Wizz Air

We bought tickets through Bravofly to fly with Wizzair and received very little information. When we arrived at the airport, we were asked 120€ just to print our tickets (the online boarding was compulsory but Bravofly did not warn us about it or even remind a day or two before). We then went to the gate when they asked us +300€ for our 3 luggages as Wizzair has a policy of extra small luggages (42cm instead of the standard 55cm). We did not fly and strongly recommend avoiding Bravofly, Europ Assistance (the insurance which never worked) and mainly Wizz Air which is just robbing you with cheap tricks.

Flight on time, short duration (40 min), service at BUD airport was fair this time (previous we had some luggage dimensions issues, but it seems they improved their attitude). Short space between seats (I usually take their extra legroom option). One serious complaint - it is for the fifth time I'm flying with them and they don't have the tomato soup they are advertising for the paid meal service. I wonder why it is the menu if they don't have it at anytime?

We arrived at the airport on time, and were informed that our Wizz Air flight was delayed 2 hours. We were given vouchers to spend in the terminal to the tune of £5. At an airport this was sufficient for a sandwich, soft drink, and cake. The flight was further delayed by half an hour, and then we were moved to a large metal room with lots of tightly packed corridors, where we stood for roughly 20-30 minutes before boarding. When we were actually on the flight, it was not too uncomfortable, but I did get charged an extortionate amount for half a cup of coffee (around £2.50 I think). As we pulled into the gate at Luton we were informed that we would have to wait. We waited for about 15 minutes, before we were allowed off the plane. we then proceeded to baggage handling, where we stood for approximately 90-120 minutes, with no indication as to whether our baggage was actually at the airport, before it finally arrived. The person who came to collect me was consequently was charged a large amount of money for their wait (around £8). I hope I never have to fly Wizz Air again, nor fly from or to Budapest, or Luton.

Excellent flights and flight attendants were cheerful and hard working. The captain kept us well informed on the way and we arrived back on time. My bag was checked for size in Turku, but in Poland was immediately okayed. People who use low cost airlines are paying very little money and cannot expect drinks etc every time they are inconvenienced. Cabin comfort was better than Finnair and I saw no discernible difference between Wizzar and Air France or KLM European flights.

Luton to Budapest with Wizz Air, the outbound flight delayed. Stood in a queue by the gate for 30 minutes and the a further 10 minutes outside in the rain. The Wizz Air representative at the gate on the return trip decided that my bag did not fit the criteria of a small bag, even though it was fine on the outbound trip. I was charged a fee before being allowed to board the plane. The name of the airline sounds like a joke and so was my first experience of travelling with them.

I’ve used Wizz Air previously with no complaints, but my last booking was a disaster! As usual I made the reservation online and didn’t check the emailed confirmation until 4 hours later since I confirmed all the details before pressing send. Turns out the return date was incorrect. From other people’s online posts it seems this ‘resetting’ of data is a common issue. I assumed this can easily be corrected so I called Wizz Air customer service. The call lasted almost 30 minutes. Most of that time I spend being placed on hold. Wizz Air charges per minutes for these calls. Since I hadn’t caught the error in the first 2 hours after booking I’d have to purchase an additional ticket for the return flight. It didn’t matter that the error was caused by their website and that I was calling within the same business day. There was also no way of escalating this to a supervisor to avoid all the additional charges. I had purchased 2 budged tickets with a great price. Then I needed to add the price of the call to customer service and a new return ticket. In the end it was cheaper to cancel everything and pay a cancellation fee. $200 went into the garbage.

