What it’s like to fly with Wizz Air – My Experience

Want to know what it’s like to fly with Wizz Air? It’s a Hungarian low-cost airline that offers cheap flights throughout Europe. They’re constantly growing their business, and start flying to new destinations. 

I’ve flown with Wizz Air at least 10 times in the last 2 years, mostly to Hungary, but also to Poland and Republic of Macedonia. So, I think it’s about time to make a proper Wizz Air Review and share my experience with you!

This is basically everything you need to know about Wizz Air, including luggage size and weight, boarding, service, discounts, pros, and cons as well as Wizz Air’s destinations and operating airports. You can also read a bit more about the Wizz Air Planes and some company history.

Booking your flights

I prefer to use a search engine like momondo and Skyscanner before I book my flights, but you can easily search directly on the Wizz Air website if you already know your final destination.

No matter if you’re on a computer, tablet or phone, it’s pretty straightforward to book your Wizz Air tickets online.

Wizz Air Check in

You can easily check in online, or via their app without additional cost. Then you get the boarding pass that you can print or show from your smartphone/tablet. I prefer to use my smartphone as it’s more convenient and environmentally friendly.

If you want to check in for your Wizz Air flight at the airport, there’s a surcharge of €10 if you choose it while booking your ticket. If you simply show up at the airport without a boarding pass or if you haven’t chosen airport check-in when booking the ticket, the cost is €30.

This is of course totally unnecessary to pay for, so just do yourself a favor and download their free app for iPhone or Android phones. In terms of check-in otherwise, it often goes quickly without hassle.

• You can download the app here

That is if you don’t have any excess weight or too big luggage. In that case, it will take a bit longer, and you’ll have to pay some penalty fees. From my experience, Wizz Air is pretty strict about their rules, so to make things easier, just follow these two simple steps to avoid any hassle.

1. Check in via the Wizz Air app or online on their website to get your boarding pass
2. Make sure that your luggage is within their size and weight restriction (or buy extra before you go to the airport)

If you have a luggage scale it’s super simple to check the weight before you leave home.

Wizz Air luggage + Size and Weight

• For free hand luggage: 55 X 40 X 23 cm and max 10 kilos.
• Wizz Priority members can bring a small bag as well – 40 X 30 X 18 cm
• Checked bags cost extra: Maximum weight is 20 kilos vs 32 kilos depending on what you choose. In total, you can bring up to 6 bags per person.
• Always check updated rules on Wizz Air Official Website: Wizzair.com

Wizz air small cabin bag

If you don’t have a priority member pass, you’re only allowed to bring one item. The small cabin bag is for priority members only, and the maximum size for that is 40X30X18 cm.

Type of Aircrafts

The Wizz Air planes are either of the model Airbus A320-200 or Airbus A321-200, which are some of the most common average sized aircraft. During the period of 2019-2024, they have also invested in the newer model Airbus 321neo.

Boarding

Something that does grind my gear a bit is the fact that the gate closes 30 minutes before boarding, which results in people standing in line way before the actual boarding starts. It’s not like this everytime you fly with Wizz Air, but about 50% of the times I’ve flown with them, it’s been like this.

Not even once has the gate closed 30 minutes before departure, so people are standing in long queues for nothing if you don’t want to be the last person on-board. It would’ve been a much better boarding experience if they urge passengers to not stand in line before the flight is ready for boarding.

This is almost the only remark I have about Wizz Air, and it’s something I hope they will improve. It’s not a deal breaker, but it’s pretty annoying. However, for being a low-cost airline, it’s still great.

Service

My experience of the service on board Wizz Air is that their cabin crew is always polite and smile. Their check-in staff, however, are more strict when it comes to luggage size and weight, which isn’t a bad thing per see. After all, rules are not meant to be broken.

The cabin crew speaks English most of the times, which is great, but the most important part is that they’re accommodating and friendly. Whenever we’ve wanted to switch seats, they have helped us.

Serving of snacks and beverages is great, and if you have any questions, just push the button above your seat and the flight attendant will come shortly afterward. Prices for food and drinks are reasonable, and not as overpriced as some other airlines.

Wizz Discount Club

If you know that you’ll fly with Wizz Air often or at least a couple of times a year, you might want to join the Wizz Discount Club.

Standard membership costs 29 Euro per year for 1 person + extra traveler. You can also sign up for a group membership for 1 person + 5 extra travelers for 59 Euro per year. Members of the discount club will get the following benefits:

• At least 10 Euro discount on flight tickets
• At least 5 Euro discount on luggage when you book online
• Exclusive offers

Privilege Pass

If you want a more exclusive flight with Wizzair, you can pay for Privilege pass, which could be nice if you fly with them frequently. The membership costs about 200 Euro per year, and give the following benefits:

• Free seat selection (first rows included).
• Priority boarding.
• Get to bring an additional small cabin bag for free.
• Your cabin bag is guaranteed on board. 

