How to pack hand luggage when flying with Easy Jet.

I'm in Greece with Peter for a week, he flew over from Dubai. As he flew with Fly Dubai, he brought a suit case and was responsible for the toiletries and sun cream. Me? I just packed clothes, my trusty laptop and chargers.

I flew with Easy Jet, it's my 3rd trip with them this year. I went to Belfast for 5 days and Munich for a week.

Easy Jet are strict on the hand luggage allowance and actually I don't blame them. There's no weight limit, other than you need to be able to lift your bag by yourself into the locker. There's a size limit, but my trusty Cabin Zero bag meets all airline requirements for size and is strong and sturdy and can cope with 17kg. It's about as much as I can manage to lift and carry on my back.

On a trip with them last year, to Belfast, I was asked/told to put my purse and book back inside my hand luggage before I boarded the plane as everything had to fit and be inside the one bag. This also includes any additional purchases at Duty Free. This year on the same route to Belfast I walked through, ready to plead my case, with a box with fresh cut flowers my son had sent me for my birthday.

5 days with hand luggage, only as long as the weather is warm is doable, longer trips require a bit more space and if I had to fly during cold and wet weather, I'd probably book a suitcase for the extra clothes needed. But on a trip to Munich last month, I discovered a handy little tip, that saved me money and time.

I paid the extra £12.50 each way choosing my seat, for speedy boarding and it allows me to take my handbag on separately which enabled me to carry my laptop, book and purse separate from my luggage and I can pop my toiletry bag in their without having to open my hand luggage saving me time and hassle at security.

This trip to Greece I've done the same, it was £19 extra each way. Seats are allocated on Easy Jet flights, even if you don't pay to choose one, which starts from £5.99. I wouldn't pay to book a seat if I didn't need the extra bag and when Peter and I have flown with them, we've been seated together anyway.

Being able to get on the plane first, take the extra bag and being able to exit quickly without the risk on a full flight as well as getting served first during the flight is worth the extra cost to me, especially if I was travelling with a young family.

As for what I pack and how I pack, I roll clothing after selecting what I want to take and pack in order as well as teaming up 3 tops with one pair of shorts/trousers and wearing my heavier and bulky clothing and shoes on the flight. I also pack the heavier items throughout the backpack to even the weight out and make sure I leave some space to bring back souvenirs.

This is the first holiday I've bought myself a bikini, I'm not convinced it will stay in place though.

One daily Positive - Week 11. Nicholas Parsons and home to Dubai

Both a sad start and end to this UK trip, arriving for my SIL's funeral and leaving 2 days after the death of my Uncle. This happened in 2016 also, when I came over for my father's youngest brothers funeral and my mother's eldest brother died the day I left. I finished the week back home in Dubai. Fell back into local time straight away, tired and had no milk, the garden had survived, one house plant was a bit worse for wear and it felt strange not being met by the cat and dog.

70 Sunday Our Easy Jet flight from Belfast was delayed by an hour, said our goodbyes to child 4 and 4a, who we'll see again in Dubai at the end of the month. Collected car hire and then the teen from Stratford and dropped him off at my mum's where he's staying till the end of the week. Mother's Day gifts from child 4, 4a and 5.

71 Monday Collected child 1 from Gloucester and hubby suggested we visit Bicester village for a day out, the roads were really misty. I took Mary's (over40andamumtoone) birthday gift with us and called her on route and she joined us for a coffee or two. I must say both Peter and I were impressed with how she handled Stephanie and dodged flying drink bottles.

72 Tuesday Collected MIL from Keynsham and headed off to Street for the day for shopping and lunch. Had the start of a migraine. I know I'm over doing it, but our remaining time in the UK is limited and I lost 4 days to the snow. I took Peter to me local pub to meet Geoff, the landlord, who bought my fathers car. I tend to treat the pub as an extension of my living room as the teen is still living in the flat.

