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If you’ve clicked onto this honest Wizz Air review, odds are you’re looking for some assurance that this Hungarian budget airline will not, in fact, cheat you of your money, burst into flames or otherwise be a terrible life decision like frosted tips or a sixth shot of tequila.
Well, you’ve come to the right place! I’ve been writing this Wizz Air review for 2+ years, over countless flights and “fun” experiences with them.
As you’ll soon see, I have a many feelings about this company.
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Now, first off, I must admit: scouring the Internet often yields a metric crapton of Wizz Air complaints, but don’t let these completely dissuade you from flying with them. Let THIS review dissuade you.
No – just kidding, I actually do like Wizz Air, I just think you need to be prepared to “handle them”.
Let’s be clear – Wizz Air has changed a LOT throughout the years and many of the reviews online are outdated.
Fun fact: did you know that back in 2014, Wizz Air didn’t even have assigned seats, so it was a free for all once you got on board? Like, how was that even legal?
But anyways, since I had trouble finding reviews that weren’t… 4 years old, I decided it was time to write an up-to-date review that takes into account all of Wizz Air’s new baggage allowances/policies.
I hope you enjoy this honest Wizz Air review (with a pinch of sass and realness).
FYI: I’m not sponsored or affiliated with Wizz Air in any way, so you can expect the realest of the real 😉
This Wizz Air review is based off of my experiences flying with them over the past two years, mostly in/out of Memmingen Airport and into various airports in the Balkans. If you have your own experiences to share, feel free to chime away in the comments!
TRAVEL TIP: If you are still doing research for your trip and are open to options other than Wizz Air, here are some recommendations. I always use Omio to compare/book transport options in Europe.
It’s a free site that compares planes, trains and buses all at once and sorts them by price, convenience, etc. Also HotelsCombined offers a similar price check for hotels if you’re still needing a place to stay 🙂
Quick Wizz Air Review: Pros and Cons
If you don’t want to sift through the 2000+ words of this detailed Wizz Air review, I’ll give you a quick Cliffnotes version.
This is what I think: Wizz Air is fine to fly with so long as you have your expectations in check.
Are there lots of hidden fees? Totally.
Will it be the comfiest flight in the world? Probably not…
But WILL it be absurdly affordable compared to regular airlines? Yes, yes, yes.
And therein lies the ultimate reason to fly with Wizz Air (and other budget airlines like RyanAir and easyJet) – you pay so little for your ticket, it doesn’t even matter.
But of course, the Wizz Air experience isn’t for everyone (namely those who aren’t good at reading up on rules and rolling with the punches).
Before you commit to making a Wizz Air booking, read this section, or at least skim it! The following is a quick & abbreviated Wizz Air review featuring pros and cons.
Wizz Air Pros
The Wizz Air Booking Process: I really enjoy how simple and straight forward the Wizz Air booking process is. Sure, they go hard on the upsells, but the website and app are both very user-friendly and easy to navigate.
The Wizz Air App: I find it super handy that you can manage everything from within an app, and it’s surprisingly free of glitches as well. I’ve never had trouble using my boarding passes from the app, or checking info on it.
Wizz Air Priority: Buying Wizz Air Priority can be cheap (prices were once only 4 euros, but these days range from 4-40 euros). If you’re able to get it for a cheap price, Priority is super worth it, and definitely much better and more accessible than some other budget airlines.
Punctuality: In all my experiences (knock on wood), I’ve never experienced a Wizz Air cancellation or even flight delay. I’ve heard from others that this was NOT the case for them, but from my multiple experiences, flights have always been punctual. I think it’s like with any airline, there will be good days and bad, but just know that Wizz Air isn’t exceptionally terrible with lateness.
Nice enough planes: I mean, as a 5’3″ child masquerading as an adult, I don’t need much leg room personally, but I’ve always found the planes to be decently comfortable since most of the routes are quite short (1-2 hours) anyway. I mean, it’s not the Four Seasons but it’s fine.
Wizz Air Cons
Wizz Air Customer Service: If anything goes wrong, you’re pretty much on your own. While the in-person staff are actually pretty nice, trying to reach the company to amend bookings or anything via phone or email is a downright nightmare.
Airports at Wizz Air Destinations: Often Wizz Air flights will be flying into small, budget airports that are far away from main cities and lack solid airport amenities.
Wizz Air Baggage Allowance: You only get one bag for free, and this is a small carry-on bag. You don’t even get an additional purse or backpack, and you may be forced to put the bag in the hold unless you pay for priority, so you better learn to travel light and make use of every suitcase packing hack you can find!
Everything costs extra: Food, bags, even checking in at the airport – you name it, Wizz Air has found a way to charge you. Yay capitalism!
Must-Knows Before You Make a Wizz Air Booking
All that said, one of the biggest takeaways you should have from this review is that making a Wizz Air booking is fine so long as you have your expectations in check and know a few important things.
I mean, did you really expect a 10 euro ticket in a flying sky box to NOT have a catch? Come oooon.
Here are some super important must-knows to keep in mind:
1. If you’re not careful, you’re going to pay an absurd amount of additional fees
If you want a really good laugh, click here to read a full list of Wizz Air’s additional fees.
It’s practically longer than the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.
It’s like: you want an SMS confirmation? 1 EURO. Want to change your name? 45 FREAKING EUROS. There’s even an ominous “Missed Departure Fee” that’s 70 euros and I have no idea what that’s even for.
Truly, if you’re not careful, you will be paying fees that are 3 or 4x the cost of your actual flight.
Don’t fall for it!
This is how budget airlines fend off bankruptcy. I mean, selling 2 hours flights for ten euros ain’t enough to cover the bills, you know?
So here are a few things to keep in mind:
You will need to pay for bags.
