GERMANWINGS 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 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 However, no-one told most passengers that their seat reservations were no longer valid (it was a completely different seat layout!)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 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 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 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.

GermanWings by Andy Bock

16 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Getting too expensive and low value. We have used Germanwings frequently in the last months commuting between Warsaw and Cologne. We used them as there is no real alternative. Lufthansa leaves this route to their daughter company. The flights have never been on time. Check-in in Warsaw is a complete and utter disaster as there are long queues outside the terminal and the waiting hall is overcrowded (last summer emergency crews had to be called in to handle fainting travellers) and the luggage handling is catastrophic. Ground staff is unfriendly and their only comment is: these are our procedures. Check-in in Cologne is now all do-it-yourself and the counters are only there to check the weight and cash in as many additional fees as possible. Booking is riddled with additional fees and surcharges. I am now paying the same as when Lufthansa were servicing this route a few years ago. To avoid the credit card fee and to get a higher luggage allowance I took out the Germanwings credit card. Now I found out that with this card I have a new current account where I can't pay the balance automatically but need to check every day whether my credit card has caused a minus in an unwanted account. On a plus, the planes are in good condition and the staff are friendly.

GermanWings by P Wegener

2 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

STN-CGN-STN. Outbound took off on time, return was 15 minutes late. If you are over 6" in height, your knees are going to have difficulty finding space if both seats beside you are occupied. Airbuses were clean, leather seats, crew were fine. Food & bevergaes on offer were expensive. As a budget airline, there were no faults.

GermanWings by T Neuhaus

21 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

STN-STR return. Have flown this route quite a few times now. Very good for a low cost carrier. Cabin crew excellent on both flights. Bought a coffee and was offered two free re-fills during the 80 minute flight. Pilot very communicative. One of the few issues I have with Germanwings is that the seat pitch is pretty awful. Other than that they deliver good value for money.

GermanWings by Chris Peterson

30 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

HAM-LGW A320 aircraft had multiple broken seats that were used regardless. Steep excess baggage costs if you exceed the 20kg. No free food or drinks, no assigned seating. Paying via credit card cost me a hefty six euro fee.

GermanWings by Eduardo Räuchle

22 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Germanwings is an airline I use very often, as my family lives in Madrid and I work and live in Stuttgart. They offer most economical rates between these two cities, and booking 2 months in advance can secure a real bargain. Check in in Stuttgart is a breeze, due to dedicated terminal checking in all Germanwings flights, whereas check in at Madrid is a nightmare, since there is only one person checking in the entire flight. Long queues form well before two hours before scheduled take off, which is when the check in counters open. Boarding has always been uneventful with this airline and in cabin service is professional and unobtrusive. Prices for on board catering are reasonable, especially when compared to other low cost carriers; on some occasions we were given free of charge smoothies at the end of the flight that would otherwise have to be disposed of as they were reaching their best-before-date. I have always found the cabin to be clean. Baggage allowance seems generous in comparison to other low cost carriers and on one occasion when I had to travel with two heavy suitcases, the lady at check in let me off paying 4 kg of one suitcase and was very apologetic about having to bill me for the other suitcase. Save for the queues in Madrid, I can only recommend this airline.

GermanWings by Andrija Matic

7 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Zagreb - Cologne - Barcelona this December. All flights were on time. Transfer in CGN swift and pleasant. Aircraft clean with leather seats and great legroom. One of the most professional and courteous cabin crews I have experienced. Excellent ratio between quality and price. Will use them again.

GermanWings by Peter Schweizer

1 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

HAM-LGW-HAM operated by fairly new A-320 and both flights on time. Interior looked a bit tired but leather seats are a nice touch. Prices for food/drinks on board seem to be reasonable even though I did not purchase anything. Slept on both flights but only because I managed to secure exit row seats. Normal seat pitch seemed very tight but not worse than on other LCC. As I am not a fan of the open seating policy will not fly Germanwings until they allocate seats. You get what you pay for and and I would call these two flights standard/average LCC service.

