Having flown numerous short-haul Wizz Air flights without any issues (I've found their staff far more pleasant than those at Ryanair), I've wanted to try out their Abu Dhabi service ever since it launched.
There were only a handful of flight combinations that met these requirements so I chose a flight from London Luton (LTN) to Belgrade, and then a separate, same-day flight from Belgrade to Abu Dhabi. This had a six-hour connection in Serbia which wasn't ideal as it meant a very early start in London and arriving in the UAE after midnight. But at least I would not have to overnight anywhere and Serbia had easy entry requirements.
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Booking both flights separately was a royal pain, walking through so many optional upsells from seat assignments, to travel insurance, to Wi-Fi. While the base fares with no extras were cheap for both flights, the prices crept up when extras were added. I was traveling hand luggage only but this included a full-size cabin bag as I was in the UAE for a number of days. Wizz bundles a full-size cabin bag with priority boarding which I was happy to pay as I needed to photograph the cabin without too many other passengers in it.
Luton airport was the normal miserable experience as I arrived before the crack of dawn. In the six years I've been using the airport I don't believe I've ever seen it without construction and this was no exception.
My first flight of the day was a pretty standard Wizz experience and with a flight time of just under three hours, it was perfectly fine. Lining up out in the cold wind is never pleasant but the knowledge I was heading somewhere sunny warmed me up, mentally at least.
My decision to skip paid seat selection meant I was auto-allocated an aisle seat towards the back of the plane. The royal blue seats with their candy pink piping are quite garish, and the slimline seats don't have much padding (or any recline), but they get you from point A to point B.
There was an inflight magazine (but no charging ports, Wi-Fi or other inflight entertainment), as well as menus which I perused with excitement given I would be spending the equivalent of an entire working day onboard Wizz flights that day.
After takeoff, I chose a "premium" New York deli sandwich. It was only really premium in price. I would have been disappointed if it was a $5 Tesco supermarket meal deal but it did the job for an underwhelming and overpriced low-cost airline onboard meal.
I found transferring to Belgrade to be both awesome (for the lounge experience) and awful (for the check-in experience). While I was able to check in online successfully for my first Wizz Air flight, I was not able to do the same for the second flight, as Wizz advised they would need to check my PCR test for entry to Abu Dhabi.
I tried my luck heading to the nearest Priority Pass lounge without an onward boarding pass (per the rules), and to my surprise, the lounge agent was happy to let me in with a shrug and a "why not"? The "Business Club Lounge" was nothing to write home about but better than sitting in the check-in area for hours.
Three hours before my second flight departed I left the lounge, passed immigration and had my passport stamped for a very quick visit to Serbia. I found the Wizz Air check-in and explained I had attempted to check in online but needed to show my PCR test.
It's been a while since I've sat in a check-in hall waiting for a flight to open but I found a seat and waited. Just prior to the two-hour mark, I returned to check in as dozens of other passengers crowded around waiting for the flight to open. Eventually, the same agent who had refused to help an hour earlier motioned for me to come forward. I showed him my negative PCR test on my phone to which he responded that I needed a printed version for him to keep. In two years of traveling on and off during the pandemic, this is the first time anyone has ever asked me for this. He pointed me to a nearby testing clinic in the terminal and luckily they were happy to print my test result at no charge.
When I returned to the check-in area a few minutes later it was pandemonium. Evidently, some passengers were unaware they needed a PCR test for Abu Dhabi (the requirement has since been removed). Some passengers were screaming at the check-in staff, while others were wailing loudly, begging to be let on the flight. I waved my printed test result like a white flag among the chaos and the same staff member eventually let me come forward to complete the check-in process.
Given the complex process of checking in for flights to Abu Dhabi, I wish Wizz Air would open check-in three hours before departure rather than two. I can only imagine the scene and anxiety 40 minutes before departure when check-in closes.
I passed through immigration again, receiving another passport stamp to celebrate my roughly 75 minutes in Serbia, and happened to walk past the Air Serbia lounge. There was a sign saying they welcomed Priority Pass members which surprised me a little as I knew Air Serbia was a rather premium airline, so in I went.
The first reason I would not do this again is that Wizz Air does not sell connecting tickets on a single itinerary. Some low-cost carriers like EasyJet and Norwegian do offer connecting flights on a single ticket, recognizing that while they fly a huge amount of point-to-point services, some passengers will need to take two or more flights to get where they want to go.
The second reason is that Wizz Air hasn't really thought out its Abu Dhabi services. These flights are some of the longest in their network and are very different to a quick one-hour hop to France. 200 passengers in a (fairly uncomfortable) plane for five hours get bored quickly. Wizz could easily make the experience more enjoyable, and most importantly profitable, on these long flights with a few simple adjustments. Charging ports would be very welcome as would Wi-Fi which they could easily charge $16.36 (12) for five hours' worth.
The first flight was fine and reminded me that Wizz is a solid ultra-low-cost carrier. You get what you pay for and it's a perfectly tolerable experience. The wheels fell off in both the transfer experience and the second flight. If Wizz is going to operate flights this long, they could make more money by giving their customers something to do during some of the longest flights in their network.
Wizz Air is an ultra-low-cost carrier based in Budapest, Hungary. The airline offers scheduled passenger flights to over 200 destinations across Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.
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Different pay-later plans will appear at checkout depending on your country of residence and the currency you're paying for your flights with. For example, if you're a resident of the UK, you can fly now with Wizz Air and pay later using Clearpay or Klarna. We have many more Buy Now Pay Later payment methods that haven't been mentioned in this guide - we recommend checking out our Buy Now Pay Later guide to find out all of the flexible payment plans we offer on our site!
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