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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
This isn't an airline you fly because of how sleek or comfortable it is, but it's undeniably friendly, with a 10 kg baggage policy and extremely friendly staff |
4.0
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A couple of weeks ago, I flew Jet2 for the first time from London Stansted to Split. Jet2 is known as a holidaymaker’s airline, and competes most directly with TUI – standalone flight purchases are almost ancillary revenue for them, supporting their primary product of package holidays. They’re often known as one of the best low-cost airlines based in the UK, and I was very keen to try them out, given their fierce competition with Ryanair, easyJet, TUI, Norwegian, and more.
So how was it? On my flight, the aircraft was old, and Jet2 attracts an interesting crowd. However, I did find the airline to be extremely friendly across the board, and would definitely put them in a different league to some of the ultra low-cost carriers flying these days.
Booking My Flight On Jet2
I booked my flight on the Jet2 website. My flight was retailing for £115 (HK$1,214) one-way, which is consistent with what Jet2 charges on most routes. That’s similar to what TUI or British Airways would charge in basic economy, though considerably more than the cheapest fares you’d see on Ryanair and easyJet.
I was given the option to save 10% when booking seats and meals. I went for this, as I wanted to go all out when booking my Jet2 flight.
I was then prompted to add bags as well (£40.5/HK$428 per 22 kg check-in bag) and asked whether I wanted to check in at the airport, which would’ve cost an extra £12 (HK$127) without a bag, or £15 (HK$158) with a bag.
Seats ranged from £10-£12 depending on where on the plane it was. I selected seat 28A, which was more than halfway towards the back of the plane, and that set me back £10 (or £9, if you count the fact that I got 10% off for purchasing with a meal).
I then had the opportunity to choose a meal, which sat around the £10-£11 mark. The pre-order food is standard British fare, from massaman curry to roast chicken to all-day breakfast.
Jet2 Baggage Requirements
One of the nice things about flying Jet2 is that you’re given a free 10 kg bag. Now, you’re not guaranteed that you’ll be able to take your bag onto the plane – on very full flights, they may ask you to gate-check your bag (for free). You can get out of this by purchasing a £6 (HK$63) “guarantee your cabin bag” fee, which does what it says on the tin.
When I was at the gate area on my flight, people came around to weigh bags, though I got a free pass when I showed that I had guaranteed cabin baggage.
Jet2 Check-In and Stansted Ground Experience
I arrived Stansted quite early in the morning, as I wanted to do a half-day of work there before boarding my 3:25 PM flight. Obviously check-in hadn’t opened yet for our flight, though I figured I’d skate through security with a mobile boarding pass. Unfortunately my boarding pass indicated that I’d need to get a visa check at the check-in desk before passing through security.
While check-in obviously hadn’t opened for the Split flight, the friendly check-in agents were really nice, and offered to give me a visa check slip and print my paper boarding pass for me. This ended up working really well, and I headed airside to take some meetings at Stansted, before taking some more time to check out the airport itself.
Jet2 Check-In and Visa Check at Stansted
The gate was shown at around 2 PM, roughly 45 minutes before boarding was about to start. I was at the Escape Lounge at that time, so I made it to Satellite 1 (gates 1-19), where my flight would be departing (gate 3). I was pleasantly surprised by how modern Satellite 1 looked, especially in comparison to the rest of the terminal, which looked quite drab.
Stansted Airport Satellite 1
You could tell that the airport was using the same departure screens from before the terminal was refurbished in 2016, as they looked antiquated and ultra low-definition.
Jet2 Gate Area at Stansted
Our 737 was already parked at the gate when I got there. This was G-JZHD, an 18-year-old 737 that flew for Air China for a few years, before being given to Jet2 in 2015. The aircraft had just landed not long ago from Alicante and was deplaning as I got to the gate, before taking us down to Split during this afternoon flight.
Jet2 737 at Stansted Airport
Jet2 Boarding Groups and Experience
Jet2 has three boarding groups – Group A (rows 1-11), Group B (rows 12-23) and Group C (rows 24-33). I knew coming in that Jet2 boards different flights starting with Group B or Group C, and Group A is usually boarded last. I chose Group C to gamble on when it would start boarding, knowing that it would be easier to grab cabin photos anyway if boarding from the back of the plane.
Boarding began just before 3 PM. I’m not sure how they managed this, but a hen do was first invited to board, before Group B was boarded first – dang it! Thankfully most of Group B boarded through the forward door, and I was one of the first to board through the rear door, meaning that I was able to snap a couple of photos before the cabin filled up.
(This wasn’t before I was heckled by one member of a stag do for going past them as I headed to the rear door – Jet2 definitely seems to attract young, fairly rowdy party crowds!)