They say the cheapest things end up being the most expensive, except in this case it wasn't that cheap to start with! on our Wizz Air journey to Budapest the board said gate will open in 1 minute, suddenly changed to 30min delay. At the new time it was meant to leave it finally gives you a gate. Walked to the gate. We weren't boarding, we were just being hulled into a tiny room when the plane had not arrived. We were there like cattle, no chairs, everyone really close together for about 40 minutes! We saw the plane land and people disembark. We finally boarded, already running 1.5hrs late. Then we sat on the plan for a further 1 hr 20 minutes- due to "busy air traffic". There was no communication, just insincere apologies and not even a soft drink as compensation. We considered getting the Wizz insurance for the return journey in view of this experience but all you get in return is Wizz Air credit and we had already decided that never again with Wizz Air, and also didn't think it could get worse. We were wrong! Return journey 3 days later. Flight originally on time, gate to open in 1 minute, gate opens B4. 3 0secs later delayed by 1.5hrs. This then increases to 2.5 hrs. Then it changes to please go to voucher desk. No one is at the voucher desk they asked us to go to. All the passengers are now through to an area that only has one shop and an upper crust so there is nothing to do. And no going back to the main area with all the shops and restaurants as we needed to pass a further security check point to get to this unmanned desk. Finally 25 min after they asked us to get to that desk someone arrives with no info, but a £5 voucher for food. He explains there is no Wizz representative in Budapest and he is not sure why there is a delay but thinks it's weather related. Food runs out from the upper crust as that's the only place we can use the voucher. Board changes to boarding so we head to gate. We were lucky to have managed to get some food - however, when the status changed to boarding, people were still queuing up for the voucher in the most inefficient process ever made. Once again, boarding did not mean boarding. It meant being huddled into a cold shed with no chairs, waiting for the flight to arrive and disembark. It ended up taking off over 3hrs after it should have. I was shocked with how inefficient, how uncommunicative, how disorganised Wizz Air was. **NEEDS EDITNG DOWN

Wizz Air website crashed repeatedly when we tried to book, Website design continuously tries to trick you into extras you do not want. Not enough desks at Luton for bag drop such that passengers constantly had to be pushed forward to ensure they did not miss their flights. This was absolute chaos and made the experience extremely stressful, although admittedly the staff were helpful, Departure delay of 75 minutes on outward flight with no apology, neither was this flagged up on the screens, Gate changed at last minute causing more chaos, Flight sat on tarmac with no apology as to why. Seat tray broken on flight in both directions. Chewing gum on the back of seat in front of me - disgusting. Passengers held in what can only be described as a shed on return from Budapest. Flight again delayed for almost an hour - excuse this time that the incoming flight was late - surely this is under the control of Wizz Air also? No milk on flight - powdered cream is not a reasonable substitute. We paid for our in flight drinks in Florints and were given change in Euros as there were no Florints - for a Hungarian company this is ridiculous. I will never fly with Wizz Air again. I am well travelled and appreciate the benefits of a low cost airline. I have flown regularly with the competitors who manage to get these simple things right, so am left wondering how Wizz Air manages to fail so spectacularly.

Wizz Air is an awful airline, only using it because the company has paid it. Currently sat in Varna waiting for another late flight with them. Seems to be the norm - I would rather go indirect than travel direct with this awful airline. Seats very uncomfortable (I have flown with them before). After 1 hour sat on plane waiting to take off from Luton it was a further 2 hours before any refreshments reached me, that was 3 hours after sitting on the plane. I would rate Ryanair better and that is saying something. This really is a awful budget airline.

Know what you're in for! I fly Wizz Air several times a year. Usually Dortmund-Gdansk but sometimes other destinations. If you're used to it and you don't expect a typical holiday flight experience, this is a good option for those on a budget. Don't think of it as a flight but more like a long distance bus ride. Here are my tips based on my experience: Check in online, do it early enough and bring the printed ticket. If you don't they'll charge you a fortune at the airport. Don't take luggage and only one(!) small cabin bag. And make sure that your small cabin bag is soft! Many times I've seen people who had hard shell cases that wouldn't fit the steel frame at the airport by a centimeter or two. They had to pay a lot for that centimeter. Always take a soft backpack that is not stuffed to bursting point. Skip the extras like priority boarding, extra legroom or inflight snacks and drinks. My flight takes between 1.5-2 hours. Bring a book, sit, read and be the last to get in line at the gate. Why sit with crampy legs on a plane for money when it's free and comfortable right in front of the gate? And those crampy legs during the flight? I'm 193 cm tall. If I can suck it up for the duration of the flight so can you. Sitting straight to the back of the seat helps. And the same goes for onboard drinks and snacks. This is the fastest and cheapest way for me to travel this particular route. I don't expect much from it other than that.