GERMANWINGS Passenger Reviews and Customer Trip Reports

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GERMANWINGS customer review :  11 May 2010 by Tomas Krulis (Czech Republic)

PRG-CGN-PRG. Check-in at PRG okay. Onboard you have to pay for food or beverages (2-3 EUR for one piece), but for this short trip (55 ins)I think it is not necessary. Nice clean cabin, the problem is poor leg-room, but for a short flight it is possible to survive. A319 on both ways, almost full. The return flight was not so easy - at the moment we were boarding they told us to stop because of a technical problem and passengers had to move back out of the bus up to the terminal building where we had to wait next 3 hours till the problem was sorted out - after 1 hour of the waiting time they provided vouchers for refreshment (5 EUR to spend in kiosks around the terminal). Generally it was well organised. I was fortunately flexible and not in hurry to arrive at Prague on time. We were delayed for more than 3 hours with our departure.

GERMANWINGS customer review :  28 March 2010 by M Abraham (UK)

Travel with Caution. If you need to complain about their service, the call charge is 25 pence per minute. I purchased a higher priced ticket for London to Stuttgart which included for one luggage both ways an on-board snacks. In London, they accepted my luggage without any additional charge but had to pay for all food and drinks. On return from Stuttgart, I had to pay for my luggage and snacks. It is realistic to complain because it would cost 25 pence per minute. How do one get a response from German Wings?

GERMANWINGS customer review :  12 February 2010 by V Maradudina (France)

On two occasions had a very unpleasant experience with Germanwings. The first time they canceled the flight with reference to weather - however, when I checked the website of the arrival airport everyone else was flying save for Germanwings. They merely referred to the decision of their company. We had to return back to Strasbourg and wait for two days for the next flight on which they were able to assign us. I had a small baby with me and the new flight they offered was not even a direct flight. On the second occasion the flight was delayed for more than three hours. However, until the very last moment the passengers were lied to about the delay. Any attempts to obtain information and to be provided with vouchers for food were left without response. The call center in Germany tried to hide information about the delay, saying that the flight was delayed for less than two hours. While the website of the airport already showed that the delay was over three hours. The company's representative was nowhere to be found in the airport. The Germanwings call center gave numbers of the airport service which in its turn gave numbers of the Germandwings.

GERMANWINGS customer review :  9 February 2010 by M Brown (UK)

Found the customer service centre staff awful. They failed to mention that there is an EUR 80 fee when using the call centre. When I called back to query this I was told to, 'take it or leave it' and hung up on. When I complained they denied everything and closed the complaint. To date I have not heard from them again. From previous experience the airline itself is great but the customer service and general attitude is more than bad, it is insulting. Germanwings problem is not what it does, but how it handles the ensuing complaints. Germanwings made me a very unhappy customer.

GERMANWINGS customer review :  29 January 2010 by L Mallon (Germany)

CGN-ZRH. Despite the sudden snowfall at their Cologne hub, Germanwings managed to keep their operations moving reasonably efficiently. Waiting PAX were kept informed, and when the delayed aircraft came in from Leipzig, it was turned around in less than 15 minutes. The aircraft seemed almost new, and was less than half full. Service pleasant, of the low cost variety, and snacks and drinks cost no more than they would in a Cologne café. Germanwings has recently offered Miles & More redemptions, making it a potentially interesting partner.

GERMANWINGS customer review :  23 January 2010 by J Ross (UK)

We had to postpone our flights due to illness. Called the airline (GBP0.25 per minute), was told I could not cancel but only postpone and that I needed to provide a new date (c EUR25 per route per person). I decided to call back with the dates but also noticed a further EUR80 charge. Called a second time, queried this with operator and was told, 'take it or leave it'. I informed the operator this was unacceptable language and was cut off! Called a third time, asked for the manager, put on hold, then spoke with the manager. Was told the charge applied to call centre fees and did not apply to online changes. As I could not get online I asked the manger to make the changes without the charge which they did. I asked for the second call to be investigated which they have not done. Germanwings are fine if you do not have any exceptions, otherwise you might as well fly BA - at least they are not so extremely rude and offensive.

