MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review :  27 June 2009 by S Gregg   (Spain)

BUD-MAD on a 737-700. One of the perks Malev offers you is online checkin which is seldom used by most people flying with Malev. Combine this with the absurdly low number of Biz pax and you get Biz seats for grabs! Service will be still Economy (sadly declining sharply over the past 2 years). The only attractive thing about Malev is they fly this route cheaper now than the usual Wizz tickets.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review :  25 June 2009 by Shane Larkin   (Ireland)

Booked via my company to fly from Dublin to Budapest - After being in the check-in queue for almost 20 minutes (no electronic check-in in Dublin) . Got to the desk and told there was a problem with my ticket in that I didn't have a seat on the plane as they have changed the aircraft to a smaller one - this I heard also happened to 50 others! Now bearing in mind I had booked an early flight to catch an important meeting in Budapest at 13:00 - the only option I was given was to catch a plane to Paris and then onto Budapest and I would arrive there at 18:00! Never again will I risk to fly with them - Malev should be ashamed of themselves !

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review :  15 June 2009 : by B Boros  (UK)

LGW-BUD-LGW in business class. I fly BA on this route very often and decided to give Malev a go for a change. The service is frankly shocking. Surly, unsmiling ground staff at Budapest, an every-man-for-himself scrum at the gate once boarding is announced, a 20 minute wait on a packed hot bus to be shuttled to the plane, followed by a 20 minute wait on the tarmac as a full aircraft boards through one stairway. The flight attendants tried hard, but were clearly frazzled, and the meal consisted of dry chicken in sweet and sour paprika sauce served on a white napkin. If considering flying Malev business class, my advice would be to save your money and fly BA economy - it's better in almost every way.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review :  1 June 2009 : by T Hentunen  (Finland)

Seems like the standards at Malev are going down. This time had a return flight from HEL to BUD. Service was very poor in economy. Got an upgrade to business on a way back, in which the food and service were quite nice. But in economy, Malev feels like very low-cost. If I had a choice, I would rather fly a airline like Turkish, Lufthansa or Finnair, which have much better standards on same routes.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review :  29 May 2009 : by Simon Smith  (UK)

OTP-BUD-ARN economy on Malev. OTP-BUD on very old and noisy F70. Service provided was a bag of pretzels and a drink. Connection at BUD was okay, queues not too bad but buses to/from planes, and airport very busy. Due to BA exec club status I used the Malev lounge, which was small, basic and crowded. BUD-ARN was on B737-800 which was newer but uncomfortable due to a combination of high cabin temperature and plastic covered seats, which got hot and sticky. Snack was a small cheese roll with 1 piece of lettuce. The only good thing about the flight was getting out of the plane into fresh air at ARN. Would avoid Malev in future where possible.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 25 May 2009 : by C Rocha

Customer Rating : 3/5

MAD-BUD-MAD Economy Codeshared with Iberia. Plane clean and staff attentive, on return check- in at Ferihegy was fast and courteous. I think they don’t serve alcohol on economy. A small sandwich juice or water and coffee served free of charge. Again flight personnel were attentive and friendly. The plane was a Boeing 737-700 and was new.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 20 May 2009 : by Pete Crowman

Customer Rating : 4/5

BUD-CDG Business. Checkin was quick. I was continuing to New York JFK on AA and then to Lima on LAN. I was able to get my boarding pass for the first connection, but not the 2nd. Not sure why not, they were all One World Airlines. Checkin nice, but I was not directed to a lounge, and my boarding pass did not list the gate, even though it was just two hours to departure. After going to the wrong lounge, I arrived at one of the right ones. Malev seems to operate two lounges across from each other. I was the only Biz passenger on the Boeing 737-800. Not a huge fan of the European style business class (economy class seats with a curtain separating from coach). Service was really good. I was invited to sit anywhere I wanted to because I was the only J passenger. Pre-departure beverage offered, hot towel service before takeoff and before landing. Hot breakfast of good quality, with a second pass on the bread tray. Several beverage runs. Very attentive, decent food, lots of smiles.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 20 April 2009 : by B Kovacs

Customer Rating : 3/5

CDG-BUD in Economy of a B737-700. Fair service, however without a single smile. One passenger called a FA and it took almost 5 minutes that she arrived. In addition, it was on Easter's Friday, perhaps the only day of the year when it is awaited that they are at least well- supplied with meat-free food. It was not the case, half of the plane had to eat salami sandwich, as they ran out of the cheese one. At least they were on time, and was cheaper than with AF.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 6 April 2009 : by J Hansen

Customer Rating : 2/5

CPH-BUD-CPH economy. Planes (737 and 738) fairly new with good legroom and IFE. Both flights a little delayed. Inflight service is rather poor, an ok sandwich but no alcohol - not even for purchase! No coke, only juice and water. From A to B fine but definitely nothing special.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 30 March 2009 : by Konstantinos Roumeliotis

