Like many people, the changes to the BA loyalty scheme and its transformation to the Club, have pretty much made me abandon using them except with Avios or if they are the best option for the route. Having also bought a place in Spain (you can read about how to buy a place abroad and Spain in particular in this article), which is 15 minutes from Murcia, this has also given me an incentive to try out Easyjet, who fly direct.
In this post:
Booking including the app and Cost
Since BA doesn’t fly to Murcia any more, I can’t do a direct comparison, but I will have a look at some Alicante examples for this article.
I usually book on the EasyJet app (spoiler, I’ve made lots of bookings now) and find it much better than BA’s. The only thing I don’t like is that when you go into your trips, you can’t see the times or flight numbers immediately without going into the booking. BAs are presented in a list (when it works, which it did not today), which I find easier. However, Easyjet’s is more visually appealing and far more reliable.
I would say EasyJet has a few more screens selling you things in the process, as they offer paid hand luggage as well as an underseat item for free. I did find it easy to select seats and add things like checked luggage. I was surprised how simple and cheap it was to change the hold weight of the bag before check-in. Although it is quite pricey to check a suitcase (around £35 each way in my case), you could add extra weight for just a few pounds extra with a couple of clicks, great if you have gone a bit mad with the shopping whilst away! They offer a wide range of suitcase weights starting at 15kg.
Prices on the Murcia route vary a lot, with the cheapest prices being from about £33 one way, which is great value if you are just taking hand luggage. If we look at a comparison between Easyjet and BA to Alicante for a week in April 2026 as an example, BA is actually better value if you want to take a wheelie bag on board. BA’s return costs £127 but includes two pieces of hand luggage. However, EasyJet costs £118, but you would have to pay extra for the wheelie bag.
Winner: EasyJet for the booking process and app, BA for pricing
EasyJet Plus
I bought the offer for half price, EasyJet Plus, which we covered before. I would like the website and app to be able to add this to your account, as each time you have to find the number and paste it in, which is very annoying. EasyJet Plus gives a whole host of benefits, such as Speedy Boarding, Fast Track security and a large cabin bag. It usually costs £249 per year. Even with its limited use so far, for just three return flights, I have already made a profit and would break even at the normal rate.
Check-in and lounge
I was flying from Gatwick, so it was a fair comparison to BA’s operation at Gatwick. With Speedy Boarding, I was entitled to use a specific check-in area, which was almost deserted on a Friday afternoon. It was a self-service check-in, but it was well-supervised. We had an issue with the machine, and someone helped us almost immediately. I was pleasantly surprised by how helpful and chatty he was. Within a few minutes of arrival, we were on our way to Fast Track. On my last visit with BA, we were in the First queue and someone was holding up the one desk for about 10 minutes. Instead of someone noticing and helping us from the Club desk, they kept taking people from the Club queue. Then, when we gave up and queued again for Club check-in, they asked us why we were not using the First check-in!
We were flying from the North Terminal, and Fast Track was not any better than the South Terminal. I don’t like the way Gatwick organises its Fast Track. Without having separate lanes most of the time, you simply feed into the front of the queue, which often doesn’t work very well, especially since the Fast Track is equally as long. So there was no difference between flying BA and EasyJet for me.
EasyJet does actually have a lounge at both Gatwick terminals, which is included on Flexi Fares. You can also pay to use it. As we had Priority Pass, we decided to pre-book one of those lounges. A week before, most of them were already booked, so we had to settle for MyLounge, which is the most casual of the lounges. The food was pretty basic, with it being mainly Mexican, but it sufficed. There was also a games room.
It was extremely busy, but we managed to get a seat. Everything is self-service. Would I go back? No, it was not exactly relaxing, although it was a pleasant lounge in terms of aesthetics. I may be tempted to try the South version on a nice day as it has an outdoor terrace.
BA does have a lovely lounge at Gatwick, which I enjoy using, and has had a small refurbishment recently.
Winner: Check-in: EasyJet, Lounge: BA
Boarding
EasyJet board pretty early – around 40 minutes before. Or in the case of my return, one rather over-enthusiastic gate staff member decided to start sending people down the jet bridge before the aircraft had landed!
I felt that it was well managed with Speedy Boarding being called first. The staff were very clear that it was for Speedy Boarding only, and those who did not have it were turned away.
Of course, it was the typical boarding/not boarding scenario, standing around waiting for around 10 minutes. It was at least a jetbridge and not stairs or outside on the tarmac. I would only bother with Speedy Boarding if I had hand luggage that needed to be put in the locker. Otherwise, I would simply wait for the end of boarding to get on. I have had this boarding scenario on almost every BA flight too.
Winner: Tie
Onboard
Seats are the same on both airlines with a 3-3 configuration. Legroom is also similar with a 29″ pitch on Easyjet and 29-31″ on BA. Both offered a fold-down tray table. EasyJet had advertising on the seatback, which made it appear low-cost. I did not find the seat any less comfortable on Easy compared to BA.
Obviously, you could also pay for the exit row on EasyJet if you wanted extra leg room.
