In a new and ‘riveting’ series of posts that will amuse me and likely no-one else, I’ve been looking at the reviews of Wizz Air on Trustpilot. As a website, Trustpilot seems fundamentally flawed that companies that pay them nearly always have very good reviews, but there we go.
There are plenty of entirely valid reasons to criticise Wizz Air, and nobody who has ever willingly sat at Luton Airport departure lounge at 04:40 should perhaps pretend otherwise. But some of the reviews are also a useful reminder that budget airlines operate on a fairly brutal bargain which is that the fare is low because almost everything else is governed by rules, fees and small print. That does not mean passengers deserve poor service, delays or confusion, but it does mean there is a certain amount of personal responsibility involved in reading what has been booked, checking baggage allowances, understanding airport check-in requirements and not assuming that a £19 flight comes with the emotional warmth of the sort of country house hotel that my friend Richard would book.
“I would leave no star, but doesn’t allow me. I travel with a suitcase that has official size. Not for wizzair. Paid a premium seat that included the carry-on bag. Then my bag was measured by the rudest staff at Barajas in Madrid. They must recruit on level of bitterness and rudeness. My god they nail it. So my bag stuck out 2 cm. And soft. So if you squeeze it may be is fine. HAs been fine everywhere. another 75 euros later… I was charged because it was not supposed to fit. Clearly custom airbus with special bag specifications for wizzair. On board staff allowed it on as i went in overhead compartment no problem. They came after me to take bag down. And plane is half empty. Not surprised. Between delays and rudeness don’t fly wizzair!!!!”
So the bag was two centimetres too big. The personal bag maximum is 40 * 30 * 20 with Wizz Air which is the same as Ryanair and incidentally, with BA it’s 40 * 30 * 15. Top tip here, don’t bring a bag more than 40 * 30 * 20 and Wizz Air doesn’t charge which seems like a fair deal…. And I’d be surprised at a half empty plane, Wizz Air has 93% occupancy and Ryanair is 94%.
“The worst airline I have ever been. I always travel all around the world with my backpack that fits in the cabin. The only place where they forced me to get my backpack out and pay for it was wizz air. I will never travel with them again”
I’d worry less about it fitting in the cabin and more about the bag sizer….
“The worst airlines servicein the world, it should be closed ASAP, so my issue: I bought 23 kg check-in bag for my short flight (1.5h), I came there without 23 kg baggage, but I came with 8 kg small cabin bag, they said I should buy a cabin bag extra, I said them that I don’t have any check in bags, what isthe problem, I’m doing it for you so not overloading the plane with actually weight. They asked me to pay 75€ euro extra or it would be not possible me to go to the plane. That’s so unprofessional and so disrespectful for people who is buying this fckng tickets to travel”
So they booked a checked-in bag, didn’t check it in and then get to the plane with it and wonder why they’re charged….
“I was charged €73 euros per 10kg case as we were told at the boarding gate we should have checked it in to go in the hold! Nowhere did we see that when you check-in on line you should then leave your 10kg (cabin bag) at check in when you arrive at the airport for it to go in the hold!!”
It’s on the website and when checking in, where else are they supposed to put this information?
“Normally, if you don’t choose seats, airlines still put you and your partner together, if there is space. Wizzair separates everyone out of spite.”
Welcome to the world of budget airlines.
“Robbed! I have travelled for 39 countries. Couple of hundred cities. Countless flights and I had NEVER been robbed like I was by WIZZ. They charged us 106€ for not making an online checkin. I’ll repeat 106€ for making our checkin at the airport counter. THIEVES!! Don’t ever fly with WIZZ”
Budget airlines in the US, Asia and Europe all charge for boarding passes at the airport, this customer has done well to somehow avoid them and somehow miss the heap of warnings during the Wizz Air booking process.
“I arrived at the airport 2 hours before my flight. I checked my luggage without any hassle and went through security to get to the gate to board the plane. The lines were endless but I managed to get out of security and into the gate before the plane 20minutes before departure. I ran to where I was stopped and was told by an employee in stuttering English that the gate was already closed and I could not board 20 minutes before the plane was due to depart. I was not explained why or given any real reason.”
The reason is that the gate closes thirty minutes before the flight. I’ve been on Wizz Air flights where the aircraft doors are closed and the flight fully boarded twenty minutes before departure.
“Absolutely terrible experience with Wizz Air. On the outbound flight, the exact same hand luggage was accepted without any issue. On the return flight from Nuremberg to Skopje, I suddenly had to pay €70 extra for the very same bag.
This feels like pure rip-off and completely arbitrary. Either the rules apply consistently, or they don’t. Letting customers fly one way with the same hand luggage and then charging them heavily on the return flight is unacceptable.”
Unsurprisingly, it is possible to board with a bag that’s too big and if they checked every bag every time I can imagine the surprised and delighted customers.
“This is a scam airlines! Never use this for your travel as they actually show a cheap ticket which people buy it but at the end of the travel with all the extras they are the expensive ones.”
Don’t buy the bloody extras then.
“During the flight, two flight attendants seated at the front were speaking extremely loudly for an extended period, which made it difficult to relax. I politely approached them and kindly asked if they could lower their voices a bit, as it was quite disturbing. Unfortunately, their response was very unprofessional and rude. One of them replied dismissively, saying, “this is my working space,” without showing any consideration or basic customer service. Both of them had an unfriendly attitude and made me feel uncomfortable for simply making a reasonable request.”
Fair ply to the customer for telling the crew that, I’m not sure that I would have dared done that.
This is not about sneering at unhappy customers, this is more about the strange little gap between what people buy and what they appear to think they have bought. Those that want decadence really should fly with a full service airline or at least read the rules…..