To avoid paying for bags, you will need to pack light (i.e. one carry-on bag).
Unless you pay for Wizz Air priority, you don’t even get two bags (a carry-on + small purse or backpack), you need to have everything in ONE bag. They’re strict on this.
You will need to pay if you want to choose your own seat.
Otherwise, it’s randomly allocated and you might get separated from your travel companion.
Triple check everything before you make the booking.
Any changes that you require will be practically impossible (or very expensive) to make. This includes things like your departure dates/times, names, etc.
You must check in before your departure.
This is probably the most common trap that people fall into.
If you don’t check in before you get to the airport, you’ll need to pay something silly like 30 euros to do it in-person. Check in in advance, get your boarding passes ready (printed or app) and relish in that dodged bullet.
Even customer service will cost you.
15 euros! No joke. That’s the cost of their “Call Center Transaction Fee”, the cost of speaking to an actual human if you ever have a problem come up.
Otherwise, it’s email support that does (yes, I’ve tried this) take 3-4 weeks. I can only imagine it’s because their support team is one dude and a pack of seals they’re training to use computers.
They will upsell you like CRAZY.
Oh my gosh, trying to buy your flight without any extras is hilarious.
Before you get to the payment page, you are bombarded with a million aggressive upsells like “are you SURE you don’t want travel insurance? You might die” and “are you SURE you don’t want to book a car, hotel, dinner and some company for the night?” Okay, just kidding about that last one.
Buuuut yes, they are masters of the upsell. I’m surprised they don’t charge me for oxygen at this point.
2. Triple check the airport for your Wizz Air destinations
Like many budget airlines, Wizz Air typically flies into smaller airports that are a total pain to get to.
For instance, my friendly neighbourhood Wizz Air airport is Memmingen, sometimes referred to as “Munich West”.
What they don’t tell you is they mean REALLY west, like “64 miles away from actual Munich” west… or “need to ride a 1.5 hour shuttle bus for 15 euros” west.
So, keep these additional costs in mind before making that Wizz Air booking.
NOTE: They do offer a Wizz Air Airport transfer service though, so be sure to look into that.
Last but not least, I need to say the airports at Wizz Air destinations are often not the best either, at least from my experience. I
mean, they’re rarely huge international airports so the facilities are often lacking.
They’re like little shoeboxes with a parking lot for planes, so yeah, keep that in mind too.
WIZZ AIR REVIEW BONUS TIP: Before you commit to a cheap ticket and buy shuttle services, use Omio to compare prices and see if there are cheaper/better ways to get there. Alternatively, use Skyscanner to see if there are flights to/from more central and main airports.
3. Familiarize yourself with the (truly comical) Wizz Air Baggage Allowance
You should know that budget airlines often make their money through baggage fees and Wizz Air is no exception.
With the price of your ticket, the only bag that you get included is ONE carry-on bag that is not even guaranteed to be brought on board with you (they force you to check it for free if there’s no more space).
This means unless you pay for priority, you don’t even get a small purse or backpack (as is the norm with most airlines).
NOTE: Wizz Air Hand Luggage Size has changed recently so refer to the image below for a recent photo of their “fit your bag in this or PAY” box.
Anyways, yes, Wizzair baggage is pretty crazy.
If you intend to check a bag in any way, shape or form, just know that it’s pretty pricey. For an up-to-date list on Wizzair luggage price, visit the official Wizz Air site.
4. Know the Wizz Air cancellation policy
Wizz Air has a pretty strict cancellation policy. You can get the full scoop here on their official site.
At the time of writing this article, the cancellation fee is 60 euros.
If you pay this fee, then you get a full refund. Considering how cheap the flights are anyway, it might even be worth it.
This is why I need to stress that Wizz Air is definitely NOT for you if you need some flexibility in your booking.
5. Wizz Air priority boarding is 1000% worth it
4-40 euros for an extra carry-on bag and the ability to cut insane lines like these?
Totally, 1 million percent worth it if you’re able to score priority for a price on the lower end of this spectrum.
Once upon a time Priority was only 4 euros across the board, but this is no longer the case… which is a huge shame if you ask me!
Be mindful though that…
6. Wizz Air priority boarding will make you hilariously uncomfortable
So I will say this: while Wizz Air priority boarding is certainly worth the price tag, the systems in place for priority passengers are genuinely hilarious and terrible.
First off – there really isn’t a clear line for priority passengers because most people just gather around like a mob anyway.
This makes it very very awkward for you to slip in and board early because everyone will assume you’re cutting in line. I hope you enjoy judgey stares.
Once you get past the priority line, things get even weirder.
I’ve had two very different experiences.
At Memmingen Airport, priority passengers just awkwardly waited outside to board the plane, but there was no queuing system so eventually all the “regular” passengers came out mob-style and negated the priority privileges anyway.
I’m not sure what was worse – this or my more recent experience at Varna airport, where they had sectioned off the shuttle bus to the plane with a bit of yellow/black tape to segregate priority/non-priority passengers.
Us few priority passengers got to enjoy the luxury of enough space for cartwheels, while the regular passengers crammed like sardines into the other half.
It was awkward, and avoiding eye contact was a must.
7. Consider investing in the Wizz Air Discount Club
So sure, obviously the Wizz Air Discount Club is just another money trap so they can siphon as much dolla from you as possible, but in some cases, it’s actually really worth it (or so I tell myself so I can sleep at night).
Basically, you pay 30 euros a year for the Standard Membership which gets you and one travel companion a minimum 10 euros discount on each flight, plus 5 euro discounts on checked bags.
This means it’s already worth it if you buy one set of roundtrip flights for you and a friend with bags! Since I intend to do more Balkans travel this year, I bought it and I’m still happy with my decision.
