WizzAir seat selection fees

[Farigiraf]

WizzAir is the worst airline I've ever used. Their website doesn't actually allow you to book seats etc online: you have to download their app, but you only find this out by searching the internet for help. The site just hangs and times out and gives errors, and has been that way for a couple years.

They say there's an option to book assistance in the check-in process, but never found it. A request for assistance by email got an automated response but was never passed on to anyone, resulting in gate staff refusing to assist because assistance hadn't been booked. The gate was chaos, with two staff taking forever to check people, one shouting that families needed to show all their boarding cards individually, which is a problem when there's an app designed so one person has all the boarding cards on their phone.

The worst bit was being told 3 days before our flight that it was going to be 45 minutes earlier. So we had to drive to Gatwick instead of train, then the check-in wasn't even open to drop bags off, even the family/disabled security took well over an hour so there was no time for having a coffee, as the boarding passes said if we weren't at the gate 30 min pre-flight we wouldn't be able to fly. But in the event, because the boarding took so long, the plane actually left at the original departure time.

Apparently they do that a lot, 'moving' flights forward to save on gate staff.

I share your hatred for Wizzair, I've used them for years now to get to the continent, but not one (yes, not a single time) time have we arrived/departed on time. European Union or whoever needs to step in and introduce a delay repay for flights, as well as fixing the bag prices. (rumors are they are going to make all bags cost money, which at that point, budget airlines should operate like trains because the only person who'd go on a flight with Nothing, not even a rucksack, would be on a Wizzair from East Croydon to Clapham Junction...)

This summer I tried Ryanair for the first time in years after they cancelled my Luxembourg flight in 2017 leading to me miss multiple trains (still haven't heard back about a refund!). And you know what? No delays, all smooth.

Regarding seat selection, I don't understand how they get away with selling the exact same type of seat for ridiculous prices. Apparently, if you want to sit in the middle to front, that's Special, and I have to pay loads more. But at the back? Standard. I don't get it.
Image shows 1 checked bag being priced at £234.94

 

[Bletchleyite]

WizzAir is the worst airline I've ever used. Their website doesn't actually allow you to book seats etc online: you have to download their app, but you only find this out by searching the internet for help.

Are you sure? I've never used their app and have selected seats with them before, including back in about March.

The site just hangs and times out and gives errors, and has been that way for a couple years.

It's always been dire.

I share your hatred for Wizzair, I've used them for years now to get to the continent, but not one (yes, not a single time) time have we arrived/departed on time. European Union or whoever needs to step in and introduce a delay repay for flights, as well as fixing the bag prices. (rumors are they are going to make all bags cost money, which at that point, budget airlines should operate like trains because the only person who'd go on a flight with Nothing, not even a rucksack, would be on a Wizzair from East Croydon to Clapham Junction...)

The EU is I believe looking at carry-on charges, I think they are considering making an IATA carry-on or something around that size (say 56x45x25 or 55x40x20) free by law.

 

[Cloud Strife]

The site just hangs and times out and gives errors, and has been that way for a couple years.

At this point, I strongly believe that their site is intentionally bugged. I wrote about some experiences of mine here: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/wizz-air-and-their-many-problems.244584/

They are clearly behaving worse than Ryanair ever did towards customers, and Wizz Air UK in particular seems to be a horrific operation.

The sad thing is that I really like their A321s. They're much more comfortable than the Ryanair Max-8.

With bag prices, I actually don't mind so much, because now it's less trouble to get a place in the overhead lockers. However, Wizz Air's pricing policies are... well.

 

[Bletchleyite]

At this point, I strongly believe that their site is intentionally bugged.

I don't think I'd say they had the competence to do that. More likely it's just wilful negligence, i.e. they know it's broken but can't be bothered to fix it. Does make one wonder about aircraft maintenance - Ryanair may be cheap and nasty but at least they come across as competent in doing what they have set out to do.

 

[Feuillesmortes]

(rumors are they are going to make all bags cost money, which at that point, budget airlines should operate like trains because the only person who'd go on a flight with Nothing, not even a rucksack, would be on a Wizzair from East Croydon to Clapham Junction...)

