Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Airlines

Wizz Air (London Luton to Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport)

For those confused where we are in my riveting blog, I’m now going back a couple of weeks as I had to get from Cardiff to Ljubljana using whatever means possible, but I could only get flights costing £9 with Wizz Air Multi Pass. My first expedition was to get to Rome, then to work the rest out afterwards. There’s my flight, the 21:40.

A quick visit to Big Smoke and due to increasing prices of what is covered by Priority Pass, I’ve cut down to pineapple juice and chicken tenders. All very healthy.

Calamari and pineapple juice at Nolito and I’m never entirely surprised and delighted by their calamari so I’m going to shake things up and change this order up next time. I should probably get out more….

Oh great, it’s nearly Christmas.

The Rome flight was delayed by around 40 minutes, meaning that it was the last one out of Luton Airport in the evening. This means that everyone sitting here was going to Rome, unless they were perhaps muddled up.

It’s all happening now!

Here we are, the last flight out of Luton Airport.

Boarding and this is aircraft registration HA-LGV, seemingly another one (from my extensive records that aren’t anywhere near complete) that I haven’t been on before.

There were quite a lot of sleepy passengers on this flight, which was around 80% full. As ever with Wizz Air, the flight was well managed, the aircraft was clean, the crew were friendly and absolutely nothing went wrong. There’s a lot to be said for uneventful flights. The seating Gods gave me an aisle seat for this flight, so that was handy.

We all disembarked from the front of the aircraft as they wanted to use a jet bridge for this late arriving flight, but then there was no-one to unlock the door. So I stood here for a few minutes.

At this point it was decided that we’d be getting a bus to the terminal and this is always a slight faff. But, I was in no rush.

Safely in Rome and I got to use the semi-automated digital border control system for the first time, as Poland doesn’t seem to be using it fully yet. There was quite a queue for this, but it was all painless.

A helpful service…. I sat here for a while as the baggage reclaim, which I never have a need to use, had some power points and I wanted to be fully charged for my next little adventure. By fully charged I mean my devices, I was not fully charged as this was a sleepless overnight onwards expedition.

December 3, 2025
Wizz Air (London Luton to Venice Marco Polo Airport – Inaugural Flight and I’m Not Swapping Seats Again….)

Another day, another flight with my Multipass from Wizz Air. This was my 55th flight with it, although it comes to an end next week. I plan to renew it as my two loyal blog readers will note from my frequent Wizz Air postings on this blog that I’m quite an advocate of them now.

Anyway, I started at Big Smoke with some chicken tenders.

Then Nolito for some olives and beer.

Then boarding from Gate 22 which was as usual for Wizz Air ordered and well managed. It was immediately apparent though that there was something special going on.

That special event was that it was the inaugural flight from London Luton to Venice Marco Polo airport, so they were making something of a thing of it.

The boarding then began.

The aircraft was 9H-WDH, which I don’t think that I’ve been on before and it feels as though it’s becoming quite unusual for me to note that.

The flight was at near capacity and the seating Gods had unusually given me a middle seat. I boarded and the passenger in the aisle seat asked if I minded sitting there as he wanted to sit in the middle seat next to his partner. This, at the time, pleased me.

However, on board, there was an announcement that they had hidden goodie bags around the aircraft. To cut a long story short, it transpired that they’d hidden it on my original seat, so I didn’t get the goodie bag that the seating Gods had tried to give me….

One amusing side to this is that the passenger on the other side of the aisle had heard the announcement that it was a white envelope. He excitedly pulled out from the seat pocket what he thought was the white envelope and looked inside enthusiastically. He read the outside and then kept it. It was actually the sick bag that is in every seat….

Anyway, the crew were impeccable as usual, the aircraft was spotless and the journey was uneventful (other than for my missing goodie bag). It’s a wonderful route and I’m glad Wizz Air have started it, although it’s ironic after travelling around Europe for 15 years and finally getting to Venice last week that I’ve ended up here again….

And safely into Venice airport where the security process took just minutes as they’ve installed the new entry system and it’s working well. Straight to the bus and into the city. And in the future I’m not changing seats, well, not on inaugural flights anyway.

I did get one free memento though, a Venetian mask which will be going to Liam’s little girl, unless it scares her and then it can just go to Liam in that case.