Customer Rating : 4/5

ATH-BUD return in Y. Flights on time, plane not full, staff fairly attentive, food (sandwich) not tried. Seat pitch average for Y class. Good deals on fares as well. MA product is very descent and the effort its people make is well appreciated. Ferihegy airport staff could be just a little bit more smiling, and less strict with weight limits (fortunately I did not have to pay extra so far). Airport departure gates and facilities (Ferihegy) are just not up to anticipated standards for a modern European airport, though. A recommended product overall.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 26 March 2009 : by T Fulop

Customer Rating : 3/5

I travel a lot with Malev from Budapest to Moscow and back. In Budapest there is no problem with checking-in, but Moscow is very slow. The staff are polite and always apologise for slow checking.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 14 January 2009 : by E Wilson

Customer Rating : 1/5

Malev flight delayed Jan 11th due to four passengers arriving 30 mins after scheduled take off. The crew made it very clear that we were waiting for them. When they finally got on board, the traffic controller would not let us take off for an other 20 mins. Most of us missed our connections. There were a lot of angry folks at the Amsterdam airport. Especially when it became clear that Malev was not taking any responsibility for the delay. If MALEV makes a decision of waiting for passengers way passed scheduled time, they at least should take responsibility for the consequences.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 26 November 2008 : by Gergely Rung

Customer Rating : 4/5

BUD-CPH BUD economy. Online check in was great and fast, but only available from BUD. Both flights on 737-600 wich were clean and comfortable. FAs made polite service. Legroom ok. A sandwich and chocolate and free beverages served during this 1,5 hour flight. Overall a good experience.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 24 November 2008 : by H Theodore

Customer Rating : 5/5

LGW to BUD in Business class. Gatwick,staff direct you to the Aviance Lounge, but as Malev is part of Oneworld, the BA lounge upstairs (with showers and superior facilities) is also accessible if you don't mind not having info displays about when the flight is boarding. The flight boarded business class passengers first and offered refreshment along with a selection of magazines and newspapers. Once in the air, food service, service courteous and professional.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 7 November 2008 : by Andrew Monks

Customer Rating : 5/5

Dublin - Budapest return. Check in at both ends was quick, baggage claim also quick. Inflight service excellent - a warm breakfast served on the flight to Budapest with a stream of drinks - return evening flight we were served a sandwich which was OKy.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 31 October 2008 : by A Hijmans

Customer Rating : 3/5

AMS-BUD-AMS on Boeing 737, economy. Fairly bland meal service, choice of two sandwich varieties. Inbound flight again delayed, this time by 40 minutes. Inflight service again basic foodwise but attendance very good, it is nice to see in flight attendants near pension age still delivering excellent service, in fact one of the stewards, who was probably in his late fifties, lended a certain authoritative flair to the whole experience. A whole lot better than young, inexperienced staff employed by certain low-budget airlines.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 9 October 2008 : by Janne Petersson

Customer Rating : 5/5

Gothenburg-Budapest return. Outbound on Fokker 70, return on B737-700. Seat pitch OK, attentive service, sandwich and drinks (including good beer and plenty of tasty Hungarian wine) served for free. Both flights almost on time. Very pleasant and very, very good value for money. Would use Malév again.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 4 October 2008 : by D Benson

Customer Rating : 4/5

LGW-BUD-LGW. Economy. Great value, comfortable seats and attentive service on new B737-700. Good, Hungarian-style hot food served on both legs and considering I could have paid more to travel by EasyJet – this was a wise choice. Would travel with again.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 12 September 2008 : by L Reinstein

Customer Rating : 3/5

ARN-BUD-ATH. Business class. Check-in and lounge at ARN handled by Finnair (Oneworld Partner). I was only C class passenger which meant attentive service. Abysmal breakfast of cold, unidentifiable meat. Food on second flight was warm, but only slightly better. Aircraft new - Malev try hard, but clearly still a small airline that needs work.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 15 August 2008 : by Emo Hristov

Customer Rating : 4/5

Recently flew with Malev Geneva-Budapest-Athens-Budapest-Geneva. Flights on time. Simple but tasty sandwich, wafer and drinks. Friendly staff. On top of that - always good deals.

MALEV HUNGARIAN AIRLINES review : 3 August 2008 : by Christopher Adam

Customer Rating : 4/5

Budapest-Istanbul return. On the two hour-long Budapest to Istanbul route, flight attendants served a choice of cheese or poultry meat sandwiches, while apologetically explaining to passengers that the airline had undergone austerity measures. We received a choice of drinks and a chocolate wafer along with the light meal. Boeing 737-600 plane was relatively comfortable, flight attendants were both pleasant and professional.