DebConf: Flights booked

I just booked my Debconf flights. Airline websites are a major PITA. Germanwings wasn’t even available, “maintenance today from 23 to 2h” - sorry, no happy customer.

Ryanair’s appearance was the worst. I don’t mind crappy html as long as it works, but why do I have to choice between “Herr” (Mr), “Frau” (Mrs), “Mrs” (!), and “Miss”? When I said I lived in “Mönchengladbach” they replied with the equivalent of “Please do not use special characters like { } | < > [ ].” Apparently I’m allowed some amount (“20kg 15kg for travel past November 2006”) of luggage (except if I’m below the age of 2), but later they charge for it. Then there’s a drop-down menu asking me in I which country live, but it doesn’t really mention that this is really where I select whether I want travel insurance (I don’t). At the end of the page I’m asked to confirm that I accept the travel insurance terms (I still don’t), but that’s also the checkbox for their general terms of service. That flight would have gone through Prestwick (PIK) which is apparently fairly well connected to Edinburgh, but the flight back would leave at 7.50 am. I don’t think I like that.

In parallel, I tried easyjet.com. They fly from Dortmund, and while looking where that airport is, I first tried “airport lounges” which was obviously the wrong place. A bit more hidden was a list of airports, but it didn’t include Dortmund. Google for the rescue… Then they tell me “your total amount is 99,71€”, only to additionally add 7,50€ on the next page just because I’m using a credit card - who doesn’t? Of course I’m willing to fill out personal information like my address etc, but why do they want my phone number and email address? And why do they claim “you haven’t entered a phone number” when I put it (rather a fake one) in the “mobile phone” field (below “home”)? What really drove me crazy was when they refused to accept the booking when I left the “we like to find out about our customers […] reason for your trip” field empty. That’s a drop-down menu with the choices “Business”, “Visiting friends or family and staying with them”, “Holiday”, and “Visiting friends or family but staying elsewhere”. No, I’m not going to tell them. (I randomly selected “Business”.) In the end, I booked there, but it wasn’t really fun.

Whatever. Meet you at Debconf :)

[Update] Oh, and I had to confirm I “have read, understood, and accept easyJet’s terms and conditions, including the new rules for hold baggage”. Thats a minimum of 10kB legal blurb - a simple “accept” checkbox would have been enough…

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