December 1, 2025
Wizz Air (Budapest to London Luton)

After a long-distance rail journey from Warsaw to Budapest the day before, I had a few hours of sleep before getting up at 02:30 to get to the airport for a 06:00 flight. Here’s the Ibis Budapest City, a rather lovely hotel from what I saw of it.

There’s an airport bus every ten minutes so I wasn’t entirely broken hearted when I just missed this one by just seconds.

The 100E airport bus is a well managed operation with staff always available by the bus stop, even throughout the night. I got a seat on the bus, which filled up at the next stop, and within thirty minutes I was at the airport. In terms of efficiency, it’s one of the best airport buses and there are numerous ways to pay, including just using a contactless card on the bus.

Mine was the 06:00 flight to London Luton, visible about halfway down the left-hand column.

It all felt busy in the airport, but the signage was clear and the security process took under ten minutes. A lot of bags were caught for manual check and there were some annoyed people that their liquids and pastes were removed. My bag, unusually, was included for manual check but the security officer by the second machine looked at the x-ray and just handed me my bag back without checking anything inside.

There were lots of sleeping people in the airport and also lots of quiet places to sit.

To kill some time I popped to the external observation deck, which was of limited excitement in the dark. It also doubles up as the smoking deck, not something that I have much use for, although I liked the temperature out here.

My flight was at 06:00, the gate closed at 05:30 and so I pondered whether I should go into the lounge at 05:00 when it opened.

I did and I was the only person in there (other than the staff obviously).

Breakfast for champions…. Chips with a spicy sauce, jalapenos, tomatoes, chicken wraps, a dessert and an espresso.

It was a lot busier last time I was in this lounge. I charged my already nearly full devices a little, had a final coffee and then left for the gate.

I got to the gate just after 05:20, which is cutting it fine for me. I was pleased with my breakfast, it was quick, but helpful for giving me energy. It will surprise no-one when I say that the boarding process was efficient and well managed.

After a wait of five minutes standing on the airport bus waiting to be let out, we were allowed to board. The aircraft is HA-LZM, one that I haven’t been on before.

The seating Gods had allocated me an aisle seat, but a crew member came over during boarding and asked if I spoke English. This is something that is within my skill-set and I was ushered to guard the emergency exit door. The helpful crew member told me that I could have all three seats if I wanted to lie down to sleep after take-off.

The extra space was very useful in terms of having a nap and I spent most of the flight asleep. The flight was yet another well managed arrangement from Wiz Air, the aircraft was clean, the crew were friendly, the operations were smooth and nothing annoying happened.

Here we are in sunny Luton, the beating heart of Bedfordshire.

Just under thirty minutes waiting for border control, but the queue moved constantly which helps in feeling that progress was being made. It had been quite an expedition to go from Genoa to Warsaw to Budapest to Luton, but I was pleased to be safely back in the UK. And so was Madeleine, the very talented national chair of the LDWA, as I had to get to Leamington Spa for the Local Groups’ Weekend…..

November 12, 2025
Wizz Air (Genoa to Warsaw)

After two interesting days in Genoa and environs, it was time for the next £8.99 adventure and it was back to Warsaw. I had taken the train to the nearest station and enjoyed a pleasant ten minute walk to get here.

They’re reconstructing the lounge here and that reopens next year, but the airside space was sizeable and had power points. I think that there are plans to increase the size of the airport and make it a more important one, so there are a series of renovations taking place.

This is not a major international airport and Wizz Air have quite a limited presence here. There’s certainly potential for more passengers to use this airport, there is a decent public transport link, the terminal is large and Genoa would likely benefit substantially from more tourists and commercial connections.

I’m conscious that I’m very much repeating myself here, but, yet again, the boarding process was well managed with friendly gate agents. Everything was clearly signed, it was efficient and it felt organised.

Boarding the aircraft, which was registration HA-LXS which I last went on in February 2022. Boarding was smooth and efficient, with the aircraft being clean.

The seating Gods had given me a window seat and my bag is visible there having a little rest. But, since the entire row was clear, I moved to an aisle seat. The aircraft was about 60% full which makes matters more comfortable.