GermanWings by Frank Vahaparan

4 July 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Cologne - Sofia - Cologne. My first time with this Airline. The flight was operated by Nordic Airlines on an MD80. The aircraft looked a bit old, but had new Germanwings seats, so I think they bought Nordic Airlines. The crew was half Germanwings staff, and half swedish Nordic Airlines staff. Crew was friendly, but seats were a bit too close together. On the way back, there was a brand new A319. I think the flight was better that on any other LH economy class flight! The seats were very cosy and everything was clean. But the best on this flight was the crew. On of my friend had problems with his stomach and the flight attendant was so friendly, and asked all the time about his condition, and gave him water for free. Germanwings is right after Air Berlin my second favourite airline.

GermanWings by J Kinder

19 June 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Stansted - Cologne - Stansted. The flights were great and the service so much more professional than some other low cost airlines in Europe. Both flights on time and on the STN - CGN flights we managed to get the emergency exit seats with lots of leg room in very comfy leather seats. The one thing I would like to be improved (as I would with all low cost airlines) is to allocate seat numbers. The gate agent at STN made a PA that they would board numbers 1 - 30 first, only for the other agent to say it was too late as she had already started boarding everyone. On the return was first come first served and then we were put on a bus so no real need/advantage to get there too early. From the airlines side I can see why they don't allocate seats, but as a passenger it would make the experience less stressful. Return flight a little late departing due to ATC but made up the time in the air. As had hand luggage only, we landed at STN at 19.30 and were in the car coming home at 19.40 - can't argue with that. All in all 2 very good flights at very cheap prices.

GermanWings by V Orliange

5 June 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

STR-STN and return. Aircraft very clean, leather seats confortable but pitch very tight. Boarding quite chaotic as everybody want to get the emergency exit row (myself included...). Seat pre-assignment would be then hepful. As usual some delay (especially on the evening flights). Overall a nice airline, rating then of course depending on the price paid.

GermanWings by Andrija Matic

31 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Zagreb - Cologne return. Both flights were operated by brand new Airbus 319. Leather seats, comfortable legroom as well as professional and friendly flight attendants. Food and beverage prices onboard fair. Great value for money.

GermanWings by M Jonkman

28 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

CGN-SOF vv. Good flights in modern, clean planes with friendly and competent staff. No delays. Boarding by check-in sequence at Sofia Airport ('old' terminal 1) was a joke. Excellent value for money.

GermanWings by Marc Langenbein

19 May 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

CGN-LIS; FAO-CGN in spring 2007: Both flights on A321, interior was looking slightly used, but airplanes were clean and stuff was friendly. I bought a small menu, sandwich was OK and the price was fair. CGN-LIS was a great fare, but the flights from/to FAO are still pretty expensive. Altogether a good journey on a fair price level.

GermanWings by Urszula Bielecka

18 January 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

MAD-CGN and CGN-WAW - amazing experience on both flights. The cabin crew was very friendly and even stopped to talk to my group about were we are from and what brought us to CGN. The only problem I had was that flying out of CGN during boarding they didn't adhere to regular boarding procedures so even though my friends and I had low sequence numbers we were one of the last ones to board but due to some confusion among other passengers miraculously we were able to sit together. The food on board was reasonable priced and overall a pleasurable flight both ways. Will travel with the happily again if I ever go back to Germany.

GermanWings by Christopher Bainbridge
9 January 2007

Stansted-Stuttgart return. Normally fly Stansted-Friedrichshafen with Ryanair but decided to make use of Germanwing's much lower fares. Brand new planes (Airbus A319). Departure almost on time and very friendly cabin crew. Very young flight crew for both flights. Captain's announcements were friendly and informative, much better than BA and Ryanair. On-board prices very reasonable compared to the extortionate prices charged by Ryanair. Legroom better than on BA's Airbus A319's. Comfortable leather seats and very well cared for cabin. Boarding procedure organised and swift. Baggage was handled extremely fast and efficiently. All in all one of the best airlines I've flown with. Will definitely use Germanwings again.

GermanWings by Martin Faulkner
21 December 2006

I can only echo Sam Broderick's comments below. You can tell this lot are affiliated to Lufthansa. While I'm sure things do go wrong with Germanwings occasionally, as with every airline - low-fare or otherwise - my experiences with them to date (HAM-LGW and vice versa) have only been positive. On-time to a perfectly adequate degree for any airline flying to or from a London airport, decent aircraft, friendly cabin crew and legroom that's reasonable enough for a short flight - though I imagine this'll become more of an issue now that they've started to target more distant destinations in Eastern Europe/Russia etc. Nevertheless, I can't recommend them highly enough as a perfectly straightforward way of getting from A to B - even if their ultra-cheap fares seem to have disappeared now that they've established themselves on the market!

