Twigman Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 (edited) I fly often with my bass. We often use easyJet in Europe. We have all our gear flightcased and stick it in the hold. Flying back from Pisa to Gatwick last week, at check in in Pisa we were charged an EXTRA €42 per cased instrument despite having a 185kg allowance already pre-booked and paid for! The woman on the check in counter stated it was due to the fact we were carrying musical instruments and they were classed as 'special items'. We've been flying all over Europe for years with easyJet and have never come across this before. On every previous flight the instruments have just been booked in as any other luggage albeit we have to take them to the oversize conveyor but have NEVER been surcharged. Has anyone else experienced this? We suspect we were being ripped off - or is this a new easyJet policy? We've written to easyjet for an explanation (and refund?) but have yet to hear back. Edited May 20, 2019 by Twigman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBunny Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 My son has just called EasyJet to enquire about taking one of his guitars he has at mine back to his place in Prague. According to EJ a guitar is classed as Sports Equipment and he can take it to the gate and hand it over there, (a bit like a baby buggy and avoiding it getting damaged on the various airport conveyors). He then collects it as he leaves the plane at Prague airport. It appears there are different views depending on who you are dealing with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted May 20, 2019 Author Share Posted May 20, 2019 This has nothing to do with 'taking them to the gate'. Our guitars still went in the hold, as planned, and as always. Having booked and paid for 185kg of luggage and their combined weight coming in well under that we have no clue why we were charged an EXTRA €42 per item. We're feeling totally ripped off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 £42 isn't great, but it is far from the worst. The airlines do absolutely fleece you from my experiences on tour. I don't think our spam filters on this site would let me tell you my honest opinion of RyanAir, where as on the flip side, one European airline let us take the instruments on board for free and one of the crew came over to talk guitars with us the whole flight. For my show next month in Norway, my bass has it's own seat as it works out cheaper. We learnt the hard way but I recommend anyone not aware of how airlines fleece musicians, read up and do some homework before booking flights. It can be pretty grim. Hard to believe there are yet more ways for musicians to get ripped off!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted May 20, 2019 Author Share Posted May 20, 2019 1 minute ago, Cat Burrito said: We learnt the hard way but I recommend anyone not aware of how airlines fleece musicians, read up and do some homework before booking flights. It can be pretty grim. Hard to believe there are yet more ways for musicians to get ripped off!?! We've been flying easyJet for years. We always book hold luggage allowance of the appropriate weight and have NEVER previously been surcharged. Any clue why this particular flight should be any different? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 We’ve never been charged this when flying EJ, just the regular in the hold costs. I reckon this was an in the back pocket charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer.b Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 I've never been charged extra for a hardcase in the hold with easyJet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 We flew back from Barcelona a few weeks ago with easy Jet, as we were boarding the lady at the gate said my wife had to pay €60 for her hand bag as it counted as a second piece of hand luggage, at this point we are surrounded by dozens of people with hand bags and carry on stuff, to add insult to injury we'd already paid for the empty seat next to us! The previous time we'd used EJ ages ago we said it we'd never use them again, we only did this time as someone else booked it originally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 Moral of the above seems to be to steer clear of the budget/ripoff airlines. By the time you've paid for all the "optional extras" - seats, lavatory, oxygen, etc - you're no better off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 This is the problem with flying with an instrument. You can ask five different employees from the airline, and you'll get five different answers, and probably be charged five different additional fees too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 10 hours ago, Twigman said: Any clue why this particular flight should be any different? Perhaps the crew were taking a leaf out of the books of other airlines? Who knows! Not good though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzyvee Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 From a safety point of view i have never understood why an airline is allowed to sell you a seat to put your instrument on. The seats are not designed to hold securely them nor the seatbelt and in the event of severe turbulance on a plane you have potentially a heavy object bouncing round the inside the passenger compartment that could cause injury to a passenger or damage parts of the cabin. I have once been in a plane with really scary air turbulence where loads of stuff was bouncing all over the place off the trays etc. Ironically it was the first time i’d been upgraded free to first class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 54 minutes ago, jazzyvee said: From a safety point of view i have never understood why an airline is allowed to sell you a seat to put your instrument on. The seats are not designed to hold securely them nor the seatbelt and in the event of severe turbulance on a plane you have potentially a heavy object bouncing round the inside the passenger compartment that could cause injury to a passenger or damage parts of the cabin. I know. First thing I thought was "my bass doesn't even have a passport!" 😹 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigman Posted May 21, 2019 Author Share Posted May 21, 2019 Had a web chat with easyJet. Been told the check-in at Pisa got it wrong. They are investigating. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 Italy!! I'm half Italian. Probably on the take at Pisa airport. I don't trust anything in Italy. Twice the have tried to rip me off with car hire. I picked up a car recently and photographed some damage to the paint. I had full cover. When I took the car back the guy went straight to the damaged paint and wiped off a red mark. (no damage, just a red mark) but then he said the door lock had been broken. (transpires the cover over where you would insert the key was missing and the key wouldnt fit in) He tried to blame this on me, even though you dont use the key, just the remote. They are onanists!