I nearly never get anything from the trolley on flights as it’s far too decadent, but I was hungry and so felt the need for some noodles. These are around £4, which doesn’t feel unreasonable for an aircraft.

Delicious, although I won’t get used to this level of decadence.

And safely onto the bus to take us to the terminal and as this was a Schengen flight with no border controls it meant I went from here to the train in just five minutes.

The flight cost me £9 and once again I was surprised and delighted by Wizz Air. Everything was smooth, well managed, comfortable and organised, with plenty of space on board. I accept that my splashing out on fine dining took the price of this to £13, but that still feels decent value to me.

November 7, 2025
Wizz Air (Warsaw to Genoa)

After a few hours in Warsaw, it was time to get the train back to the airport for my onward flight. The S2 railway line takes around thirty minutes to get from the city centre to the airport, with a 24 hour ticket to use all public transport in Warsaw costing around £3.

The Preludium Executive Lounge was at near capacity, but I found a quiet spot which was helpfully next to a power point. Here’s the chicken kebabs with green beans, alongside an espresso, beer and Fanta.

And salad is my middle name is healthy.

Mine was the 17:30 flight to sunny Genoa.

I allowed thirty minutes to walk to the gate, although it took me around fifteen seconds such is the delight of Schengen. I like being early…

Just for reference, the price of things at the vending machine (divide by 5 to get the approximate GBP cost). I had some time to kill at the gate as I had arrived early.

Over half of passengers, including me, were sent to another queue for additional document checks. It transpired that the Italian Government had decided to reintroduce border control checks because of the football game between Napoli and Eintracht Frankfurt. The staff dealt with all this admirably, it was quite a lot of extra work performing extra checks on tens of documents.

The document process meant that we departed around thirty minutes late. The aircraft is 9H-WNN, another new one for me.

The seating Gods had given me an aisle seat, but I noticed that the row of three seats in front of me was clear when boarding was completed. Some other passengers started to eye them up, but I planned to move forward so that the two passengers on my row had more space. And also because I would have more space if I’m being entirely honest….

Most lovely.

The pilot made an announcement that passengers on the left hand side of the aircraft could look out the window at something. He said it in Polish so I didn’t know what exactly I was looking at, but I think this is Venice. ChatGPT thinks it’s New York, but I’m relatively confident from my knowledge if geography that it isn’t.

The flight, yet again, was comfortable and well managed. The crew were friendly, organised and the service was quiet which worked well for my little nap.

And safely into Genoa Christopher Columbus Airport…..

The flight cost me £9 as usual as part of Wizz Air’s Multipass arrangement, which I considered to be decent value for money.

November 4, 2025
Wizz Air (Memmingen to Budapest)

This flight was from just over a month ago (I’m catching up slowly with posts), at the end of the trip that Richard and I had around Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein. Richard was departing on his business class flight back to London Heathrow, whilst I was taking a more circuitous journey (because of my £9 Wizz Air flights) back to the UK. The first stage of that was flying to Budapest.

For anyone with either the time or inclination to zoom in, my 15:55 flight to Budapest is visible on the screens. This is very much a provincial airport, it felt quite organised but it’s limited on the amount of space that they have.

The airport was first constructed as a military airfield in the mid-1930s, being destroyed by air raids in March 1944. After the end of the war the site was used as a refugee camp and it was used by the US military until 1959 when it was handed over to the Germans, who were here until 2003.

In 2004, the airport started commercial flights and they’ve been adding bits to the building ever since. There’s a large new terminal expansion currently underway with a focus on budget airlines as Wizz Air and Ryanair use the airport extensively.

Joy of joys, it was a bus gate.

We were on board the bus for quite a while, but safe in the knowledge that it was unlikely the aircraft would go without me.

Boarding the aircraft and it was registration HA-LGQ, which I don’t think that I’ve been on before. The aircraft was pretty much full and the boarding process was all efficient. It was made slightly less efficient that there was someone in my seat and she was adamant that it was hers, until she thought she’d better check my claim with another passenger who told her she was in the wrong place. I find it quite easy to locate my seat as there’s a bloody sticker above the seat with the number on it, but there we go.

The seating Gods had given me an aisle seat and the flight was, yet again, organised and efficient. The crew members were engaging, the flight arrived on time and I’m always delighted when it’s uneventful as that means nothing has gone wrong.