GermanWings by Sam Broderick
15 November 2006

Have flown LGW-HAM and back many times in the past year, and had little but good experiences with Germanwings. Clean, bright aircraft, and friendly, pleasant staff. The food and drink must be paid for, but is not extortionately priced, especially for a low-cost airline. I usually took early morning flights, which were often more than half-empty, adding to the comfort of the ride, and occasionally meaning that it is possible to get the 1p fares even at the last minute. The seat pitch isn't great, but as a short person, I have never been bothered by that. Neither Hamburg nor Gatwick staff seem particularly skilled at putting into practice the airline's boarding procedure, but travelling alone, again, that has never much been a problem for me - especially on the half empty planes!

GermanWings by Armin Orichel
27 September 2006

Using Germanwings mainly CGN - Stansted up to 6 times a year. The flights are almost on time. Planes are relatively new and crews were always pro-active and friendly. For me living in Cologne, there is no better way to fly, at least to the destinations offered by Germanwings. And if you flight enough and participate in their Boomerang club you'll get a free ticket sooner or later.

GermanWings by David Roberts
22 September 2006

Regular traveller from UK to various EU destinations, using variety of airlines. Whenever I go to Germany, usually STN-CGN, I take German Wings, even though STN not the most convenient for me to get to. GW is the best LoCo by far - rapid check in at STN -makes others look positively pedestrian - check in machines (cabin bag only) that work at CGN, new(ish) A319 / 320 fleet, tastefully fitted and comfortable seats in maroon leather (recent Ryan Air to Sweden made me close my eyes from the glare of blue and yellow), professional cabin crew and sufficient info from F/C. Flight prices very good value if you book reasonably well ahead. Timekeeping also pretty good usually. Yes, seat pitch can be a bit challenging sometimes for a 6'2" frame but then for short flights and the price / load capacity equation, what can you expect? Overall, Germanwings have my vote over other LoCos.

GermanWings by Michael Stetter
8 July 2006

Leipzig to Cologne vv. Pretty smooth ride. Fastest check-in in the LC business - they simply swipe your National ID card, weigh your luggage, hand you a boarding pass and off you go. Leipzig/Halle airport is by all means nothing more than a medium sized regional airport but its absurdly oversized terminal forces you to take a lengthy walk to the gate. Germanwings does not provide allocated seating so there is the usual rush during boarding. The Airbus was clean and the seats were comfortable. But the seat pitch! So absolutely cramped. Not such a problem on a 45 minute flight but they fly to Istanbul and Moscow with the same planes! The crew were nice an worked hard to cater for everyone on this very short hop. I tried a Happy Snack from the Skybistro (sandwich, candy bar and one drink @ 5€) and was happy with it. Baggage delivery in CGN was rather slow though.

GermanWings by Jaipal Sachdev
5 July 2006

HAM-LGW. Not a bad flight, the aircraft looked brand new (A319) and the cabin crew were friendly -only problem, the leg room is not very good! Overall I will take Germanwings again.

GermanWings by Patrick Elias
24 May 2006

Arrived 1 hour prior to departure for a Stuttgart to Vienna flight that left in early morning (6:50 am) and could not get through the check in process before the flight departed. We weren't the only ones. Germanwings has a batch of flights leaving around this time from its Stuttgart hub, and seemed completely unable to deal with the challenge of processing the large number of passengers quickly enough. Germanwings personnel were behind the ticket windows, behind the security screeners, and made no attempt to organize or prioritize passengers waiting to check in so that people could make their flights. Security responsible for screening passengers before check-in were the only personnel managing the cue, and they were indifferent to passengers who were missing their flights. So it was a pretty bad experience which tarnished my view of this airline, which I had flown before without incident. Still, I am a slave to price and would fly them again if the price were right. The following caveat would apply: I would avoid early morning flights out of their hubs, if at all possible, or at the very least , allow for more time to check in.

GermanWings by M Macleod
26 April 2006

HAM-LGW return. Both flights on time, almost brand new aircraft, pleasant service and good value compared with BA or Lufthansa to LHR. Only downside is that legroom seems a bit tight (I'm 6 ft) and that Gatwick Airport always annoys me - dingy compared to HAM and long walks from the Satellite to the immigration (why to the moving walkways never work?).