Pros and cons of flying with Wizz Air

Let’s take a closer look at some of the positive things and some negative aspects as well.

Pros

• It’s cheap
• There are many destinations to choose from
• Mostly on-time
• You get to bring 10 kilos hand luggage for free
• Reasonable prices for snacks and beverages on board
• Friendly cabin crew (English-speaking)
• Wizz Discount Club (Great prices for frequent fliers)

Cons

• Not as comfortable as more luxurious airlines.
• Strict rules about weight and size.
• That you may have to stand in line for 30-45 minutes before boarding the plane.

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

How tight is the leg room?

If you’re a taller person it might feel a bit tight, but it’s not really any difference compared to other low-cost airlines such as Norwegian or Ryanair. It’s not a luxury airline, but it works fine since it’s not a long-haul flight.

I’m 182 cm, and I’m fine with the leg room. I’m comfortable for a few hours, or at least as comfortable one can be in economy class on any flight. The seats are quite nice, and the leg room is pretty much the same as other airline companies in economy class.

If you want, you can always book a seat at the exit rows for more leg room.

What happens if you don’t follow the carry-on size and weight?

Then you will have to pay the penalty fees at the airport or see your luggage or yourself be left on the ground. Wizz Air is strict with their rules, and by my experience, it’s only a few of their staff who make exceptions. Since 2017, they have actually changed their baggage policy and switched their former smaller cabin size restrictions into a more standardized size, and 10 kilos.

That’s pretty generous, so just make sure to follow that, and you don’t have to worry about “what happens if you don’t”.

What to do if you wanna change flight?

It’s possible to change your flight for a fee.

• More than 30 days before departure: 30 euro per passenger and flight
• Between 7 and 30 days before departure: 35 euro per passenger per flight
• Within 7 days of departure: 40 euro per passenger per flight

How to reach Wizz Air customer service?

You can reach them via telephone, the number will differ depending on your country, but you can find their contact info – here

Where can I find a Wizz Air discount code?

You can always sign up for their newsletter to receive the latest news and offers. For even better discounts on Wizz Air flights, I suggest that you sign up for an annual membership in their discount club.

Airports & Wizz Air Destinations

Across Europe, there are many Wizz Air destinations you can fly to. The airports they operate from are most of the times located a bit further outside the cities, where it’s cheaper to land and take off. As an example, when flying to Stockholm with Wizz Air, you will arrive at Skavsta Airport instead of the main international airport – Arlanda.

Barcelona	Bucharest	Budapest	Debrecen	Dubai
London	Milan	Paris	Skopje	Stockholm
Tel-Aviv	Tenerife	Warsaw	Rome	Reykjavik
Porto	Lisbon	Split	Prague	Agadir
Podgorica	Eindhoven	Berlin	Athens	Glasgow
Kyiv	Geneva	Ljubljana	Belgrade	Tirana
Baku	Sofia	Larnaca	Malta	Turku

These are just some of the Wizz Air destinations. You can see a full list here.

More information about Wizz Air + company history

The flight company was founded in 2003. It’s a low-cost airline with a base in Hungary, which also has an affiliate company in Ukraine. The main owners are an American company, called Indigo Partners. Wizz Air completed its first flight 19 days after Hungary and Poland were welcomed as members of the European Union.

Since then, the passenger traffic has increased a lot, and continues to grow each year!

A large increase came after the Hungarian Airline company Malev went bankrupt. In connection with that, Wizz Air acclaimed a lot of the passenger traffic from Malev. The main destinations where you can find Wizz Air flights are within Central Europe and Scandinavia, but they also have 2 destinations outside Europe: Istanbul and Dubai.

Summary of My Wizz Air Review

Just as with most airline companies, especially low-cost airlines, there are good and bad experiences. In some situations, I’m sure this airline company could’ve dealt with it differently, but in general, I will say that you’ll probably be fine when you fly with Wizz Air.

This isn’t a luxury airline, it’s a low-cost airline that will get you from point A to B, or some cases even to point C if you have a stopover. And as long as you know that beforehand, it’s not very different from other airline companies such as SAS, Norwegian, Lufthansa and so on.

• It’s very cheap and great value for the money
• They’re flying to lots of destinations in Europe
• If you’re a tall person, the leg room might not be as comfortable, but it’s usually not much different compared with other low-cost airlines.
• Most of the times no problems as long as you follow their weight and size restrictions for hand luggage.

Search for Wizz Air flights

• Click here to check the cheapest flight tickets

Search for hotels on your next trip

• Click here for the best deals on hotels and accommodation

---

Do you also have any experience of flying with Wizz Air? I’m looking forward to hear your thoughts!