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 2 hours ago, Twigman said: Had a web chat with easyJet. Been told the check-in at Pisa got it wrong. They are investigating. Good to know they’re admitting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mybass Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, Cat Burrito said: I know. First thing I thought was "my bass doesn't even have a passport!" 😹 Well back in his DB book writing days, Rufus Reid was showing us how he did it! By the width of those seats, I'd say he got 1st class tickets. Edited May 21, 2019 by mybass 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzyvee Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 3 hours ago, Cat Burrito said: I know. First thing I thought was "my bass doesn't even have a passport!" 😹 Better be careful post brexit then. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 1 hour ago, jazzyvee said: Better be careful post brexit then. 🙂 Mine is Romanian, it might get deported!! hopefully Boris will have a bit spare from the £350m a week to buy me a nice British made one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 On 20/05/2019 at 16:38, stingrayPete1977 said: We flew back from Barcelona a few weeks ago with easy Jet, as we were boarding the lady at the gate said my wife had to pay €60 for her hand bag as it counted as a second piece of hand luggage, at this point we are surrounded by dozens of people with hand bags and carry on stuff, to add insult to injury we'd already paid for the empty seat next to us! The previous time we'd used EJ ages ago we said it we'd never use them again, we only did this time as someone else booked it originally. They tried that with me once with my little laptop. So I opened my carry-on small suitcase, and put it inside. Ten metres later, after I got my passport checked, I stopped and took the laptop out again, in full view of the staff member who had tried to charge me earlier. Give a small minded person a few rules and a bit of power, and they'll be happy to ignore the fact they have a brain... I *hate* flying. Not because of the flight itself, but because of all the idiotic hoops we are made to jump through and we're supposed to smile. Like the first time I flew after they started restricting the volumes of fluids onboard. I had to throw away my shampoo. It was bigger than 100ml. I asked "if I carried my shampoo in two 100ml containers would it be ok?". She gave me a look that made me realise she already hated her life and didn't mind taking me down with her. Or what's with having to put those things in a transparent plastic bag? What is really the difference between them being loose or in a plastic bag? Yes, I asked that too, another time. At least this guy seemed human: he shrugged and just told me "I know, but that's the rules and if we don't enforce them we get in trouble". Ugh. I often think of the beginning of the Long Dark Tea Time of The Soul, by Douglas Adams... Thor in the queue to check-in at the airport... I know exactly just how he felt, and I wish I could do what he did too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsmedunc Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 A mate just flew over from Belgium with his guitar on Ryanair. When he booked his flight, he was told he had to book a seat for his guitar. Bingo! The flights were only a tenner. When he got to the airport, he was told he had to pay another £63 for his guitar. When he said he had booked an extra seat for it, he was told he needed to book a seat for an instrument, not a person! He got on the nearly empty plane and his guitar sat on the seat next to him that he had already paid for, inadequately strapped in with a seatbelt designed for a human! What a rip off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 (edited) 11 hours ago, mcnach said: They tried that with me once with my little laptop. So I opened my carry-on small suitcase, and put it inside. Ten metres later, after I got my passport checked, I stopped and took the laptop out again, in full view of the staff member who had tried to charge me earlier. Give a small minded person a few rules and a bit of power, and they'll be happy to ignore the fact they have a brain... I *hate* flying. Not because of the flight itself, but because of all the idiotic hoops we are made to jump through and we're supposed to smile. Like the first time I flew after they started restricting the volumes of fluids onboard. I had to throw away my shampoo. It was bigger than 100ml. I asked "if I carried my shampoo in two 100ml containers would it be ok?". She gave me a look that made me realise she already hated her life and didn't mind taking me down with her. Or what's with having to put those things in a transparent plastic bag? What is really the difference between them being loose or in a plastic bag? Yes, I asked that too, another time. At least this guy seemed human: he shrugged and just told me "I know, but that's the rules and if we don't enforce them we get in trouble". Ugh. I often think of the beginning of the Long Dark Tea Time of The Soul, by Douglas Adams... Thor in the queue to check-in at the airport... I know exactly just how he felt, and I wish I could do what he did too. Yeah I had great delight in putting the wife's little bag into my half empty cabin bag. Our entire luggage probably weighed less than 20kg and technically we had three seats so even under the old 23kg per person rule we could have taken either another suitcase or 46kg on board yet they wanted to charge us €60 for a hand bag, the couple sat across from us would have weighed 100kg more than me and my wife anyway!! Edited May 22, 2019 by stingrayPete1977 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 10 hours ago, stingrayPete1977 said: Yeah I had great delight in putting the wife's little bag into my half empty cabin bag. Our entire luggage probably weighed less than 20kg and technically we had three seats so even under the old 23kg per person rule we could have taken either another suitcase or 46kg on board yet they wanted to charge us €60 for a hand bag, the couple sat across from us would have weighed 100kg more than me and my wife anyway!! That's another thing... I was a couple of kilos over in my baggage allowance back in March and I had to go to the other side of the terminal, wait in a queue, pay... But, as I'm only 5ft 7" and about 74 Kg, I look at all those other people of... 'ample proportions', and feel ripped off. If weight is really an issue, RyanEasyJetAir, maybe set a combined weight threshold person+luggage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 Or put all the fatties in the hold, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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