GermanWings by Paul Smith
20 April 2006

Stansted to Cologne. Very impressed with this airline. Flight left on time with no problems. Clean plane and pleasant staff. The flight was short, but there was enough time to have a snack and a beer. Other airlines, especially Ryanair should take note of this, they could learn something about customer care. Overall I was happy with the flight, service & cost.

GermanWings by Fiona Porter
12 April 2006

Stansted to Cologne and back. All was well - the flights were both on time, luggage appeared swiftly - no problems. Planes seemed well cared for. Didn't try the food, so can't comment. reasonably comfy seat for the relatively short flights - I even managed to doze off on the way back. Would happily travel with them again.

GermanWings by Peter Ellis
8 April 2006

Used German Wings several times from Zagreb to CGN and been highly impressed. Always been on time. Planes in good order. Properly trained efficient and pleasant staff in contrast to the Ryanair ones that seem as if they were recruited in the pub half an hour before the flight. Regular airline quality at reasonable prices. Surprised at some people's comments on dear food. Their Eur5 food deal of a good quality sandwich, bar of chocolate and a proper sized bottle of beer (not some little bottle specially produced for ripping people off) always seems quite fair. I happily recommend them. CGN is also vastly better than most low cost airline hubs.

GermanWings by Eileen Jacques
7 April 2006

Flight out Gatwick to Bremen really good. Return flight a nightmare. My seat was locked in an upright position. Woman if front once ariborn flung her seat back, cracked my knees and refused to put her seat in a more upright position. Hence with the lack of legroom I could not put my book in front of me to read, no way could I buy any food or drink. It made the complete return trip a thoroughly unpleasant experience. thank goodness it was only an hour and a half's trip! Will carry on using German Wings because it is better that Easyjet Luton to Bremen

GermanWings by Corinna Kratz
7 April 2006

First time on German Wings on a flight from Cologne to Rome. As a business traveler it is unusual to board without a seat assigned, but we know where the good seats are (on the Airbus A 20 rows 12 and 13 - emergency exits). Seems that boarding pass numbers, are assigned by price of the ticket and not check-in time. You board by number and it is usually 30 numbers in one 'go'. Flight to Rome was fully booked, but I did not feel more cramped than on any expensive Lufthansa flight with the same seat configuration. Seats were leather and new. Airplane was very clean and appeared also new. Food is expensive, but you can take a sandwich from the airport with you. Drinks are 4 EUR, coffee 2,50 EUR. Both flights were on time and even with a delay on the flight out, we landed ahead of schedule. Baggage was delivered quickly. Boarding was quick and efficient. Considering the huge price difference and usually bad service on a Lufthansa flight, I will always prefer German Wings !

GermanWings by Andrew Monks
2 April 2006

DUB-CGN-DUB and was very impressed. Most of the time I fly with Aer Lingus and have flown with Ryanair once and Germanwings compare very well. The entire package is excellent from check-in to baggage claim I could not find a fault. The catering is just a little expensive and not as high quality as some other airlines. If you are going to sell it at least make it eatable. Id certainly recommend them though.

GermanWings by Gwen Wyndham
6 March 2006

Due to fly Hamburg to Gatwick yesterday but adverse weather conditions caused a delay of 20+ hours. If a company can be judged on it's response to problems German Wings is bottom of the heap. Our group had a dreadful experience due to the incompetent, uncaring, unprofessional people employed by German Wings. They might be cheap but when it goes wrong they are useless.

GermanWings by Willie Stott
27 January 2006

Flew Germanwings to Cologne from EDI - superb. Best budget-airline I've flown, they could teach some more established big airlines a thing or 2. Plane was quite full, but seats seamed bigger & legroom was pretty good. Staff were great, not a problem. Would certainly use them again - I just wish they would add more routes to Scotland - its just as easy & often cheaper to book a less pleasurable flight with KLM / BA / Lufthansa & have baggage checked through to final destination.

GermanWings by Micha Frickenhaus
15 January 2006

The best German no-frill airline - in my opinion. I've flown the Dresden DRS to Cologne CGN and DRS to Stuttgart STR routes and not had any problems. Always on time, friendly and helpful staff, new and comfortable aircraft.