Boarding the Jet2 737
Jet2.com Flight LS1417
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Origin: London Stansted (STN) Gate: 3 Dep: 15:25 (15:45)
Destination: Split (SPU) Arr: 19:00 (19:25)
Duration: 2 h 35 min (2 h 40 min)
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800 Reg: G-JZHD
Seat: 28A (Standard Class)
Jet2 737 Cabin and Seat
Jet2’s 737s are laid out in a standard 3-3 configuration with around 30″ of pitch. As per standard, these aircraft feature 189 seats.
Jet2 737 Cabin and Seat
While Jet2 has some new aircraft with Boeing Sky Interiors, this certainly wasn’t one of them. The seats were much newer than the aircraft itself, though were still 10 years old – I’m also not sure if I’m the biggest fan of the grey/red, slightly sports car-esque colours.
Jet2 737 View from Seat 28A
These are standard low-cost airline seats, and didn’t even feature a proper seat pocket – just a literature pocket for the safety card and onboard menu. Legroom was decent, however.
Jet2 Legroom
The tray table was quite sturdy at least, and folded out of the seat in front.
Jet2 737 Tray Table
There’s also a cup holder that pivots down from the seat back in front.
Jet2 737 Seat Pocket and Cupholder
As is common for narrow-body aircraft, these planes featured air nozzles, which was needed on this fairly warm flight.
Jet2 737 Air Nozzles
These seats aren’t the most comfortable out there, though they were fairly standard, similar to Ryanair – Vueling still takes the crown as having the least comfortable seats in the pack. Boarding music was as you’d expect on Jet2 – ABBA played, as did Living La Vida Loca, etc..
Jet2 737 Cabin Design Quirks
While Jet2’s seats are bog-standard, they have a few things that I haven’t seen on any other airlines. Firstly, there was some protective netting by the overhead bins. I originally was a bit confused (I’ve never seen this before) and asked a flight attendant how to remove the netting so I could put my bag in, before she pointed out that these were actually elastic, and I just had to “pull” them down in order to insert my bag.
Jet2 737 Overhead Bins
Secondly, this is the only plane I’ve been on so far that flat-out did not feature a window shade. I didn’t mind this that much, though still found it noteworthy.
Jet2 737 Window Shade (or Lack Thereof)
Thirdly, and a little bit more adorably, the overhead bins had names of Jet2 destinations on it, with the signature Jet2 pun inserted (e.g. jet to Rhodes, jet to Lanzarote, jet to Turkey, etc.) There wasn’t much consistency between whether it listed cities or countries, though at least the concept was very cute.
Jet2 737 Destinations on Overhead Bins
Lastly, while I managed to get pictures out of the window in most instances, is it not quite sad how battered this airplane window is?
Jet2 737 Dirty Windows
So yeah, despite the seats being bog standard, I definitely felt the cabin was “different”.
Taking Off from Stansted Airport
As you’d expect for our afternoon flight on a Thursday in mid-May, the flight wasn’t overly full, with a few seats free closer to the back. When boarding was complete, there were entire rows that were still free. The middle seat was free in my set of 3 seats, so I stayed put, out of respect for people who had randomly been assigned middle seats.
Captain Ralph welcomed us onboard at around 3:25 PM, saying that we were just waiting for some paperwork to depart. He mentioned our flying time of just under 2h 10m at 39,000 feet, with nice views over Central Europe before landing into a sunny evening in Split. He also mentioned a northerly breeze in Split, which could become a more westerly breeze later in the evening.
The captain also gave us an overview of the weather in Split over the next few days, as is on brand for a holidaymaker’s airline. He mentioned a temperature of around 23°C for the rest of the week, rising to 24-25°C early next week, with sun every day – “so I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time”. He also named all of the cabin crew serving the cabin.
Unfortunately Captain Ralph came back at 3:40 PM saying that we’d missed our departure slot and posted a 30-40 minute delay. Despite this, I felt very well kept up and informed, and felt like departure updates were very clear. He mentioned that we’d push back to leave our stand open for another aircraft, which we promptly did.
Waiting for Takeoff Slot at Stansted Airport
A safety briefing was done after our 3:50 PM pushback, and we got going at around 4:05 PM, 40 minutes after our scheduled departure.
Taxiing at Stansted Airport
I was reminded by Ryanair’s huge presence at Stansted Airport during this time, as we passed a massive hangar and parked next to a Ryanair plane ready to take off.
Ryanair Headquarters and 737 at Stansted Airport
We ended up taking off on runway 04 at 4:15 PM, 50 minutes after our scheduled departure time. We quickly broke cloud cover and headed due east for a while, before turning right over the east coast to fly over Europe.