I found the Easy crew very friendly and helpful on both of my flights, whereas I find BA varies a lot. Sometimes they are superb, sometimes they are lazy and disinterested.
One big downside to EasyJet is the lack of Wi-Fi. Given that they would charge for it, it is shame they have not chosen to have this fitted. BA at least has Wi-Fi on most flights now, although whether it is actually working is another matter!
Food
On BA you get a very small snack and a small bottle or cup of water. Often, the snack is something sweet, which I usually don’t want. So really, the offering in economy makes little difference to me on BA. I do like that you can pre-order with BA, and then you get served first. EasyJet don’t offer pre-order on the routes I fly, but you can get a £10 voucher for £8 from Gatwick.
The selection of food is definitely broader on EasyJet in my opinion. Although BA has just started to a couple of “proper” meals on some Gatwick flights, EasyJet does have a wider selection including curry, pasta, toastie and pizza.
BA has a meal deal for £8.95 for a sandwich, snack and soft drink. EasyJet does the same deal but also has one of their hot “big meals” with a soft drink for £8.75.
I tried the Southern Fried chicken wrap meal deal, which was tasty, and it was good to be able to choose an iced coffee as the drink option.
You can see the full EasyJet cafe menu here.
Winner: Tie – BA gives a free snack, but EasyJet has a more interesting menu.
Disruption
I had two things go wrong on my trip. On the way out, there were some long delays for a take-off slot, and I was extremely impressed with the crew. Within a few minutes of the captain saying we were likely to be waiting 45 minutes for a slot, the crew started passing out glasses of water. I think I have only ever seen this once, possibly during my entire time flying BA.
My return flight was actually cancelled about 105 minutes before departure due to the French ATC strike. EasyJet was slow to notify me and took around 45 minutes to tell me by text and email. Luckily, I had the Flighty app, which told me immediately. In EasyJet’s defence, a lot of people were probably already at the airport by that point, so would have been informed in person. As Flighty told me so early, I was able to find availability to fly home the next day. I simply went into the app where it showed the flight as cancelled, and was able to quickly select another flight for free. I definitely could not fault the ease of rebooking, although I have no idea how bad if would be if you had to phone them or deal with staff at the airport. I was also offered a hotel in the app which was impressive as the flight was the next day.
I have not had a recent overnight cancellation with BA, although the last time I did, they basically abandoned me at Düsseldorf airport with no hotel or flight home, and when I tried to ring the Gold line, it got cut off as they had stopped accepting calls as they were too busy. When I have had a cancellation and been able to change to a flight the same day or some time in advance, the process has been similar to EasyJet by being able to do everything online.
Winner: EasyJet for the quick action on board and simple change/free hotel
Conclusion
If you have status with BA and don’t fly enough to warrant EasyJet Plus membership, then BA may actually be better value if you are likely to want to have a wheelie bag. You can pay for things like fast track and Speedy Boarding separately, but these extras can quickly add up to make it more expensive than EasyJet.
In economy on EasyJet, the actual service on board and boarding was at least as good as BA, if not better, but BA obviously does have the pre-order option and a free snack and drink.
I would say it is pretty much a tie. While I have BA status, I’ll still choose BA if they fly where I want and are similar value to EasyJet. Once I lose status, the cheapest and most convenient airline will win my business!
What are your thoughts on flying EasyJet? Let us know in the comments below.
4 comments
Interesting review, Michele. I also recently flew EasyJet, LGW to Edinburgh to catch a few days at the Fringe. I was economy and haven’t flown EasyJet for a while, but also found it a favourable comparison with BA for a basic flight. Boarding was much smoother and their strict rules plus pricing re hand baggage mean it’s less chaotic to get everyone sitting down. On board I had tea and a snack – only issue was their card machine didn’t seem to like Amex. It was accepted in theory but “too slow” so I paid with another card after several efforts.
I didn’t bother with Plaza Premium lounge at LGW after reading the recent review here; instead I found a quiet corner of a restaurant called Breakfast Club was a great base for me and laptop. Nice food priced as reasonably as you’ll get at an airport and peaceful with an outside view! Ordering was via a QR code and the staff left me in peace.
I find the seats on Easyjet and Ryanair much less comfortable than BA’s because they don’t recline. I dislike the forced upright posture and like to recline my seat one click for back comfort.
I have always found Easyjet crew very good compared to BA crew. I now only book with Easyjet. The sort flights I take from Gatwick are comfortable enough, but agree on a longer flight choose a diferent carrier.
Interesting. In a similar position. 25 year of status rapidly going downhill and a holiday home in Portugal.
In my case the new carrier is FR, a similar review would be interesting. For me the default BA C from LON is now LCC from BOH.
Obviously there’s no lounge and no on board freebies, but it’s as comfortable, newer and cleaner. The crew, often foreign are at least as friendly and not travelling via LON for a westerly destination saves about 2 hours door to door. And the cost saving can be around £200/ pax/ leg. – It’s amazing what’s out there once you’re jogged out of the status game!