They also have a group membership that lets you extend your benefits to 5 companions for 70 euros a year. I mean, I don’t have that many friends, but you can do that if you want.
They also offer a Privilege Pass for frequent travelers that I’m not fancy enough for. Read more about it here.
8. Wizz Air Customer Service is like a group project – THEY WILL ALWAYS LET YOU DOWN
I can’t sugarcoat it. Wizz Air customer service is horrible.
Like, it’s so bad I can’t even wrap my mind around it.
The Wizz Air call center is a straight up trap. Like I mentioned above, you need to pay 15 euros to even open up a case file with them.
Otherwise, you’re subject to their email support people, where they will tell you that “due to high volume”, requests will take weeks to process… which they do.
NOTE: This is mostly in reference to when things go wrong and you need to amend your booking in any way. The in-person staff (flight attendants, check-in staff, etc.) are quite nice actually… I’ve never had a bad experience.
In short though, if you anticipate that you’ll require any kind of customer service at any point, think twice before booking with Wizz Air.
Wizz Air Route Map
Okay, your reaction at this point of my Wizz Air review probably falls under one of two camps: either you’re like “HECK YES, LET ME THROW MONEY AT YOU, WIZZ AIR” or you’re backing away slowly, rushing to the comfort and convenience of more mainstream airlines.
Either way, you might be curious to know the different routes that they fly.
You can find a Wizz Air flight map here.
Wizz Air Review: The Final Word – Is It Worth It?
Well, I promised you an honest Wizz Air review, so I hope you enjoyed all that oversharing!
At the end of the day, here’s what I think: Wizz Air, like any budget airline, has a lot of flaws. Or… let’s call them quirks.
Objectively, these quirks are pretty awful (inconvenient airports, poor customer service, many additional fees, etc.) BUT what totally makes them tolerable is the fact that the flights are SO CHEAP.
I mean, if you book early enough, you can go to some of the coolest places in Europe for 20 euros roundtrip… sometimes even less!
With prices like these, I honestly don’t get why people have such high expectations. For 20 euros, I’m pretty stoked so long as my plane doesn’t catch fire. You know?
So, if you’re a budget traveler, backpacking Europe or otherwise just want to travel Europe as cheap as possible, Wizz Air is a fine option so long as you’re familiar with the additional costs and you have your expectations in check.
If you have a little extra money to spend and hate any forms of inconvenience, more mainstream airlines might be a better fit for you.
Anyways, I hope you found this honest Wizz Air review helpful! Feel free to share your own experiences/questions in the comments below (the good, the bad AND the ugly).
I laughed, I cried, I now know a whole heck of a lot about Whizz air!
I flew with them in the past years and totally agree with your review. I have the same feeling about Wizz. I got the discount membership as well and it is easy to earn that back.
To be honest, Wizz Air sounds like every other budget airline in existence. Reading this review is like reading about Ryanair and easyJet. I guess they are fine if you know what to expect. I always fly budget cuz I’m cheap. haha!
I agree with everything you’ve written in this post but I LOVE WIZZ AIR! Living in Rotterdam, we use it to fly from Eindhoven, which is an hour and a half away (!), and yes the train costs more than most flights. But as someone who travels with a medical device, I’ve never had an issue flying with them and that’s saying a lot for any airline let alone a budget airline. Their special assistance people have always gotten back to me in a reasonable amount of time and helped out as needed. I personally don’t understand people who don’t read all the fine print and then complain about something. Yes, you have to know what you’re getting into and any fees you may face. But every time I’ve been waiting to get on the plane, I see the ticket checkers asking such people with two bags to try to fit everything into one. They’re not just automatically charging people, they’re relatively understanding. Oh and last – if you live in Europe close to a Wizz hub, the discount club is absolutely worth it. When I booked my first flight (with my husband) buying the club membership was cheaper than it would have been without it. It’s a nobrainer because not only do you save money on every flight, but you’re offered even more insane discounts on the regular. So anyway, that’s my love letter to Wizz Air. Even though you have to walk an endlessly long distance outside to get to the plane in Eindhoven, I’m still a convert!
I’ve flown Wizz Air once and had no issues but this review was hilarious can definitely apply to Ryanair!! Fab post – so refreshing!
Ohhhh dear, this is so good to know! I’m flying to Iceland with them in September – feel a little more prepare now that I’ve read this!
THE TRUTH. Nothing more. Loved the post.
Always a good laugh with you. I only flew them once from Malta to Cluj and I think I slept the whole time because I have blocked that memory out somehow. The name kind of cracks me up and I can totally handle judgey stares. I would definitely fly them again with those prices!
This was hilarious and also quite terrifying the extent they seem to be pressuring you into paying for extras and not to mention the anxiety you would feel not wanting to make a basic human error in the entire process!
Thanks for making my day 😉 what a refreshingly honest review.
And I feel you. I only used Whizzair once or twice, but I feel pretty much the same about Ryanair. I am a frequent flyer (mainly work trips) and my go to airline is British Airways. But as long as you know what you let yourself into, using any of the budget airlines is fine (and sometimes just can’t be avoided, depending on your destination)
As someone who flies Ryanair all the time, I was used to the upsell while booking… I flew with them to Sofia from the UK and I think I preferred wizz! They descended really quickly though and my ears hurt more than usual, which happened on both flights but I’m not sure that’s their policy haha! Their free bag used to be handbag sized, is that still the case? This made me laugh, I’m also 5ft so leg room is never a problem ! Great post
I love using the liner,it is good,it is cheap,it is worth it.whenever I can I am tavelling with Wizz.new planes,nice crew.