As this was with my Wizz Air multipass, the flight was £8.99, another bargain arrangement. The flight only took ninety minutes and it’s a handy time to arrive into Budapest requiring neither a very early start, nor a nighttime arrival. I rather liked Memmingen as a place and it’s the gateway to southern Germany and indeed Munich, so I’m hoping that I’ll be back here again at some point.

September 28, 2025
Wizz Air (London Gatwick South to Faro)

Arriving at Gatwick Airport on the early morning bus…. Instead of the cinematic sweep up the driveway to an impressive departures hall, you’re unceremoniously dumped at the back of the building, which looks more like the loading dock of an industrial estate than the gateway to international travel, but as it was 05:00 it was too early to care much about this. There was no queue at security, so I was left pondering slightly why I had left my hotel so early, but better to be early than late.

I haven’t flown from Gatwick Airport for some time and I wasn’t sure if there would be space in one of the lounges using my Priority Card, but it’s fair to say that My Lounge was not packed.

Lounge food and drink which was typical fare for British airport lounges, some dry and uninteresting food alongside a dreadful lager. The sausage, bacon and hash brown were OK, I poured myself just a small amount of Cruzcampo since it was still early morning, took one mouthful and realised just how dreadful it is. The orange juice was out of cheap cartons, but in fairness to the whole arrangement, the coffee, food and orange juice was all filling enough.

Mine was the 08:00 Wizz Air flight to Faro and as usual for the airline, everything was efficient, clearly signed and without delay. There were more bag checks than usual which always adds to the drama, but once again, this didn’t impact me.

It was raining when I walked to the aircraft, it always feels a shame leaving the UK when there’s weather that I like. The aircraft registration was G-WUND, the same one that took me to an icy Tallinn a few months ago. The seating Gods had allocated me a window seat, so that was a rather handy arrangement.

Nearly at Faro and the aircraft toured up and down the coast a bit before landing. We had experienced a delay on departure, the reason for which was never mentioned, but as Wizz Air pad their schedules so much, we still seemed to manage to arrive on time. The pilots were generally decent on the number of announcements, the crew members were all personable and I fell asleep for most of the flight so don’t really know much of what happened.

It was very quickly evident that it was too hot.

The border control process felt a little chaotic, but these new machines for UK passports seemed interesting, but I wasn’t called to try them. The whole queueing arrangement was a little chaotic in places and it felt like a long wait, but it was 31 minutes in the end, which isn’t entirely unreasonable given this is a busy time of year for the airport. It does feel though that the airport in general is creaking in places with passenger numbers, so yet another extension to the building seems likely for future years.

Anyway, this was another very satisfactory experience given that the flight cost £8.99, the flight was comfortable, the boarding process was efficient and the crew were friendly. I am though getting the creeping sense that most airports in Europe are about five million passengers beyond what they were built for.

July 20, 2025
Wizz Air (Budapest to Athens)

Getting from my hotel in Budapest required a 45 minute walk from my hotel at 04:00 in the morning and then a 40 minute journey on a bus to the airport. Due to my cutting the walk down to under 30 minutes, the immediate presence of the airport bus at its stop and the aforementioned vehicle making up time en route, I arrived at the airport around three hours before my flight which was much better going that I had expected. Indeed I was so early that my flight to Athens wasn’t on the screen…. Given the efficient nature of security I was able to have two hours in the lounge, but more of that in another post.

There’s the 08:20 flight visible as I was going to Athens for a five day trip. Budapest is the home of Wizz Air and it’s been a few years since I went to the Hungarian capital. But that will have to come in another riveting episode of this blog as Richard is expecting a swift write-up of Athens and I can’t be dawdling writing about Budapest.

I really liked Budapest Ferenc Liszt Airport, or as much as you can realistically like an airport. There was plenty of seating, plenty of power points, plenty of space and clear signage. It’s a shame that the designers of Berlin Brandenburg hadn’t had a little day trip out here, although I won’t start going on about that again. Well, other than that mention.

The boarding started forty minutes before the flight and the division between priority and non-priority is clear.

