seats and the maximum height including the case is 110cm.’
Here is a petition protesting against the changes: https://www.change.org/p/easyjet-airline-company-easysound-we-need-our-instruments-allowed-in-the-cabin-on-easyjet-flights?
Thanks for sharing! Keep protesting, any voice helps! Annika