Thank you for this exhaustive analysis. I flew Tallinn to Kiev and back a week ago – it was my first experience with WizzAir – and I have exactly the same impression about the company. I am very careful in any online activities, always double re-checking and by-passing the possible traps, and had no problems bying the return ticket and checking in for both legs (I used the fact that the return check-in starts 15 days in advance and printed boarding passes for both flights at home before leaving to my aunt in Kiev). I preferred to pay extra 46 euros for 20 kg check-in luggage just to avoid any anxiety about some excessive grams or kilograms in my bag. Anyway, even with that extra my trip was 100 euros cheaper than with standard airlines. And I booked my flight 5 days prior to departure.
But, taking into account your review, in the future I will include in my travel insurance the “Travel Disruption” item. Just in case.
On my back trip to Tallinn I had the same experience as Amber – on of my ears hurt. I didn’t know it was due to the rate of descending. I slightly opened my mouth to equalise the pressure and that helped to some extent.
My flight from Roma Ciampino to Chisinau started with problems and ended with even more problems regarding the return flight.
Firstly, I wasn’t able to complete the check-in online due to the following statement “CHECK-IN IS NOT AVAILABLE DUE TO PAYMENT ISSUES (UNDER- OR OVERPAYMENT). The assistant at the counter in Ciampino, after a phone call to Wizz confirmed that I didn’t have to pay the extra charge of Euro 30 and that I would get a reimbursement of Euro 5 for the company’s mistake what never happened though.
Again, in Chisinau I couldn’t complete the check-in online. At the airport the handling was considerably more difficult. The assistant wouldn’t complete the check-in without my previous payment of Lei 700. When finally the check-in was supposed to be completed and I was handed over my passport I realized that the boarding pass was missing. I had to go back to the counter and ask for it.
After the boarding procedure, sitting on the bus to take me to the plane, the lady from the check-in appeared again. Still another mistake…she had kept the original check-in payment receipt which instead was for me and therefore was bringing it back. I’m thankful that the flight was ok and I have returned to Rome although having to pay for the return ticket to Termini that had been paid online along with my booking.
I’m extremely disappointed by this treatment and the unsatisfactory service. I’ve been a Wizz Club Member since October 2017. For each flight I purchased Wizz Priority and the bus transfer tickets from Roma Termini to Ciampino and return. However, the return ticket hadn’t been issued.
In case you would need it I can provide any proof. The cost of my flight amounts to Euro 169,98 + Wizz Priority Euro 10 + bus transfer ticket Euro 10 for a total of Euro 189,98. My statement of account on May 15, 2018 is showing this exact amount.
Please look into this matter as soon as possible. I’m confident that you will repay these unjustified expenses.
On Wizzair’s request I’ve sent all available proof but they continue to reject any responsability when it’s clear as day that’s all due to irregularities on their system.
This is my worst experience in many years.
Hi Elvi, I don’t work for Wizz Air (as I’m sure you can tell by this scathing review) but I’m sorry to hear you’ve had this experience. I hope you’re properly compensated soon!
ELVI I completely understand you. I somehow can’t see my post but I try to paste it here one more time
hi All
my honest review of these airways is. low budget. nice stewardess. small seats. you have to pay for all water,meal- understeable. my trip to tenerife was good but the return messed up my good mood completely. wizz air app notified me 48 hours back that I should check in which I did and seat was successfully assigned to me no error message about boarding pass not generated. it was generated from vienna to tenerife so I expected the same on return. well imagine my surprise when on airport they requested me to pay 35 euros. I was really mad about this tried to call wizzair hotline -no response- evening flight. when I wanted wizzair to refund this they said it was everything ok on their side and they will not refund. where I come from someone who provides service should make sure that his systems work properly. I haven’t received either error message on their app that boarding pass was not generated. if yes I would make sure I will have this generated. they also claim that tenerife does not support electronic passes which is not true as I saw people also for my flight scanning their phones. This simply ruined my experience with WIZZAIR. at the moment I have strongly negative feelings about these airways. cheers.
We have also written a review of Wizzair and got feedback that the review was too positive. Wizzair is a good airline to fly as long as you understand its low-cost model. But to be honest, 2 things have got much worse: baggage policy and seat assignment policy.
But still we could fly with them.
The prices are unbeatable – that’s for sure! Nice to hear you had a positive experience with them. I do think thats possible, but you just need to be prepared haha. Hopefully this post will help a lot of people with that!
Came here to say: this is just such a great review. Thank you. I laughed loads.
I flew with Wizz Air once, and I forgot to check in online, it was my first flight with them, so they charged me around 38 Euros for printing a boarding card. That is soooo old fashioned!! This was in 2016, are they still chargeing that?? Anyway, flying with Norwegian, you always have a boarding pass in your phone, and usually free wifi (except for some long-haul flights). Yes they are more expensive than Wizz, but usually cheaper than regular airlines.
Fraud company, very unfriendly service, very dangerous flights with stupid stuff
I had the displeasure of flying from Budapest to Lisbon by Wizz Air. I bought the ticket through an agency and was never informed of the need to check in online. The interesting thing is that the company sent me an e-mail asking me to arrive at the airport early, but made no mention of the need to check in online. When I went on board I was obliged to pay 200 euros for the check in. I swear: 200 euros for check in. I complained, but very rude staff did not explain anything to me. Run away from this company.
200?!?!?! That is UNHEARD of. I’m so angry for you. I’m really sorry that happened. I’ve heard of 40-60 euros, but never 200. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Totally agree for the most part, no issues with Wizz just understand low cost model, no customer service if something goes wrong. A tip for people if you use Wizz Flex book each flight separately (their and back, you may have a medical issue or not be able to return but you already there). I booked Wizz Flex, 2 individual fees for each leg of my journey but have to cancel both legs because it is a return trip. I only need to cancel 1 leg but cannot do it, the price of the flights have gone up to make it not worth it cancelling both, not flexible at all. Aggressive in terms of business practice, know the rules and play them at their own game. Their trick is to suck you in at a low price and then pile on the extras and not support you if things go wrong.
