Cheap Wings of Eastern Europe (Wizz Air)

Member Name: MagdaDH

Product:	Wizz Air
Date:	15/06/09 (64 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap, good network, pleasant flights

Disadvantages: it's a cheapo airline with all associated problems

WizzAir are an Eastern European budget airline (of Hungarian provenance) who connect Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and even Ukraine (as for now I believe the only cheep flights to Ukraine) to Germany, UK, Italy, Sweden, Spain mostly (with single destinations in few other countries of the North/West).

In the UK they fly from Prestwick, Doncaster, Liverpool and Luton at the time of writing.

The airport naming convention is similar to Ryanair's (e.g. Katowice airport is sub-named Cracow), although they have not so far reached a cheek of Ryanair whose "Copenhagen" airport is actually in a different country!

I have flown with WizzAir four times in total, always between Poland and UK, using Krakow, Gdansk, Prestwick and Stansted airports. Members of my family used them extensively too.

I would always compare any cheap airline to Ryanair as they are the archetypal one, embodying all that's bad and all that's good about cheap flights.

In such a comparison, WizzAir comes out quite well.

Starting with the most important consideration for a cheap airline, WizzAir can be very cheap. It rarely is Ryanair-At-Its-Rock-Bottom cheap (that would be flying for free - I did :-), but it certainly is competitive, and often offers the best price for a given day or time - and it seems to me (but that is based on a limited sample of connections I checked) that they don't fly at ridiculously early hours of the morning as often as Ryanair do (which means much easier transport to the airport).

The website is OK: not brilliant, but not as awful as some (EasyJet come to mind). There is a charge of £4 for booking with a credit card or a visa debit and £2 for booking with a solo or maestro card. Hold luggage is £10 per piece. You can also book via their call centre (with a £9 charge).

Just as Ryanair do, WizzAir also allow you to change the flights and passenger names for a hefty fee.

However, I have once made a name mistake in the booking (it was a mistake in the first name) and when I phoned their call centre with a request to change the name, preparing myself to be charged 50 euros, my mistake was corrected free of charge by a very pleasant member of staff at their Polish call centre. This was rather endearing: she not only was willing to understand that it was a genuine mistake, but also decided not charge me and had an authority to make such a decision on the spot. I am certain that Ryanair would not do that but rather jump at the chance to make extra money on me.

They do seem to have a record of cancelling and late flights, but nothing like that has ever happened to me or the family members and friends who used them. I would always suggest having plenty of time for any connecting flights or other arrangements and a travel insurance that covers cancellations and similar if travelling by any of the budget airlines.

The flights were fine: pretty much on time on departure and arrival, and noticeably more pleasant that Ryanair ones in the air. The Airbuses they use have reasonable amount of space (certainly more than charter airlines and possibly more than Ryanair). The livery is pinky/purply and easier on the eye than Ryanair's screaming blues and yellows.

While in the air, flying WizzAir felt significantly more like flying a normal airline than a cheapo one (apart from paying for food, of course). Staff were pleasant and friendly and there was none of the signature brash Ryanair product and service pushing, no ads for phone services, girly calendars or scratch cards.

All in all, I had positive experiences with WizzAir and would certainly consider them in the future. The biggest advantage of WizzAir is obviously its network of destinations - anybody considering flying to eastern Europe, or between Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean countries should have a look at WizzAir's connections' map.

Summary: good cheapo airline for Eastern Europe