GERMANWINGS customer review :  9 October 2009 by H Mutschler (Germany)

Cologne-Zurich-Cologne, used online-checkin on first leg, so we only needed the drop off bags at check in counter. Seats have limited legroom but OK. Newsmagazin (Focus) was for free. They charge EUR 10/piece if you need to check in baggage, but we paid by booking. Return flight, check in counter was opened 30 minutes late, but they ask you to be there 2h in advance if you have bags. No frill so nothing served unless you pay, as usually on low-cost. Would prefer TUIfly instead.

GERMANWINGS customer review : 19 September 2009 : by Claudia Stanzani

Customer Rating : 3/5

Bologna to Koln, and Munich to Bologna (via Koln). New planes. You pay for everything - for the luggage (€5.00 each luggage), internet transaction. Flight attendants ok. Airport attendant at Munich airport not very nice.

GERMANWINGS customer review : 22 July 2009 : by G Burns

Customer Rating : 5/5

DUB to CGN, first time flying with GermanWings. Friendly, efficient (and thus precisely punctual). GW allowed us to pool our 20kg/person checked-baggage limit across the five passengers on the reservation, so we didn't have to scramble to get one of the bags down from 22 to 20 kg. I also like that you can pay €20 in advance for a bag up to 30kg rather than get burned at the airport like Ryanair. Seat pitch a bit cramped, but that's standard for budget flights; it wasn't a long flight so I wasn't uncomfortable. Didn't seem possible fully to match the better bargains on Easyjet or Aer Lingus but price was still very good. Tip: Join "My German Wings" before you book a flight, or else, as one post noted, you can't check or change your booking on line.

GERMANWINGS customer review : 28 May 2009 : by A Suciu

Customer Rating : 4/5

Bucharest - Stuttgart return. A pleasant flight, enough space for the legs, kind stewards. Amazingly, ground GermanWings personnel helped us with the queue in front of Baneasa's Passport Control Office in order to urge departure in time. I was positively impressed. We had no delay on both flights. I'll definitely choose again German Wings for my next trip.

GERMANWINGS customer review : 22 January 2009 : by J Barbian

Customer Rating : 3/5

SXF-CGN-SXF. I agree with the comment below about "sharp practices". The booking page gives a "taxes and fees" quote that is quite nice, but if you should want a reserved seat, that will be €5.95 each way, sir. Oh, you want to pay with a credit card on the internet?. Well, we can do that, but it will be €9.52 extra (?). Still, it beat Air Berlin and the train by € 48 for a weekend trip, so I will take my chances. It's my first time flying a Euro discounter and expect only to be taken from A to B in safety, I guess

GERMANWINGS customer review : 21 January 2009 : by Soeren Krumrey

Customer Rating : 4/5

SXF-STR-SXF. Quite good for a budget airline with the usual negatives (boarding via bus and outdoor stairs in the freezing cold, drinks and meals cost extra, pretty tight seat pitch) but friendly and efficient service, fairly new planes, incredibly cheap airfares (we paid about 40 Euros return from Berlin to Stuttgart) and both flights on time. Nothing fancy but nothing too bad either.

GERMANWINGS customer review : 15 January 2009 : by Michael Koeller

Customer Rating : 4/5

I often use the MUC-DTM-MUC leg. Internet-booking is very easy and the prizes are unbeatable as I often manage to get a 40 € return-ticket. The flights are on time, the check-in very efficient. The planes are in a good shape (A319s) and most of the time very clean. Staff is most of the time pleasant and attentive. You even get a newspaper or a magazine (FOCUS) - quite remarkable for a no-frills airline. All in all always a good experience.

GERMANWINGS customer review : 7 November 2008 : by P Ohlsson

Customer Rating : 1/5

I have found the Germanwings Boomerang program a lie. It is not possible to book a bonus ticket. As soon as one tries to get into the bonus account, the answer from the system comes with a long delay. The longer, the more advanced one is in the actual booking. At the end one always gets a FEHLER on the page. I have tried plenty of times at different occasions from different computers running different OS and browsers. Always the same effect. The support phone number is also dead, as expected, even if they warn about .99Euro per minute.