Yet again, the boarding process was efficient. I joined the boarding queue a little earlier than normal as I was in a window seat and I didn’t want to make people move after they’d just sat down. There was a Wizz Air staff member checking a lot of customer bags for size, although mine wasn’t checked. There was then a bus transfer to the aircraft and the process did annoy a few customers as they kept packing more passengers on. The bored and worn out looking driver shouted “I know there’s space, this seats 100”, although I think they’ve done the sizing in the same way that they do in lifts. The amount of times I’ve seen a small lift and it says that the maximum number of people is 6, but they must be rather thin shall we say. Anyway, I digress, the aircraft is HA-LZI, an A321 which was brought into use in late 2021 and I don’t think I’ve been on it before.

And safely landing in Athens. I had been randomly assigned a window seat and there was also no-one next to me, so it felt as if there was plenty of room and the aircraft was likely only 70% full. The crew were friendly and polite throughout, with the entire flight feeling calm. I bought the ticket as part of the Wizz Air All You Can Fly subscription service, so it came in at just under £9. The flight arrived 11 minutes early and as this was a Schengen to Schengen flight I didn’t have much of a wait at the airport. That meant I was safely in Athens, with Richard arriving the following day on his executive aircraft. Once again, I was suitably impressed by Wizz Air, their pricing and general efficiency.

March 2, 2025
Evening Meal in Warsaw, Breakfast in Rome and Lunch in Guildford (Wizz Air Multipass)

Firstly, I didn’t quite intend this odd way of getting back to the UK, but I had gone to Warsaw for a few days and needed to get back for something. I’ve been using my relatively new Wizz Air Multipass, which I’ll post an update about soon as I’m rather pleased with it, and the only way of getting back was via Rome.

So, I started yesterday evening from Warsaw’s central railway station.

There’s the flight at 20:40.

Always a delight to be in the Preludium lounge, which is the Schengen lounge so it’s one I’ve only been in a couple of times over the years (and I think one of those was because of Covid and they only opened a couple of the lounges). Thanks to Priority Pass for this.

Boarding.

I had been randomly given an aisle seat, but a cabin crew member came over to me and said they were looking for an English speaker to sit by the emergency exit door. It’s always odd this, a Hungarian airline flying from Poland to Italy, but I was an ideal choice I decided. I certainly had enough space and the flight was less than half full.

Safely into Rome and there was a little collection of artefacts to look at.

I was genuinely impressed at Rome Fiumicino airport, it’s been well designed, it’s spacious, modern and functional. I have been to Rome before, but this reminded me that I haven’t been in several years and I must go back.

I found a seating area and I thought it was interesting that the police checked the passports of most people in the seating area. The airport says that only those with tickets can stay overnight, so perhaps this is their way of checking someone isn’t there rather too frequently. The police were very polite and the time passed quickly.

I went through security at 03:00 and it remained quiet in the non-Schengen zone for some time after that.

A rhino.

There are a range of times for the Plaza Premium Lounge and most suggested that it opened at 05:00. I meandered nearby so I knew where to go, but it seemed open at 04:40 and I asked about the opening time and the friendly staff member said I could come in immediately. Thanks once again Priority Pass.

I didn’t have any of them, but the hot food options.

Just delightful. I’ll write a fuller report of this lounge, but this is very much the sort of breakfast I was hoping for.

And then pastries came out, and they were delicious.

And a double espresso to keep me awake. Rich and decadent. With several meringues (I kept getting more) to provide the sugar boost.

Second flight and I was fortunate to have an aisle seat again, with no-one in the middle seat.

Into Gatwick Airport.

A quick coffee stop in Redhill.

And then Wetherspoons in Guildford.

All really rather lovely, but longer reports to follow for my two loyal blog readers.

January 20, 2025
BA Switch to Revenue Spending Tier Points

I’m a bit of a Wizz Air boy (I use the word boy loosely, but it’s my blog and if I want to use it, then I am) now with my All You Can Fly, but I’m pleased that I didn’t try and renew BA status as it’s near impossible for me now given the changes announced today. Before I was able to use the system to have silver status for a few years, but that will now require a spend of £7,500 a year which is rather beyond what I’d spend. More details are at https://www.britishairways.com/content/executive-club/about-the-club and although I can see the financial reasoning for BA, especially given how busy their lounges have become, it’s beyond me. I’ll just have to get used to Wizz Air…..

December 30, 2024