Dear Christina!
Thank you very much for this awesome review on wizzair. I have read so many negative comments on this airline and got very disappointed and started to look with fear into my upcoming trip. However you raised my spirit (at least a little bit). 🙂
I would like to ask you a few question about wizzair, maybe you know some of the answer from you travelling experience with them. I tried to find an e-mail address to ask them, but did not find any. 🙁 Do you know where to find it?
We (my husband and I) will be travelling for the first time with them (also first time flying), so we are a little nervous. We bought wizz plus tickets and will fly without interruptions. We have to take with us a few bottles of wine as present, so can put them in the checked-in bag or they will be confiscated? I heard that you can bring with you only sealed toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant, and preferably in the carry-on bag; is this true? Can you bring some food with you on the plane? Also, our ticket allow us to bring freely in the cabin area a trolley bag, but it must be a trolley bag or can be any kind of bag with the same dimensions?
I apologize for this quite long comment and thank you for your help! :)))
Priority boarding on Wizz is definitely a scam. It just means you board the transit bus ahead of everyone else. It still means you have to wait until the gate is closed and everyone is aboard the buses. It states on their website that when the bus arrives you will be first on the plane, news flash probably not. Once the bus doors open it is a free for all.
What a wonderful review. Wizz sounds like Jetstar or Tiger here in Australia.
I was looking at Tallinn to London and stumbled across this airline and searched for reviews. Yours was by the best.
I’m still undecided by the way. It’s either Wizz or Ryanair for a direct flight and I’m not sure whether that’s much of a choice at all.
I might do the long way and go Finnair with a connection.
I wanna book a flight with Wizz Air but all this reviews gave me a strange feeling about the airline. Thanks for your review. I will think about it twice now. The prices are really good but the hidden fees make me worry. I think its better to book a flight with this airline if you just want to make a short trip with hand luggage.
seriously, you have some fair points and have obviously travelled with wizz often, however i do not agree with your bottom line. wizz is not worth any of our money. they are cheating, lying, freaking cons and the service they offer is just plane pathetic misery. this is a pathetic excuse for an airline. and i say this after decades of shitty shitty experience using (because THERE IS JUST NO OTHER OPTION to travel to hungary from where i live). anyone NOT FORCED to choose them, Do OPT FOR ANOTHER. you really should.
I’m flying with this company several times a year and I must admit I have mixed feelings about them. Most of the time everything is fine but over the course of the last 3 years I had many different experineces from cancelled flight without giving any reason (fare refunded in full) to arriving earlier (45 mins!) at my destination. As for the upselling part, of course, it’s a budget airline and if someone doesn’t like this business model they should fly with somebody else. And a note for those who are complaining about high fees, everything is transparent and you know about the fees beforehand, in fact, they ask you multiple times before paying for anything whether you’re sure you’d like to continue with the purchase! Not paying attention and not reading all the available information is not an excuse!
The priority boarding in my opinion is a total waste of money (even if it costs just a few euros) at least at the airport which I’m usually flying to/from. Since they introduced plus one piece of carry-on with priority guaranteed on board the priority line is like tree times the size of the non-priority line. The airport even had to reorganize the gate area. 😀
I read a lot of stuff in advance, so I was able to avoid all the extra charges. However, when i booked the flights for a group of 11 people, the total sum was 1608€. I paid with a credit card and noticed a few days later, that ~1800€ was charged from my card. I checked everything a dozen times and the sum was 1608€ in all the confirmations and booking details.
After contacting the customer support via email, they told me that a third party company handles the payments and the extra cost is due to currency conversion charged by them. When booking, I had an option to choose to pay in EUR or PLN. Since I use EUR and all the prices at the site were in EUR, that’s what I chose. Appararently, it was a mistake and I should have chosen PLN to avoid the conversion made by the 3rd party company. It goes without saying, that this was not mentioned anywhere. Somewhere in their terms they mention something like “additional conversion fees may apply”. And in reality the company handling the payment is the same corporation group as wizzair.
I had to just take the hit and everyone paid 17-18€ extra each. I asked them for an actual receipt for the sum that was charged from me, but they couldn’t deliver one.
“Regarding your request to include the converted amount in your invoice, unfortunately we cannot comply with your request, as we have not received the difference between the conversion, nor is it reflected on our system.”
Thank you very much for this review! You saved me and my husband a surprise 50 euro fee at the airport for our carry-on bags.
The priority in wizz air is actually the price of bigger luggage that used to be free. Many people buy the option so you will find out at the gate that”priority” lane is as long as the standard one. I have also expierienced many delayed flights. The boarding is on time but start is delayed due to “airport congestion”. If the pilot says 45mins then it us over an hour. No customer service.
Worst airline and rudest service. Avoid at all cost!!!
hi All
my honest review of these airways is. low budget. nice stewardess. small seats. you have to pay for all water,meal- understeable. my trip to tenerife was good but the return messed up my good mood completely. wizz air app notified me 48 hours back that I should check in which I did and seat was successfully assigned to me no error message about boarding pass not generated. it was generated from vienna to tenerife so I expected the same on return. well imagine my surprise when on airport they requested me to pay 35 euros. I was really mad about this tried to call wizzair hotline -no response- evening flight. when I wanted wizzair to refund this they said it was everything ok on their side and they will not refund. where I come from someone who provides service should make sure that his systems work properly. I haven’t received either error message on their app that boarding pass was not generated. if yes I would make sure I will have this generated. they also claim that tenerife does not support electronic passes which is not true as I saw people also for my flight scanning their phones. This simply ruined my experience with WIZZAIR. at the moment I have strongly negative feelings about these airways. cheers.
