Is Wizz Air a Real Airline?
While planning for my balkans trip this year, I stumbled across Wizz Air. I had never heard of it, and my friends had never heard of it, which made me google “is Wizz Air a Real Rirline?” Just like you, I was concerned that If I spend money on this airline, will I actually get to my destination? Will this be more stressful than its worth? I am sharing everything you need to know before you fly Wizz Air.
I can confirm, that I did ultimately fly Wizz Air, from Tirana, Albania to Sofia, Bulgaria on July 16th and everything ended up OK.
Quick Facts About Wizz Air
- Wizz Air is a low-budget-airline, which means it is similiar to Frontier (and Spirit RIP). In other words, you have to pay for all bags, comfy seats,, snacks, and even a shorter line at the airport.
- Wizz Air is currently the third largest low-budget airline after Ryanair and EasyJet, and it is based out of Hungary.
Checking a Bag on Wizz Air
- My fiance and I booked this flight since it was relatively cheap around ~$80 a ticket, and one of the few direct flights from Tirana to Sofia. We did add checked bags when booking, which does upgrade your ticket and give you priority boarding & check-in.
- We checked our backpacking backpacks. In the US, this would be a carry-on, but in Europe, with carry-on sizes being smaller and budget airlines even more restrictive, we chose to check the bags. I usually put an airtag in my luggage & use luggage locks for peace of mind.
- In general, I found many of the direct routes in Europe are handled by budget airlines, but they are only operated a couple times a week.
- Since we had this upgraded ticket, we did not have to wait in a very long line to check our bag and get our ticket. We still had to wait 20 minutes, but the line for non-priority customers looked like it was an hour.
Waiting in Line & Check-in
- Whenever I fly within Europe (US passport holder), I am required to get a paper ticket from the airline check-in desk, even if that airline has an app. So even if you check in in advance, you are still required to go to the desk and get your ticket prior to going through security.
- We got to the airport about 2 hours before, ubering/taxiing. We made our flight, and had time before our flight after security & immigration to get a snack.
- Choose your adventure based on your level of anxiety when it comes to flying internationally.
Flying on Wizz Air
- In Wizz Air, they really optimize every seat on the plane.
- Wizz Air offers front and rear loading which makes it super convenient getting on and off the plane.
- The plane itself was really nice and clean. Yes, the seats were close (28 inches) and bare, but the plane itself was great. It wasn’t a full flight, so my fiance ended up moving to sit next to me.
- Albania is not in the EU, and Bulgaria, our destination, is in the EU. Keep in mind whenever you fly between EU countries you have to go through immigration on the way out and on the way in.
- Flights have been incredibly expensive this year, so it was nice having this budget option especially for short flights.
Buying Flights in a Foreign Currency
When we originally booked this flight, we attempted to charge it in Albanian Leks (ALL). The credit card (capital one) by default blocked the purchase, but only after we were confirmed. It was odd: we got an email from Wizz Air after already booking our ticket, asking us to provide another credit card. Alarm bells went off (feeling very scammy!), so we called Wizz Air, and they explained this happens sometimes, so you have to charge the purchase in a different foreign currency. Their customer service was nice and responsive.
Alyssa’s Tip: Whenever purchasing in a foreign currency, you should charge them in the foreign currency (it will ask) so your credit card can determine the exchange rate instead of that merchant. If you do get charged foreign transaction fees, then don’t do this, but most travel cards waive them. If you do choose to charge the USD price, you are subject to that merchant’s exchange rate, and they are behooved to charge you more than the actual exchange rate to make more money off of you.
Recommendation: Is Wizz Air a Real Airline?
Yes, it is! I would fly Wizz Air again! In Europe, it is more common to fly budget airlines since many of them offer direct routes to your destination, and can save you hours of travel time. Not even considering that they are much cheaper than the alternatives.
The plane was clean, the flight attendants were nice, and I got my bags with no problem. I had a terrible experience with the Balkans buses, so this was great. I would fly over bus anyday.
