Just how bad is Wizz Air?

[KitsPoint]

Looking at Feb half term, Wizz Air is coming in cheapest, and they fly from our nearest/most convenient airport. The alternative option is BA from Heathrow but that would be at least a £few hundred more plus extra hassle/expense of getting to Heathrow.

I've read that Wizz Air customer service is the pits - is it really that bad travelling with them?

Easyjet is our go-to so it's not like we're used to first class Emirates luxury! 😂
Main thing is are they likely to be on time or hideously delayed, or might they wildly change our departure times (which seems to happen every bloody time I book with Ryanair).

Thanks in advance for any intel!

Horrendous - I would never use them again. Last time I travelled with them, I had an 8 hour delay. Flight was due to leave at 9pm but left at 5am. No staff at Luton airport, nobody had any idea what was going on or when/ if the flight would take off.

Fine, I went from Luton and it was no different to any other cheap airline.

I’ve used them around 5 times, never had an issue ever. I would say they’re better than easy jet and Ryan air but no where near BA or TUI

If it works you’re fine, we went to Poland for £15 each each way. For that I’ll take arriving alive.

Thanks all - I think I'm going to risk it for a biscuit (as DS loves to say) - I've worked out we can fly out with Easyjet to a different airport (going midweek so all the flights are cheap) and then come back with Wizz Air (travelling the Sunday of half term and most airlines are hideously expensive).

If they're delayed on the way back it's not like it will ruin our actual holiday.

It's a ski trip so we have to get a transfer from the airport to the resort in any event - makes no difference if we fly in and out of different airports.

A high bar there @ACynicalDad 🤣
DD flew to Vienna with them this week and was delayed 25 minutes on the way out. Seemed to be good for the price paid so far anyway.

I thought they were pretty good for a cheaper airline when I flew to Budapest...I hadn't realised they are Hungarian!

Yes, my last one was Budapest too and it was news to me. Maybe they're just efficient to Budapest!

Totally fine

You get what you pay for. My DS has used them plenty of times, usually a little bit delayed, but not a huge issue.

But about three years ago he got stuck in Tel Aviv when his flight was cancelled due to snow at Luton. There was no customer service at all, he spent the night on the floor at Tel Aviv airport, because no one could tell him when they would put him on another flight. His phone wouldn't connect to the customer service helpline, so he called me first thing in the morning and I called them from the UK. They couldn't have cared less - when I explained that DS didn't know what do to, the call handler actually said 'What do you want me to do about it?'

In the end, I told DS just to book on any flight he could, so he went to look at the departures board so see what flights there were, and noticed his flight had been rearranged for 4pm that afternoon. No-one had communicated this to him in any way, and he was lucky to notice it, even though he had the app. When he got on the plane, it was no more than a quarter full, as most passengers weren't aware it had been rearranged.

That said, he still uses them, because they're cheap, and he loves a cheap city break!

We flew from Leeds to Gdansk with them. On the way back we were diverted to Birmingham (not Wizz Air’s fault, other airlines were affected). Jet2 quickly organised coaches to get everyone to Leeds, Wizz air arranged for taxis for a plane load of people! It was every person for themselves - people pushing to get into taxis and no queue or organisation! We waited over 3 hours and we were put in the last taxi with a Polish woman and her 3 year old daughter. Not one person had thought to offer their taxi to her! Wouldn’t use wizz air again!

My experience was horrific. I wouldn’t ever fly with them again.

Ive never had a problem with them. Ive always flown from Liverpool.

You have to assume they are like many of the newer'ish LoCos that have sprung up..OK.

Operationally they should be alright as long as the relevant regulator does their job properly, which is pretty important given one of the Wizz Air senior managers displayed an interesting attitude to crew fatigue and compliance with the rules governing the same a few years back...

OTOH given ticket prices, vs. Cost of operating flights they are not going to be spending a fortune ensuring they are well placed to support passengers in the event of disruption.

www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jun/09/fury-as-wizz-air-boss-suggests-too-many-pilots-refusing-to-fly-when-tired

My v recent experience.

One hour delay
Air hosts were amazing couldnt do enough.
Luggage inc pram got there intact

I was surprised as braced for the worst.

I’d put them on a par with Ryanair. Flights have been perfectly acceptable. They got me home when an another airline went bust years ago so grateful for that

like you Easyjet is my usual go-to and I find them generally a grade above the Ryanairs and wizzairs of this world. BUT I did have one awful experience once when we were stuck in France due to a cancellation, communication was totally non existent. Just saying awful experiences exist with most airlines.

They pulled out of my local airport before we had a chance to use them. Flights cancelled

Funny isn’t it, easyJet have managed to make people think they’re just that bit more sophisticated than Ryanair and so people put up with their shocking standards.

BA and EasyJet have the worst record for cancellations and terrible customer service. Yet people think saying, ah, I’m usually BA/easyjet makes them sound like they have standards 🤣

How was it Wizz Air's fault that it's passengers were unable to stand in a queue like civilised adults?

It does sound odd that they were apparently unable to find, say 4 coaches, but could access 50 taxis able to do a 5 hour round trip at short notice though.

But I suspect they're like most other airlines. Totally fine 95% of the time and variable when something goes wrong. I think if you're going to save hundreds of pounds by using them, they're definitely worth the risk in the circumstances you describe OP, especially as BA have proved that they're just as capable as the low cost airlines of treating their passengers poorly when something goes wrong.

I fly with them most years.

They are fine when everything works. When things don't work as long as you know your rights you'll be fine as they will try to shirk them. Claim what you are entitled to eg meals, hotel etc and then file a claim. When they reject be ready to escalate to Aviation ADR.

I flew with them last month, flight was diverted and they told us to arrange our own transport to original airport. So I paid €200 for a taxi and they then declined the claim. Because I knew my EU rights I filed a complaint with Aviation ADR and got my money back.

Apparently approx 70% of people will give up after the first rejection even though airlines are legally obliged to compensate under certain circumstances - I can't understand how they get away even rejecting the first claim.

Also read this whenever you fly and make sure you know your rights:
Flight delay compensation | MSE

I’ve flown with them many times and they’re no different to easyJet or Ryanair.

DS has flown with them a few times and not had any problems. It's the luck of the draw with any budget airline - if all goes to plan it's fine. If it goes wrong, be prepared to fend for yourself.

Thank you, I’m a solicitor a bloody-minded one at that so quite happy to fight them all the way!

Ryanair cancelled a whole route we’d booked on this year and then refused to pay for our hire car to get us from another airport to our final destination (there was no public transport to get there). So I dug around for the email address of Ryanair’s General Counsel and three days after contacting him they agreed to refund us 🙂
The arbitration scheme was going to be my next step so good to know it works.

I’ve never used them. Having heard of their reputation for cancellation/delays, I would only ever have flown with them if they were the only airline to go from my local airport to a destination. But that link is extremely worrying, a pilot who is over tired is a lot more of an issue than having to sit around in the airport for a few hours.

A few years ago 3 out of 5 of our family were bumped from our flight to Italy. They owed us the compensation money and money for new flights with a different airline the next day. It was impossible to talk to anyone at the airport or on the phone.

We put in our claim, it got ignored, loads of people including us got Small Claims Court judgements against them. It was in the newspapers. These judgements were ignored. Then a legal complaint was made to the airline authority saying that Wizz shouldn't be using UK airports if they weren't following UK laws. That's when they paid up (months after the flight).