I’ve booked a holiday and found out that I’ve been booked with Wizzair, much to my dismay. You fail to mention that the ONE carry-on bag they allow you has to be smaller than 40x30x20cm!! You can bearly get anything in it so you are forced to pay for priority just to get a normal 55x40x23cm size hand luggage case on. I was told priority boarding is £41 each and then they would only allow two out of our party of three to have it because apparently THAT’S a discounted rate! So I tried to check in a bag instead, £116 for ONE 20kg bag between us, again extortionate! Cant afford that. Tried to get seat allocation – £123!! The list goes on, I dont know where people get priority for less than a tenner, a hold bag for under twenty etc. it’s not true, everything with this con company is massively expensive. I’ve been left now worried sick, I fly in a few days and I dont know what I’m going to do, we cant go a whole week without any clothes, it seems we are going to have to waddle onboard WEARING about 5 layers! And btw, the flights themselves were not that cheap either, dearer than other budget airlines that allow u a hand luggage case for free, let u sit together and only charge a small amount for priority boarding (which you dont need anyway since you already have your bag!) Oh and they SAY they allow you to take some food onboard if bought at the airport but only if that also fits in that tiny 20cm bag, so again they know you cant actually do it. They’ve got you every-which- way. Horrible. Nasty. Con-artists. Already spoiling my holiday and I havent even gone yet.
I bought the city express transfer together with the wizzair flight ticket, I didn‘t get any email or infos about the transfer. The link on the wizzair website about transfer doesn‘t work: blank page. I asked the flight attendants for infos: they didn‘t know about anything, so did everyone else in the airport. The only wizzair tel. numb. I could find (on the invoice) wasn‘t active anymore.
Finally we found the wizzair bus meeting point, a wizzair transfer conductor was there but didn‘t take us on his bus, as it was a PR one. He checked and confirmed our reservations, then told us to wait for his colleague who was coming.
We waited 25 minutes, under the sun, alone in the parking, then we left and payed another transfer. That‘s a shame, the worst first impression of wizzair services ever!
We could neither use the return transfer ’cause we wouldn‘t even now where and when would be the meeting point.
The transfer company answered to my complaint at first with a standard mail (“you will get a transfer confirmation”.. but it was already over!) and they never answered to my new complaint!
I wrote to wizzair and they basically said that they don’t give a thing about it because the contract was with the transfer company. So they’re really non interested in the quality of they additional services neither in clients feedbacks. Nice.
Luckily enough the public transports from the airport to the center are really good: 3 € per ride, easy to find, punctual, air con… so why, why, WHY buy the wizzair express transfer??
Thief!!
I have traveled with Wizz a couple of times. Not the best air travel choice, but always got me from a to b. Since the pandemic, these MONSTERS, because i can’t find a nicer word, are SCAMMING people out of their money. They promise flights will go through, but they never do. They reschedule flights automaticly for you, without your former consent, and then they tell you that you already accepted the changes. IT Is over 1 year that i HAVE TO fly, and they just push it out so long that the reason why i had to fly became the reason i couldn’t fly no more(paperwork expired). The Customer service is HORRENDOUS! they never were friendly, but for them to tell me: ” we can’t help you” after it’s their fault and they didn’t even try!!!!!! And don’t even get me started on the refund policy. In what universe is 120% credit half than what you payed in? And after paying extra for the freaking rescheduling, 2 or 3 times!!!
I recommend, if you still want or have to to fly with these SCAM ARTISTS , get yourself directly a lawyer !
This was really helpful. I was tempted by the cheap flights, but I am a wheelchair user and the thought of using something that doesn’t have good customer service is daunting. Don’t suppose you know anything about how they treat disabled passengers (and the wheelchairs that end up in the hold…?)
This airline is a total rip off!! Just had to pay €50 for “2 extra bags” – including my handbag as that counted as extra!! No body said anything on way to Budapest from Luton!!!! First & last time traveling with this awful airline, never on time either … I am a frequent traveller but never been treated as such….. daylight robbery!
I would have saved money if I would not use Wizzair. There is NO customer service. I would not advice anyone to book with them. Their system is full of bugs and they find excuses to charge you additional fees – if you don’t pay – you won’t fly.
Priority for 4€ ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I booked a flight to London and when I wanted to choose priority just to have a trolley included, it costs 20€!!! in one way, so it’s 40€!!! for both ways!!!! What in the hell
This post is for 2018. Since then the carry on is now 40x30x20. Just a small bag is allowed. And if you want priority it is around 20€. A total rip off.
And they are cancelling routes and changing destinations on existing bookings without emailing you about it. Sucks.
I like to think of low cost airlines not as relentless moneymakers, but as airlines which give me the opportunity to strip the things I don’t need off my ticket. If I don’t need the free bag and the airplane food which are “complimentary” (read: included in the ticket price) with other airlines, it’s great to be able to opt out of paying for them. In my experience, Wizzair is better than many low cost airlines – in fact the only low cost thing about them is the pricing policy. Their staff are usually impeccably trained, polite and helpful, their aircraft are new, and their safety record is so far impeccable, so they are usually my first choice for flying anywhere. I agree with most of what the post says – but would like to make just three comments in Wizzair’s defense: (1) many of the folks who get charged for various services out of the blue are people who haven’t flown low cost before and don’t know that you should read through the rules; there’s nothing hidden in their fees, they’re posted clearly on the web, so I don’t see this as the airline’s problem; and I don’t think it makes sense for them to send you an email of what the airline does NOT offer 🙂 (2) some of the airports they use are the smaller ones – but in many places they do fly into the main airport (e.g. Barcelona, Oslo, or anything in Eastern Europe); and (3) the way in which things are organised in the airports is often up to the airport, not wizzair; those guys who scream at you to put everything in your bag are often the company who operates the checkin at the local airport. Whenever I’ve had less than pleasant experiences with those, it wasn’t with the wizzair employees, who were always very polite, and sometimes actually charming (like on last week’s flight from Oslo, where the flight attendants’ professionalism would have shamed anyone at Lufthansa). I’m not a wizzair employee either, by the way, but I confess I’m a fan, and a fairly frequent flyer and user of their Discount club 🙂
Thanks for the positive and logical reply
Really bad company, with sales techniques absolutely unfair.