Taking Off from Stansted Airport
Jet2 Buy-On-Board Dining
Much like most airlines flying throughout Europe, Jet2 features a buy-on-board menu. On this flight it read as follows:
Jet2 Cafe Menu
Pre-order meals were served before the typical buy-on-board meal carts were rolled down. I had pre-ordered the Moroccan vegetable tagine, which came in a Jet2-branded box. It was alright and moderately flavourful, and came with Jacobs crackers, as well as a small pot of chocolate mousse.
Jet2 Buy-On-Board Meal – Moroccan Vegetable Tagine
At this point the weather had cleared up, and given that there were no window shades, I admired the natural light as well as the sights below.
Enroute to Split
Jet2 737 Lavatory
Jet2’s 737 lavatories are pretty standard, with the huge exception that there’s a massive camel that stares at you while you’re doing your business, which different readers may respond differently to.
Jet2 737 Slightly Jarring Lavatory
Jet2 Inflight Entertainment and Service
While there’s not much formal service apart from food and duty-free, I do have to commend Jet2’s flight attendants for being exceptionally friendly. During the flight, they engaged with holidaymakers, helping them take photos and put bags in the overhead bins. I felt that this contrasted with my typical experience when flying a European low-cost carrier, where any form of interaction comes at a premium.
As you’d expect for a low-cost holidaymaker airline, Jet2 has no entertainment or WiFi on these jets.
Enroute to Croatia on Jet2
At around 6:35 PM, a very quiet marketing announcement was played over the PA, to the point where I couldn’t hear anything that was said. Afterwards, cabin crew came round with the duty free cart.
At 6:50 PM, the captain came onto the (much clearer) PA to announce our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, as well as say that we’d just passed over the Alps, and were flying from Italian into Croatian airspace. The captain also said that we were passing through somewhere which we could see from the right window, though I didn’t catch where that was (and also don’t see it from our flight path online, since at that time we were passing over the Adriatic sea). He announced that we’d be landing in 30 minutes, before a short taxi to our arrival stand.
The weather gradually cleared up as we approached Split.
Sunny skies on approach to Split
At this point, the captain also announced that it was someone’s 29th birthday, which came with a round of cheers from his friends.
Since there were no window shades and the seats didn’t recline, there wasn’t much in the way of cabin prep before landing, and cabin crew just came to make sure seatbelts were fastened.
Jet2 737 Cabin during Landing
Landing into Split Airport (SPU)
As we approached Split, we saw the beginning of a beautiful sunset.
Sunset into Split Airport
As we approached, we passed Trogir, the oldest city in Dalmatia and a UNESCO heritage site. The views upon our final approach were absolutely beautiful.
Sunset upon Approach into Split Airport
We touched down into Split Airport’s runway 05 at 7:20 PM, 20 minutes after our scheduled arrival. From there we back-taxied on the runway, before veering towards our remote stand right outside gate 10.
Landing at Split Airport
I’m normally not a fan of deplaning from stairs, though in this case it was a very pleasant walk to the airport terminal, and I loved seeing the Croatian mountains!
Mountains at Split Airport
We also had a view of the Jet2 737 that had just taken us from London.
Jet2 737 at Split Airport
At Split Airport, instead of heading up to an arrivals area within the airport, you walk along the tarmac until you reach the arrivals hall. In this case we were ushered into the non-Schengen zone, where there was a short queue at immigration before we were let out.
Walking to Split Airport Terminal
I didn’t have bags to claim, so I went straight past Split Airport’s baggage area to meet my family, who had driven over in our rented car to meet me.
Split Airport Baggage Claim Area
I couldn’t help but stop and see the airport’s stunning landside departures hall, which opened in 2019. Split Airport is extremely small, though it is architecturally quite remarkable.
Split Airport Departures Hall
Even the exterior of the airport has quite a remarkable design, with a heavy use of glass and filleted corners.
Split Airport Exterior
Conclusion: Flying Jet2
Jet2 was a fun holidaymaker’s airline to fly. The airline certainly has a compelling brand, though this one personally isn’t for me. When it comes to low-cost carriers, I’m a fan of fun and playful pops of colour with basic but thoughtful facilities (Norwegian comes to mind), whereas Jet2 feels a bit old school in that regard. However, I certainly appreciated that service was extremely friendly across the board, everyone was entitled to a 10 kg bag, and the buy-on-board selection was solid.
I’d say that the limitation of flying Jet2 is similar to what I’d say about TUI – the routes generally aren’t actually that much cheaper than basic economy on full-service competitors such as British Airways, and they have a more limited route network. Jet2 also indexes quite heavily on package holidays, so tends to target families as well as large travelling groups, as opposed to solo travelers or groups of friends on short trips.
I’d be quite happy to fly them if they were the lowest cost option on a certain route, bearing in mind that Ryanair and easyJet can have comparable fares if you’re bringing a cabin bag. However, if an ultra low-cost carrier was much cheaper, I don’t think I could justify the price premium.
What’s your experience flying Jet2?