Germanwings

Good flight from Berlin-Tegel to London Heathrow, no problems or delays, very friendly staff. Delay on our flight back to Berlin wasn't on behaf of Germanwings. I always choose Germanwings because of that bigger legroom on the "Smart Fare".

I don't get why Germanwings is always late and on top offers such bad service. How is it possible that the ground staff makes an anouncement about late departure due to late arrival of an airplane 5 minutes before the official boarding time? Wherever the plane came from it should be possible that the pilot contacts the ground staff at the point of destination the minute they leave with delay and from that time onwards it should be possible to calculate very clearly when the plane should arrive.

We were delayed 5 hours in Istanbul and received a sandwich on the plane as compensation. Told by the cabin crew that many planes were delayed due to technical problems that day so we would definitely catch our transit flight to London. Arrived Dusseldorf, no information given, transit closed. Eventually told to go to Lufthansa ticket desk where we joined a long queue for about 2 hours. Eventually told "no flights tonight, maybe one on Monday" (2days later). Lufthansa and Germanwings staff didn't seem to know who was doing what. Came back to ticket desk at 5am next morning and given overbooked standby ticket for 4 hours later. We made a fuss and insisted on getting a seat (otherwise we would have taken the train). We were given a seat but suspect that others were "bumped down" by Germanwings who were prioritising based on who made the biggest noise. Bad karma probably meant our flight took off but had to turn back to Dusseldorf due to more technical problems so we went round the same circle again - delay, no communication. This time we ran across the airport to the now familiar ticket desk where we were given tickets to London via Munich. Arrived home 39 hours after we left Istanbul, vowing never to book Germanwings again. Flight out with Turkish Airlines was a dream, should have booked return trip. Had to pay extra for Germanwings luggage which wasn't clear through Opodo the booking agent.

Easy Check-In at Düsseldorf. The Germanwings flight was on time. Seats good for a low-cost airline. The food was terrible and expensive. The normal Ticket price excludes luggage, and for including luggage check-in you have to pay extra money. Staff were friendly.

Checked in at Dusseldorf for our Germanwings flight, and check in person asked whether we were a cancellation from yesterday. We said no, thinking it an odd question. Twenty minutes into the flight an apparent technical fault meant we had to turn back. Landed, but no bus to take us to the terminal for a good twenty minutes. Informed once inside that the flight was cancelled. Told to collect baggage and go to Lufthansa desk in departures. The queue there was enormous, approximately 60 people in front of us, and thirty behind. Waited for 3.5 hours in this queue. No explanations, no offers of help, no refreshments - nothing. Got to front and options left were either take a taxi to Cologne and flight to Stansted the same evening, or stay over till the next day. We are sitting in Cologne departures. The Manchester flight has a one hour delay and the Hamburg flight is cancelled. If we get out of here tonight it will be a miracle. Partner has already driven three hours to Heathrow, and now has a 300 mile round trip to collect us from Stansted.

This Germanwings flight should take off as scheduled, but plane wasn't ready. We had to stay in the Transfer bus for 45 minutes (without Air conditioning) in Düsseldorf. Then the bus drove back to the plane and the bus driver was so kind to open the doors and we waited another 25 minutes before we could enter the plane. Overall delay in Heathrow about 1:30 minutes as the plane also missed it's Slot. The gate in Heathrow was closed so we couldn't enter the terminal building.

Germanwings is a very mediocre airline. Compared to Lufthansa, their standards are quite low. They are not terrible or anything, but their food product is the worst.

I am Senator on Lufthansa so I fly a lot. Flying Germanwings Smart fare (Euro 18 for a sandwich), first drink is free but I was asked to pay Euro 2.50 for the second drink (water). When I said I fly every week on this GermanWings and its always free I was told by Purser that now they have to charge due to a management crack down. Germanwings is not a cheap airline on prices but is a very poor spin off from Lufthansa. And they don't value passengers who fly a lot.

Flight on time, booked smart fare which gave Extra Legroom seat, snack/drink and 23kg of hold luggage for a very good price. Cabin very clean, comfortable seat with plenty of legroom (I am 6'4" tall). Very efficient and pleasant cabin crew.

The flight was delayed by 6 hours, allegedly because of a radar system failure at Rome Fiumicino airport. Strangely, only the Germanwings flight to Berlin was affected, Air Berlin left on time. Delays can happen, but the complete lack of information and assistance was not acceptable. No ground staff was available, phone calls to Germanwings were not answered. No meal voucher was offered. To add insult to injury, access to Star Alliance lounges is denied to Gold members outside Germany when you travel with Germanwings because they are a Lufthansa subsidiary but not a member of Star Alliance. The flight itself was smooth, but no inflight entertainment whatsoever. For the same price, Air Berlin offers much better value. Will not travel Germanwings again.