When we booked our tickets they forced us to pay an extra to choose a seat whereas it’s absolutely not compulsory. We finally found how to pass this step but everything is maid to force people to pay.
Then, we paid 10 euros for a “cabin bagage” when we booked our flight.
Our bag was exactly on the good dimensions but surprisingly we were forced to pay a fine at the gate of the plane because this bag was supposed to be checked-in, it was not mention anywhere on our ticket or on our mail…
Finally we paid 10 euro to add this little bag + a 30 euros fine. It was unbelievable that anyone in the staff understood their mistake, and moreover spoke very aggressively. This company is stealing money by using this kind of process (one third of the passenger had the same problem).
LAST TIME WIZZ AIR, even if I have to fly with 3 stops instead of direct.
WIZZAIR MADE US PAY FOR CONFIRMED TICKET, MADE US PAY FOR CHECKIN, MADE US PAY FOR LUGGAGE and
at he END THE FLIGHT WAS OVERBOOKED AND 3 OF US WERE LEFT BEHIND WITHOUT GETTING ANY SEAT, they separated the whole Family, although FAMILIES wit SMALL KIDS SHOULD HAVE PRIORITY!!!!!
We have booked 4 full fare tickets 2 Adults 2 Kids (7,8).
1) Online checkin did not work for us, so we arrived at the airport and had to pay 125,- Euros to checkin (CHECKIN FEE for CHECKING in on the Airport). We had to run to another terminal to pay this fee, and come back to show the receipt, otherwise no boarding passes?????
2) According to ticket we were allowed to take 4 small bags. We have bought 4 small bags specifically for this trip with a maximum of 6 kg as described (same size as a backpack, but very small trollies). Nevertheless the weight and size didn’t matter to checkin staff and they made us pay another 65 euros, since they were not a backpack and looked like trollies????
For what reason does Wizzair have weight and size restrictions if they don’t stick to it???????.
3) Arriving at the Gate, without any seats assigned we went to the lady at the gate which was not a WIZZAIR EMPLOYEE (3 party Aircraft Handling Company), to tell us that the flight is OVEBOOKED and we will have to wait until the end with our 2 little kids to see if they can take us. The screen at the gate showed families with children have priority boarding (didn’t look like).
At the END only my wife was able to board the plane, and I was left behind with my two kids. The third party handling agent at the gate told us to leave the terminal and go outside to the 3rd party ticket counter to get alternative plans.
This did dot happen since the had to booked another ticket online at the gate to catch a flight VIE-BCN-AGP, which airline was able to accept us at the gate with bags and without additional costs for checkin and luggage.
I would highly recommend not flying Wizzair, this behaviour should not be tolerated from an airline against full fare paying passengers by law.
Unfortunately, I see myself forced to write a negative review for my first and only experience with Wizz Air. If you are a traveller or enjoy visiting new cities please take 2 mins to read this:
I had a flight from Berlin to Budapest on 6.12.2019, it was overbooked so I was denied boarding.
I contacted the airlines in the next day and until today I didn’t receive the compensation as per the EU regulations. I was accused of not showing up at the counter to take the denied boarding form.
This is not true because I showed up in the counter and was given back the check-in money in cash. In addition, I was granted a one night stay at the airport’s hotel and the officers clarified to me to claim the compensation online. So how can I not show up in the counter and take these?
I understand that an overbooked flight can just happen but what is not accepted is to spend 40+ days sending several emails to get the compensation.
At the moment I am not sure if this review will move something yet I think that when someone reads this will definitely think twice before booking with #Wizzair.
#complain
#over_booking
#EU_regulations
#berlin_sxf
Contact with their customer service is 100% impossible IF you are not in one of the countries they operate from. I am organising flights for others, but myself am in Kenya. Because of COVID19 I have been hit by sudden flight bans by certain countries. Their online options don’t cover everything. In addition, all of their contact telephone numbers are Premium Service high cost numbers which you cannot access from outside the country. They provide no email.
This is not about having no experience with low cost airlines, or experience in complex bookings. It is about a severely limited service. It is sad, it means with even one lost booking which could not be rebooked/credited, or anything else, all of the people I am booking with will now have a negative view of Wizz air, who will lose future bookings. It will be worth paying more for backup in extreme circumstances. Sad really.
Wizzair charged me twice for my flight because of an error on their website. It happened in December 2019. It is now September 2020 and I still have not been issued with a refund. Wizzair has already said twice that they issued me with a refund, but they never did. The worst customer service ever. Never flying with Wizzair again.
Price performance fits. New machines; Staff friendly; Clean Punctual; Affordable. You get what you pay for and you have to inquire in advance. Meanwhile I flew with Wizz again and always everything is OK.
Ignorant Wizz Air employee at check-in (London, Luton) made me miss my flight by insisting on an unnecessary COVID test. (Not required for immunised passengers arriving in Gibraltar – they do a free test on arrival). By the time I had obtained the test outside the airport, the check-in desk was closed. They refuse to admit liability and it cost me £350 on train fare to Gatwick, new ticket, overnight stay at airport hotel etc.
Do not fly Wizzair!
