Weird – Wizz Air grants free flights to Ukrainian refugees but charges them for their luggage!
Wizz Air grants free flights but charges Ukrainian refugees for their extra luggage.
Flights are free, extra luggage is charged
A British woman is outraged because the Hungarian airline did not grant free luggage along with free tickets for Ukrainian refugees fleeing war. Agnese Edmonds says she was “gobsmacked” to find out that a Ukrainian family of four who she had welcomed into her home had to pay £108 (HUF ~50,000, EUR ~130) to transport their two suitcases.
As the Mirror reported, Wizz Air offered the flight for free but asked the refugees fleeing the Russian invasion to pay for their bags. The low-cost airline announced earlier that it would provide 100,000 free seats for refugees coming from Ukraine. However, everyone will be charged for extra baggage.
What do penniless people do?
According to the Mirror, Edmonds, who lives in Essex, said she was “gobsmacked” to find out about the fee for the two suitcases and said that the charge felt “unfair and strange”. As we can read in szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu’s article, Edmonds said that the family who arrived at her home had very few belongings, but they still had to pay. She cannot even imagine what it feels like for those penniless people who somehow make it to the airport but cannot get on the flights that will give them a new life because of money.
As the Mirror reported, speaking to LBC, Agnese Edmonds said:
“Although they didn’t have too much luggage… the adults had one suitcase each, so they had to pay for that. So I’m not sure for those people who didn’t have any money, you know, how would they get through? Who would pay for them?”
Wizz Air’s promotion
To the outraged English host, it was obvious that in such a situation, the airline would not only provide the ticket but also the luggage free of charge. However, Wizz Air had previously explained everything precisely in the description of the promotion:
“The indicated number of tickets (100,000) at 0 EUR price applies until availability lasts for selected flights departing until 10 April 2022. One carry-on bag (max: 40x30x20cm) is included. Trolley bags, each piece of checked-in baggage, and additional services are subject to additional fees.”
What is more, Wizz Air has also specified that a valid Ukrainian passport is required to travel. In the absence of such a passport, passengers will have to pay the full fare of the flight before boarding.
Read alsoWizz Air’s extraordinary announcement – these flights will be cancelled for months
Source: szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu, mirror.co.uk
3 Comments
It does not matter that Wizz Air states this or that in advance (via a website that people fleeing war may not be able to easily access). It is mean spirited. Not surprising from them – terrible airline because their customer services (ground based) are rude and unhelpful at the best of times. I never use them now, once bitten, twice shy.
I agree with Jet. Wizzair is a bluff, just a cheap airline pretending to be something like a higher-class budget carrier. In fact, they are generally not so budget and their customer service rates below zero, even worse than Ryanair.
Never been on a Wizzair flight? Generally, seats and luggage (i.e. anything bigger than an underseat bag) are the most expensive items!