GermanWings by Tobias Eckart
3 January 2006

Berlin (SXF) to Munich. SXF is a typical low cost airport with amenities and procedures tailored for the needs of easyjet, ryanair etc. This makes check-in, security and boarding pretty swift and easy. Germanwings does not provide allocated seating so there is the usual rush at the boarding gate. The cabin looked a little 'tired' but was clean and the seats were comfortable. The crew were chatty and worked hard on this brief (50 mins) and almost fully booked flight. I tried a 'Happy Snack' from the Skybistro (sandwich, candy bar an one drink @ 5€). The captain keept everyone on board well informed about the route and other flight data. Landing in Munich was on time, however the bus ride to the terminal seemed rather long.

GermanWings by Michael Rapp
30 December 2005

Hamburg to Oslo on Dec 27th. Check-in was quick and efficient. No complains or excess baggage discussions about my 24kg suitcase. Crew at the gate handled the crowd which jumped out of their seats when the aircraft arrived at the gate quite professional and explained the boarding procedures very detailed. So boarding was quite smooth. Brand new A 319 looked great and the grey leather seats were really comfortable, although seat pitch was small. Crew was excellent and extremely friendly. A perfect mix of being casual and professional. Special requests for baby diapers were fulfilled immediately. Broad choice of food and beverages for purchase (3 kinds of beer) at fair prices. Funny to see, that catering trolleys were from Lufthansa. Captain gave some information before descend into Oslo. In general, it was an excellent value for money. Unfortunately, we had to wait quite long for our luggage which might not be the airlines fault.

GermanWings by Terry O'Connor
6 December 2005

We took our first flight with German Wings from Cologne to Nice in new A319 in early December 2005. Having flown into Cologne from Gatwick on an Easyjet A319 we are able to offer a valid comparison of the two Airlines. Both were very well priced, both flights were on time. German Wings offered one huge advantage, the seats (142 on German Wings, 154 on Easyjet). Significantly wider than those on Easyjet (to the detriment of aisle width) and with a much superior seat pitch that the two fewer rows enable, Great for me as I have long legs and nothing like as uncomfortable if the person in front of you reclines his seat. The cabin crew were nicely dressed, pleasant and helpful. I do find Easyjet seem to employ a scruffy bunch, or is it the Uniform? We did get caught out with German Wings 8 kilograms cabin bag weight limited especially as Easyjet now set a limit which is virtually what you can lift into the overhead locker unaided. Having said that I do wonder what would happen in strong turbulence with all those heavy bags being thrown against the locker catches.

GermanWings by John Doe
21 November 2005

SXF-DUS and back with Germanwings. Standard no-frills airline with the usual pros and cons. Boarding procedure was handled in 3 groups going by ticket number - later check-in, later boarding. They allow 8 kilo hand baggage which is better than most full price airlines though. Airplane was clean and spacious enough (A319), food and drinks on board not really cheap (5 EUR per baguette) but not too expensive either. Hardly anyone bought anything, which I found rather unusual.

GermanWings - by Jeroen van Marle
9 September 2005

My favourite European budget airline. Always on time (although this is often because of the usual budget airline trick of making the timeframe much longer than the actual flight time needed!). Good staff and service that treats you like a passenger and not cargo. Fabulous prices (I often pay just €20-25 one way, never paid more than €40). Pity they changed the website and don't show the final price up front any more. Once they rescheduled a flight an hour forwards and tracked me down by phone while I was on holiday after I had not replied their email for a few days - that's service. Unlike most people here who seem to prefer allocated seats, I really like the free seating system - you can avoid big and loud people and babies this way. Never noticed a scrum because of this.

GermanWings - by Kevin Penfold
29 August 2005

Stansted to Cologne round trip. Very nice A319, comfy seats. Staff very good, food and ice creams served at very reasonable prices. Check in at Stansted a bit crowded, but this was due to lengthy lines for easy jet check in. German Wings only have four check in desks, and the overflowing easy jet check in can make them difficult to get to. Check in at Cologne, a doddle. We arrived over three hours before our flight, but we checked in straight away. Highly recommend this airline, will be using them again.

GermanWings - by Steven Curfs
24 August 2005

One way CGN-HEL. CGN is a fine airport, well reachable, reasonable parking, etc. Check in went smoothly, security check as well. Boarding fine as well, better system than all other low cost airlines. New airbus 319, fine seating (leather chairs and lots of legroom, even for someone like me (1m87)) and courteous crew. Once in the air they offered drinks and food for reasonable prices. Flight was smooth and I managed to catch some sleep. Pilot kept us informed throughout the journey, landing was good, especially under the (cross) windy conditions at HEL. Would fly them again and felt safe throughout the journey.

