Review: Wizz Air Airbus A320 – Luton to Varna

About the Airline

Expectations

Pre-Flight Experience

Given Wizz Air’s status as one of Europe’s largest low cost carriers, I had not anticipated too many issues with booking tickets directly with the airline. Indeed, this proved to be the case, although seeking to travel as cheaply as possible, I ended up having to sidestep around plenty of optional extras. Once I had done so, making payment was quick and easy and I was soon set to head to Varna. 

Online check-in for Wizz Air’s flights is open from 30 days to 3 hours until departure. Had I been unable to do this, then unfortunately I would have had to pay £36 to have the privilege of checking in at Luton. Thankfully, this was not the case and with a few days to go until my flight, I opened up Wizz Air’s app and following a few taps, I received my boarding pass. Whilst I had not paid to pre-select a seat, I was delighted to find that I had ended up in a window. 

Costs

Airport Experience

With no reason to visit Wizz Air’s check-in desks, once inside the busy confines of Luton Airport I made a beeline for security and eventually made it airside. 

A couple of hours later it was time to board. This commenced on time, with two long snaking queues at the gate – one for those with priority boarding and another for ‘normal’ passengers. Much to my surprise, whilst it seemed to be a full flight, there was just one agent scanning passengers’ boarding passes and checking their passports. Nevertheless, they worked hard and were able to speedily process passengers. 

Seat and Cabin

Unsurprisingly, Wizz Air has packed as many seats as possible onto their Airbus A320s, with 180 seats present in the cabin. Each was covered in a dark purple pleather cover, which is my opinion is far less garish than the blue seats that are installed onboard Wizz Air’s more recent deliveries. 

Being a low cost carrier, each seat was spartan and lacked any notable features. Power, adjustable headrests and of course inflight entertainment screens were absent, but most certainly not expected! Contrasting with the likes of EasyJet and Ryanair, as I looked around the cabin I was surprised at the lack of any sort of advertisements.

Upon sitting down, my first impressions were positive. Not only was the seat reasonably comfortable, it offered a decent amount of space and few signs of wear and tear could be spotted around this,. Meanwhile, the area around this appeared to be in a clean and tidy condition, which was rather impressive given the short turnaround time in Luton. 

Lavatories

Inflight Entertainment

Passengers expecting wifi would have been disappointed; however, passengers can keep themselves entertained by flicking through Wizz Air’s self-titled inflight magazine. Granted, this was nothing particularly special and was heavily laden with advertisements, but was definitely a welcome touch given the fact that many European low cost carriers have since eliminated paper magazines.

Catering

Once in the air, a round of buy-on-board service commenced and a decent range of food and drink was offered. Prices for products seemed to be slightly below the likes of EasyJet and Ryanair, and I was thus left with few complaints or praises about this service.

Crew

Being a late night flight, it had probably been a long day for this Varna based crew. However, onboard I was delighted to find all crew members to be friendly and welcoming. Thus, I was left with no complaints about my experience with Wizz Air’s flight attendants.

Summary

Admittedly, I was positively surprised by my experience with Wizz Air that night. They offered a decent level of comfort and onboard service, which most certainly eclipsed my recent experiences with Ryanair. Thus, I can’t say that I was left with any major complaints and I would be more than happy to fly with Wizz Air again. 

*Disclaimer*

I was booked to fly from Gatwick to Rome with Wizz Air a few weeks after this flight and had my flight cancelled at very short notice. Left to book alternative tickets of my own accord, it took weeks and weeks to be reimbursed for these and nothing by means of reimbursement for meals or other expenses incurred during my delay was offered, not to mention the lack of EU261! Unfortunately, this seems to be somewhat standard with those who end up having troubles with Wizz Air. Whilst they do offer a decent product, they remain infamous for their chopping and changing of flights, and the subsequent barriers for passengers to then reclaim any rightly owed costs.