73 Wednesday Woke to the sad news that Uncle Tim died last night. It was something we were expecting and it hit me really hard. Tim was my father's best friend from birth and I can't recall any event over my lifetime of 46 years that he and his wife, Aunty Pat who died in 2012, hadn't been part of. I had a horrendous migraine and really didn't want to go anywhere, but child 2 had his suit fitting appointment for his wedding in June and I was dragged to Gloucester, called in to see ex MIL on our way back and went straight to bed. Peter went to see my sister, mini me and Thing 1, 2 & 3. Managed to get out in the evening to see Nicholas Parsons at the local theatre, it was very good, despite the migraine.

74 Thursday Took mum to visit my cousin, Tim's son, I hadn't seen him during the hospital visits and as I won't be able to attend the funeral, we drove to Aberdare for the day. On the way back we stopped at the crematorium to order my father's memorial plaque. It was a sad time for both mum and I, first time back at the crematorium and we saw where my father's ashes were buried. In the evening Peter and I did a whistle stop tour of saying goodbyes and met friends in the pub for a quiet drink and replied to 2 of the 3 wedding invites we have to look forward to this year.

75 Friday It's not often Peter and I fly together, we joke we're like royalty. We sat together upstairs on the Airbus A380. I require a window seat when I fly so I have something to lean against. Peter was pleased with the extra legroom and storage but I was disappointed as I may as well have been sitting in an aisle seat, I had nothing to lean against and spent most of the flight in pain and tears.

76 Saturday I didn't get much sleep, woke early and fetched milk, caught up with some blogging while Peter slept as it's back to work for him tomorrow, unpacked, collected the cat and dog and had a manicure, pedicure and new gel polish while Peter did some food shopping, a relaxing day and an early night ahead.

On the blog this week:

My Sunday Photo - Coventry Cathedral - Mixing the old and the new
Triumphant Tales, Tweens Teens Beyond, Best Boot Forward and PoCoLo linky
What it's like being a woman living in Dubai.

A weekend in Northern Ireland and tips on Travel with Airmiles

I flew with Easy Jet from Birmingham airport for £71 return. If you're not bothered about the dates you travel, you can get some good deals with flights. I picked a Saturday morning, returning on a Tuesday evening. Easy Jet get a lot of bad publicity with seating, flights being over booked and additional costs such as boarding passes not being printed off. But their T&C's are very clear on their website and I've not had any problems with them at all.

I downloaded the boarding passes on the app, but if you can't do that and don't have access to a printer you can get the passes printed at your local newspaper office or library via email.

I used the Easy Jet website to search for parking and discovered Purple Parking. They offered 4 days secure parking for £23, quite a few miles north of the airport, but with a free shuttle bus and operational 24 hours. My other option was to park at family house, just as far out and get a taxi both ways at £24 for each journey. I'll be using Purple Parking again and they offer this service at many locations around the country.

I used booking.com to reserve accommodation in Northern Ireland, using my credit card to secure the booking and paying by either cash or card on departure. Booking.com offer free cancellation and re booking, T&C's apply.

I booked all the above via Air miles Middle East and used my HSBC credit card to get double air miles. I flew to the UK from Dubai with air miles with Turkish Airlines, 3 flights for under £200.

I didn't need car hire in Northern Ireland as I was visiting my son, but car hire was available with Rental Cars, again via air miles and we always use the website when we're visiting the UK as they offer a full and comprehensive package to include full protection. If we had an accident or there was any damage to the vehicle they guarantee to refund the full deposit that we have to pay when collecting the car and when we did have a problem with a car hire company, they sorted the issue out for us on our behalf.

The purpose of the visit was to spend time with my son before he was deployed and to meet his girlfriend and her family. There was plenty of time to see the see the major sites and to relax in the accommodation I'd booked.

Accommodation:
I had a delightful stay at Clenaghans. Self catering accommodation converted from old farm buildings, each property is unique, I had a kitchen/lounge fully equipped and included TV, wifi and basic food supplies for the duration of my stay. Upstairs was a bedroom with ensuite. Located 25 minutes from Belfast Airport and 2 miles from the nearest village of Moira. You would need transport or could walk the short distance to the train station, but I'd recommend using the local taxi firm, as the country lanes are narrow.

