Wizz Air doubles family's travel costs with unexpected check-in fee

Linda Wallgren faced a doubling of her family's holiday costs due to unexpected charges from Wizz Air, highlighting a growing issue with hidden fees in the airline industry. Wallgren had initially paid 2,500 Swedish kronor for flights from Landvetter to Poland. However, on the day of her return journey, the Wizz Air app malfunctioned, preventing her from checking in online, a process that incurs an extra fee if done at the airport.

Despite trying for several hours to complete the online check-in, Wallgren encountered persistent error messages. This technical failure forced her to pay a penalty fee of 2,300 kronor at the airport. The total cost for the family's flights thus amounted to 4,800 kronor, with the additional fees nearly equaling the original ticket price. Wallgren expressed her frustration, noting the stress this caused, especially for her children, on their last evening of vacation.

“

It was not fun for the children to have an absent mother who just sat trying to solve a check-in during the trip's last evening. In the end, we just had to cough up 2,300 kronor in penalty fees at the airport.

This incident occurs at a time when the European Union is actively working to eliminate such hidden extra costs imposed by airlines. Low-cost carriers, particularly Wizz Air, are known to rely heavily on these ancillary revenues. A previous report indicated that Wizz Air generates the highest revenue per passenger from additional services among budget airlines. This strategy allows them to advertise seemingly low base fares while significantly increasing the final price through various add-ons.

While many travelers are aware of these extra charges and attempt to avoid them, unexpected technical issues can still lead to substantial penalties. Wallgren mentioned that she has already booked her next trip with Wizz Air via Kiwi, acknowledging the limited cost-effective alternatives available, such as SAS. However, she remains uncertain whether the check-in issue was due to Kiwi's platform or Wizz Air's system.

“

We don't have that many alternatives. From a cost perspective, it is unreasonable for us to travel with SAS. At the same time, we don't know if it was Kiwi's or Wizz Air's fault that we couldn't check in this time.