GERMANWINGS customer review : 14 October 2008 : by P Gatineau

Customer Rating : 3/5

STR-LIS-STR. One of the longest Germanwings route from Stuttgart. To my surprise the seat pitch was good. I wonder whether Germanwings uses special aircraft (the old one) with less seats on these long routes. Outbound delayed by one hour. Return on time but had to wait 45 minutes for the bags. Polite crew and nice flight. Had reserved 9 months in advance so flight fare was acceptable but still far away from the discount prices advertised everywhere. Rating would have been better without delay (almost impossible with Germanwings).

GERMANWINGS customer review : 29 August 2008 : by Mark Evans

Customer Rating : 4/5

STN-CGN-STN. Looking forward to renewing my acquaintance with this favourite budget carrier after a gap of 3-4 years, my spirits sank on arrival at Stansted, as a throng of passengers for both this and the similarly-timed Stuttgart flight were milling around the check-in desk. Only one person was dealing with the two flights. This was down to the Swissport agency. A manageress from the latter belatedly assessed the unsatisfactory situation and a second check-in agent duly arrived, but it was a close-run thing for many passengers, and we were 20 minutes late pushing back. Once on board, the experience was good and I can again recommend the Happy Snack Plus offering, which is good value and quality at EUR6.50. Return flight was fine, albeit 40 minues late - excellent self-check-in arrangement at CGN.

GERMANWINGS customer review : 19 August 2008 : by Sam Holloway

Customer Rating : 4/5

STN-CGN-STN, first time with Germanwings. Some confusion when booking as the website kept reverting into German and it wasn't later possible to verify my booking online (so I phoned, and everything was quickly confirmed). Outward was no problem at all. Allocated seating stops the stupid free-for- all crush and instantly makes the whole thing better than Ryanair. Coming back, we arrived quite early and were told that the plane had been substituted for a smaller aircraft, hence they were looking for people to bump onto the Lufthansa LHR flight. That'd probably be better for some people, but we specifically needed to get back to STN. Fortunately they got enough people to change and we got checked through OK. However, no-one told most passengers that their seat reservations were no longer valid (it was a completely different seat layout!) and so there was some frustration on boarding. But overall, the service was good and the flights were on-time. We'll give them another try.

GERMANWINGS customer review : 19 June 2008 : by J Nandris

Customer Rating : 3/5

The last-minute addition of £13 for use of a "credit card" [it was a debit card] and some other fee, with no prior notice at the very last stage of the booking procedure, verges on sharp practice by German Wings. The public are not fools. The sudden switch to German towards the end of booking must also be inconvenient for those who do not speak it. These reviews raise many points - do GermanWings take note or act?

GERMANWINGS customer review : 29 April 2008 : by Michael Stocking

Customer Rating : 1/5

STN-CGN-STN. My second time on GermanWings. The first was marred by late departure caused by a public service strike in Germany - so not really their fault. However, trip back this second time was diabolical. Flight cancelled. No explanation. Lousy ground staff at Cologne. Bussed to Dusseldorf with 60 other passengers for Air Berlin. Arrived too late - no GermanWings staff around; Air Berlin refused to take responsibility. Passengers getting very angry; police starting to take an interest. To get home I had to buy a single on KLM via Amsterdam at a cost of 330 euros. Serves me right for trying a cut price, cut service airline again.

GERMANWINGS customer review : 29 April 2008 : by P Gatineau

Customer Rating : 3/5

STR-STN return. Another great flight with Germanwings. They do allocate seats now, so you can ensure already during check-in to seat together without having to rush for boarding. Staff friendly, as usual. Seats very cramped as usual ! Germanwings needs slim seats to improve the seat pitch. Long flights to Portugal or Turkey must be a nightmare ! Rating depending on the price paid. More than 300EUR return is not that cheap anymore.