Places to visit:
Belfast and surrounding areas.
A trip into Belfast and surrounding areas is possible in one day. Belfast isn't a big city, but it mixed the old and the new together, well. We wandered around the shops, grabbed lunch, a coffee, climbed the stairs in Victoria Square to Dome View Point (a lift is available) to view the city and visited the City Hall, where I dressed up as Mayor.

We drove up to Stormont for a quick look at the Parliament buildings and a walk round the gardens.

Drove down Newtownards to take photos of the murals.

The North Coast.
I've never seen Game of Thrones and no more Jon Snow jokes please, I don't get them either. As far as I'm concerned Jon Snow is the guy with the swing o'meter who pops up during elections. There were dedicated tour buses for the route we followed.

Carrick-a-rede. A National Trust Property.
You need to book a time slot to access the rope bridge and go over to the Island, wear sturdy footwear and be prepared to get out of breath. Dogs are welcome, but not on the Island and there's a small cafe and gift shop as well as well kept toilets in the car park.

Dark Hedges.
No entry fee, available via self drive or on a coach trip, don't expect to get a photo like you see in the brouchers, as it's full of coaches and tourists, the lane is narrow with a few places to pull over and park, but if you drive past, there is a car park on the left hand side with easy access to walk from.

Giant's Causeway. A National Trust Property.
Plenty of parking, a gift shop, information centre and cafe, as well as well kept toilet and a small bus for an additional charge if you don't fancy the walk to the causeway. Do keep away from the edge, you will get wet. It's not as big as I'd thought from the photo's I'd seen, but make sure you walk round the back of the rocks to take a look at the full height.

Portrush.
A typical coastal town, harbour, fun fair, souvenir shops and way too many chip shops to mention.

There are plenty of places left to visit and I will be back over in March 2018. On my 'to do list' is the Big Red Bus tour, the Titanic Museum, The wetlands and nature reserves, Botanical Gardens, visit Bushmills Distillery and a million and one other things I'm sure I'll find out about before then. Feel free to add to the list.

Discalimer:
This post was not sponsored, I paid for all travel, accommodation and activities (well my husband did, I don't work) food, coffee and chocolate was paid for by child 4.

A positive review of Easy Jet - Luton to Munich.

This is the first time I've flown with a low cost airline and to be honest I was a bit concerned there would be problems. I never see or hear anything positive about low cost airlines and I hear all the time about the additional charges that people complain are a rip off, like booking seats together and paying for boarding passes and in general the mass melee to get on the plane before departure.

I however was pleasantly surprised when I arrived at Luton airport to board my flight to Munich in July.

I was however, also very confused when I arrived at Luton while I waited for check in to open, to realise that I could just show my boarding pass and passport at departures and go straight through as I was travelling with hand luggage only.

There was no pushing and shoving as we lined up to board the plane, my only complaint would be that there was no where to sit while we waited to board, but other than that it was fine.

A few people had paid for priority boarding, I've no idea how much that cost them, but at the end of the day, the plane wasn't going anywhere until we were all on it, so in my opinion, it was a bit of a waste of money.

My luggage weighed 15kg, it fitted in the over head compartment and I was able to lift it easily. The luggage allowance for the cabin was very generous, most of the weight was magazines and gifts.

I was allocated a seat and after years of long haul flying I was surprised at just how much leg room there was and how clean the plane was also.

I purchased a G&T at £5.50 which was £2.50 cheaper than the price I'd paid in a St Alban's pub the night before.

The flight both ways was uneventful and I spent it reading a book and looking out the window.

Peter informed me on my return I had actually flown with Easy Jet in the past to Berlin on two occasions in 2006, that had obviously been excellent flights also or I'd have remembered it.

I'm not sure if people just complain for the sake of complaining these days. My expectations of Easy Jet were very low, considering I'd paid half of what the flight with other airlines would've cost me.

I'll certainly fly with them again when I'm next in Europe, it's just a shame they don't offer flights from Dubai, as at their prices I'd be more than prepared to put up with some of the horror stories I've read about online, in exchange for lower prices.

(Tongue in cheek) Disclaimer:
I was not paid in anyway to write this article, however if Easy Jet would like me on board as an ambassador I'd be more than happy to oblige.