GermanWings - by D Fay
20 August 2005

DUB-CGN and return in July. Part of the reason for travelling was that they offered one of cheapest fares out of Dublin to a major city on the European mainland. Had the change travel dates at the last minute and was treated very courteously by their call centre. Flights were on time in both directions, crew were professional and aircraft comfortable. Their on-board menu is reasonably priced and Cologne is a pleasant hassle-free airport. If they allocated seating they would be much better than many so-called full service airlines!

GermanWings - by William White
12 August 2005

STN-STR, and back. Good flights both ways-crews helpful and flights not entirely full. Walk to/from plane at STN and bus at STR. Being early arrivers at check-in at STR meant we were on the first bus (board bus by ticket number). Happy snack excellent value. Luggage fast in both directions- fares cheap. Legroom better than BA- 319 each way

GermanWings - by Leslie Simpson
19 July 2005

Edi/Cologne return. A319 out, A320 back, both extremely clean and with good legroom - only fault is no seat allocation and with the German reluctance to queue in an orderly manner, resulted in the usual scrum. £80 return - good value when you consider the convenience of bypassing London. Have used this company before and will in future due to their high standards

GermanWings - by Sue Schulz
29 June 2005

From Australia, and never having been overseas before. Booked online a long time before leaving Australia and arrived in Cologne feeling somewhat anxious with jsut a piece of paper (printed receipt). Flew from Cologne to Helsinki early January 2005. Awesome trip. Check-in at both ends very easy. Cologne very well serviced by connections to airport. - as was Helsinki. Germanwings uses the main airport, so no long distance out of the city. Going back to Europe this December/January and am planning on using Germanwings for at least 4 inter-European city trips. Great service, plenty of room, smooth flight, no pushing and shoving.. This was winter, fewer people, mostly Finns returning to Helsinki I think. Tip: when using the train from Frankfurt main train station, or its airport station, do not use ICE or IC fast trains - they cost at least twice as much (about 60 euro one way) as the regional trains, S-Bahns, etc (30 euro one way).

GermanWings - by Vince Danz

14 June 2005

I just completed another roundtrip CGN-Bologna-CGN with Germanwings. As I've experienced in the past everything was fine. The price of EUR43,-- is very hard to beat. I took advantage of their "Happy Snack" for EUR5,-- and was satisfied with the quality. Beats all offerings in any airport. The only criticism is their boarding policy or rather lack of a boarding policy. I simply can't believe its quicker and cheaper to have everyone scramble to get a "good" seat.

GermanWings - by Benjamin Weland

14 May 2005

I used to fly regularly from Frankfurt Hahn to Stansted with Ryanair (18 times a year) - but Germanwings now offers a service that is superior in every way. First of all, there is no ridiculous 15kg luggage limit, a major competitive disadvantage for Ryanair. Secondly, CGN is much better served by public transport, it only takes 5 minutes to get to the train station from which you can get to Cologne and Bonn within minutes. Thirdly, the onboard prices for food and beverages are much better value than those of other low cost airlines.

GermanWings - by John Hassett

30 April 2005

Flew STN-CGN-STN in March 2005. Flights were fine, and 320 outbound and 319 inbound were clean and comfortable. Onboard service friendly, and prices reasonable. The downside is the boarding procedure at both Stansted and Cologne. Stansted was a free for all with much pushing and shoving. There was no evidence of the sequential boarding process as described on the company website. Cologne was the same. I happened to get to the airport early and had boarding pass number 2. Passengers were bused to the aircraft, and I ended up on the second bus, and near the back of the plane. I've yet to see the boarding process work properly on these carriers and I wish they would allocate seats at check- in to avoid this.

GermanWings - by Gilbert Peters

9 April 2005

Flew a few times CGN-ZAG-CGN during 2004. Everything just like a good flag carrier, (many of them ask also fees for snacks nowadays!). Main advantage (in addition to the good service/fair price ratio) is the ticketless booking: you print your reservation, pay with your Card, and don't need to go somewhere to pick-up a piece of paper called ticket.

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