Why? Because they are masters of deceiving tricks and practices. Take a moment and read what I experienced, and then decide if you want to fly with this company. It all began when we found cheap tickets to Sicily and we decided to make a reservation for our holiday. My three kids, wife and me. Of course, they offer all possible extras such as travel insurance, risk trip cancellation, 4.99 eur per person for online check-in service, service package assistance for 32.80 eur, etc, it’s up to you. We had to fight through a complicated system of check-in two days before the departure, as they kept sending emails, inviting and pressing to do the reservation of seats. If we don’t do the check-in online for free, it would cost us 35 eur per passenger at the airport. When I tried to do the check-in, the system wouldn’t let me through, unless I choose the seats. But these had to be paid extra 60 eur per seat. Naturally I was searching for fora to find out if I really have to pay this extra or is it possible to do it at the airport for free. Nothing useful came out of this search, so this is another reason why I’m writing these lines. One day before the flight, the amount for check-in (for free) and choosing seats was reduced to a more reasonable sum, so I thought ok, maybe I will not have so many problems at the airport and children can sit together with us.
On the day of departure, I received an email even before we started from our home, saying that there will be a delay. When we came to the airport, another email for further delay arrived – altogether almost two hours. Needless to say, that this was the only flight to show delay on the departures display…
We arrived safely, sitting together and playing with the children. When asked for a cup of water for my son who had hiccups, the steward kindly said we can buy a bottle.
When our holiday was nearing the end, I was expecting an email from the company, saying we can do the check-in, as it happened the first time repeatedly. Unfortunately, no email came, and in all the fuss about returning the rent-a-car and packing I forgot to do it a day earlier. It should be said, that online check-in at this company is possible until three hours before the flight. After that you have to do it at the ticket office and pay for it. It’s all clearly explained on their website. Our flight was scheduled at 14:50 next day, so I decided to do it early in the morning. When I was looking to figure out how to do it, I learned that I forgot the password for the company’s website. So, I pressed the password reset button and waited. And waited. We had to move on to the airport, went to the counter, but the lady said that we can check-in only two hours before the flight. Finally, the password reset email came, exactly at 12:00! I tried to do the check-in, but the system didn’t allow it any more, as it is possible to do it only until three hours before the flight. Flight which was already advertised to be delayed. I went to the counter, and very nice lady tried to do it for me, but then she realized it is impossible and sent me to the ticket office. There was nobody until 13:30 and finally another nice lady explained to me that I have to pay extra 215 eur for check-in and for issuing flying tickets. As the departure was nearing, I decided to surrender. And it wasn’t only me who had this problem, at least three other passengers I saw standing behind me at the ticket office – a young couple from USA and another lady. Of course, we got seats scattered all around the airplane, from row 6 till 32 – to punish us further? Later in the plane I noticed empty rows just in front of me, the system knew we are a family with kids…
I didn’t say anything about the luggage yet. A very elaborated system, but you can choose whatever suits you best, so we took two checked-in bags, allowing us to have 2x20kg of stuff, paying extra 104 eur and two hand baggage. For children we decided to take the priority option, allowing them to have two cabin baggage, one of 8kg, and one hand baggage. As we already witnessed unpleasant situations at boarding, we were very careful to respect the allowed dimensions – 1/40x30x20 and 1/55x40x23. Waiting for delayed departure (again), we saw a man who evidently suffered some kind of accident and had immobilized left arm. His wife asked for a priority boarding and thy were allowed to it. But then a lady came, asking them about the luggage. As they didn’t pay for it, they were not allowed to bring it to the cabin, unless they pay extra. Another lady wanted to bring her baggage to the cabin, although she paid with her ticket for the checked-in luggage (but did not use this option). So, she has been invited to pay extra 45 eur before boarding.
What is evident from this writing, is the fact that the company actively seeks how to deceive passengers to squeeze more money out of their pockets, which is nothing new for a low-cost company. But in the attempt to achieve this goal, they carry out a series of unfair practices. From the attractive price at the beginning (14,99 eur for us), it costed us almost 700 eur. This is an amount that allows you to fly with a normal airline, you don’t have to choose low-cost and to endure all this stress and fraudulent practices. But the most striking thing that triggered this writing is the planned delay in sending an electronic response to a password reset, and the fact that it’s a deliberate and intentional delay. Wait until it is too late to do the online check-in is really a dirty, rude, dishonest and unfair practice. And the trick that you cannot check-in if you don’t pay for seats? Why do you have to pay for seat allocation when checking online? Why there is no clear explanation how to avoid this payment? I invite any other passenger who had similar experiences to write a response to this notice, to explain people that this company is not worth their trust. Of course, I took all the envisaged steps to appeal to the company, but received only the standardized and impersonal answers, explaining the rules of the company’s website. I will no longer fly with this company, and I hope I saved someone’s money and nerves too, when they will choose some other airline. I know that all the rules are carefully explained on the company’s website, but they are so twisted and difficult to understand, you cannot realize you have a problem.
Fly safely and enjoy your holidays!
They trick you with cheap flights…….and then you end up paying more! they fucken make you feel that you wish you took the other flight offers! trust me.. you wont save money. simply put big SCAMMERS!!! with very low customer support, which i think is purposly done that way!!! ask yourself, who on the fucken earth charges customer support call? they dont charge you just a normal fee…fucken 15 euros for a fucken call that supposed to be free!!!
So tell me that isnt that way on purpose to discourage people to claim anything….. Their online check-in link is fucked up…it might not work….and even if its not your fault they will charge you at the airport…. and like i said…there is not way to claim or explain the situation! its black hole!
SCAMMER SCAMMER…..Will never ever fly them again….
Here’s the thing – Wizz cancelled my flight, and then their “hilariously horrible” customer service kicked in, and I haven’t been able to get a refund, let alone compensation, for over a month.
hello. i love your blog. keep it up please! we discuss it with our families!