The point is not that you travel with nothing, it's that they can save money on fuel if you travel with 2kg of stuff rather than 8kg for example, without going so far as to weigh every passenger.

 

[island]

The EU is I believe looking at carry-on charges, I think they are considering making an IATA carry-on or something around that size (say 56x45x25 or 55x40x20) free by law.

That creates practical difficulties when every passenger does it. The overhead bins in a typical narrowbody plane have enough space for around 60% of the passengers to put a maximally sized case in.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That creates practical difficulties when every passenger does it. The overhead bins in a typical narrowbody plane have enough space for around 60% of the passengers to put a maximally sized case in.

You simply gate-check the last N bags, as airlines did for ages before they discovered it as an additional revenue stream.

Offering free checking-in of a cabin compliant bag is also a way to reduce the numbers.

 

[cactustwirly]

You simply gate-check the last N bags, as airlines did for ages before they discovered it as an additional revenue stream.

Offering free checking-in of a cabin compliant bag is also a way to reduce the numbers.

This is what BA do

 

[357]

You simply gate-check the last N bags, as airlines did for ages before they discovered it as an additional revenue stream.

Offering free checking-in of a cabin compliant bag is also a way to reduce the numbers.

I always go to the desk and ask to drop my hand luggage on connecting flights. Never been told no. I suspect that once the law is passed, they will then charge for "guaranteed cabin baggage" and everyone else will be told "your luggage might be offloaded!".

Then, I can see the airlines trying to do bag drop and collection on the ground next to the aircraft to save handling fees, however how that will affect turnaround times will need to be seen.

I was a regular user of Wizz, every 2 weeks in fact, up until 24 February 2022. I've never had many of the issues spoken about but I got to know how they work and found a few hacks I will not be sharing here. Reached the point where many of the Luton crews recognised me.

 

[Cloud Strife]

I don't think I'd say they had the competence to do that. More likely it's just wilful negligence, i.e. they know it's broken but can't be bothered to fix it. Does make one wonder about aircraft maintenance - Ryanair may be cheap and nasty but at least they come across as competent in doing what they have set out to do.

Ryanair, for all their sins, never messed around with maintenance. Most of it was originally outsourced to companies like Lufthansa Technik, although they've been bringing more work in-house over the last few years. They're widely considered to have the right mentality towards it: spend what it takes, because the planes earn more money in the air than if they're waiting to be fixed on the ground.

Wizz Air on the other hand are outsourcing mostly everything, so I wouldn't be worried about that. It's mostly their flight operations that are a mess, including a lot of announcing routes and then cancelling them very quickly, or simply not paying enough money for handling on the ground.

However, I'm really not convinced that it's just negligence on the part of the website. Their attitude towards all sorts of claims is worse than Ryanair at their peak, and the amount of unanswered CCJs is quite remarkable. To be honest, Wizz Air UK probably should be suspended from operating for a period to teach them a lesson, because it's getting ridiculous as to how many claims are being made against them.

Then, I can see the airlines trying to do bag drop and collection on the ground next to the aircraft to save handling fees, however how that will affect turnaround times will need to be seen.

I believe that Ryanair wanted to do this, but there were a lot of issues regarding safety and so it was a no-go in the end.

I've never had many of the issues spoken about but I got to know how they work and found a few hacks I will not be sharing here.

Were these flights operated by Ukraine-based planes? Most of the issues concern Wizz Air UK's operations, apart from the broken website and app. I will say that most Wizz Air crews are perfectly friendly and hard working, and I've never had a bad experience with them.

 

[357]

Were these flights operated by Ukraine-based planes? Most of the issues concern Wizz Air UK's operations, apart from the broken website and app. I will say that most Wizz Air crews are perfectly friendly and hard working, and I've never had a bad experience with them.

Very rarely it was a Ukraine based crew or plane, mostly during disruption - the only time it was planned to be a Ukraine based crew was one Christmas eve when the aircraft was then staying in Kyiv. It was normally a Luton based crew but it did always seem to be the same people allocated to the Kyiv flights, possibly because they always seemed to speak either Ukrainian or russian.