Wizz Air launches £429 ‘All You Can Fly’ subscription …. but what’s the catch?

Wizz Air has followed US airline Frontier to become the first European airline to launch an unlimited flight subscription package.

Wizz Air is selling 10,000 of these annual ‘All You Can Fly’ passes at an introductory price of €499 each, which works out at around £429. The normal price is €599 and will be charged from tomorrow, Friday. Each country has a set allocation of passes – once they are gone, they are gone.

What does £429 get you?

One thing’s for sure: the All You Can Fly pass does NOT get you free flights. You still need to pay a €9.99 (£8.57) booking fee every time you book a flight using your pass.

Here’s how it works:

1. You purchase the All You Can Fly voucher on the Wizz Air Multipass page here.
2. You then use your voucher to book your first one-way flight on the Wizz Air website (for free)
3. Further flights within your subscription year can be booked for a flat fee of €9.99

The pass automatically renews on an annual basis at the standard price of €599. To stop it from renewing, simply cancel it before the renewal date. You can continue to use your benefits until that moment.

Flights can be booked under the All You Can Fly pass from the 25th September.

What’s the catch?

As you can imagine, this deal is not as good as it looks at face value. In addition to the €9.99 you need to pay for booking flights there are other restrictions to consider:

• You can only book flights up to three days (72 hours) in advance, so only short notice travel is possible
• The T&Cs are VERY vague about the circumstances under which seats will be made available. It is NOT ‘if we have an empty seat, you can have it’. The rules give Wizz unlimited flexibility to decide whether to release expensive last minute availability.
• You can only book one-way tickets. That means that, in line with the above, you may be stuck at your destination longer than you planned for if your planned return flight is unavailable.
• Your ticket includes only your airfare and a personal item. You need to pay extra for additional luggage (including cabin baggage), seat selection, priority boarding and more. The price varies depending on the length of flight, but a quick search for a flight from London to Prague indicates that you’d pay £34 for 10kg cabin bag as part of Wizz Priority or £28 to check 10kg in.
• You can book a maximum of three one-way flights in a 24 hour period.
• You should only book flights you intend to make: more than three no-shows and you are at risk of having your membership terminated

The full terms and conditions of the offer are here.

Where can I fly to with Wizz Air’s All You Can Fly subscription?

The good news is that you can use the subscription pass across the entire Wizz Air international network: the only flights not included are domestic Italian flights.

Wizz Air has a relatively extensive network now with hubs in Europe and Abu Dhabi, so you could feasibly use this pass to explore Europe, Northern Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and even the Maldives.

Wizz Air’s main UK bases are at both Gatwick and Luton, although it does operate select routes to other UK airports from across its entire European network.

Is this worth it or just a marketing gimmick?

Whilst it sounds cool on paper, in reality the All You Can Fly pass is unlikely to wash its face for most people.

For a start, you’d need to by flying regularly to make the most of it. Assuming a one-way Wizz Air flight in Europe is normally around £50, you’d have to make at least eight flights for it to be ‘worth’ it.

Unless you’re an extremely light packer, you also need to factor in the cost of bags. Wizz Air’s service fees set out what you can expect to pay: between €11 and €83 for a 10kg, per flight. That can quickly add up.

My first thought was that the All You Can Fly pass would be attractive for backpackers on their gap year: after all, these people (and I was one of them once!) are cash-poor but time-rich and often make plans at the last minute.

However, even the lightest backpackers I met on my travels had more than a small personal item with them. If you’re staying away for many months you probably want more than two changes of clothes with you, plus whatever else you might need day-to-day.

Factor in the €9.99 and an average (let’s say) €35 baggage fee, that ‘free’ flight suddenly doesn’t look so cheap any more.

It’s not great for regular business travellers either, as the 3-day booking window (and lack of guaranteed availability) makes it hard to plan far in advance. Imagine using your All You Can Fly pass to book a flight to a very important sales meeting only to find out that the flight you wanted is full. You’d be laughed out the room.

The only scenario I can see it working is if you are a regular commuter for work or you have a second home somewhere. If you are commuting between, for example, London and Malaga twice a week then suddenly it becomes interesting.

You could split you wardrobe between home and your midweek accommodation or second home and simply shuttle back and forth for €9.99/trip.

Conclusion

Wizz Air’s All You Can Fly pass is an interesting offer, but you should think carefully whether it makes sense for you. Don’t forget that Wizz Air was the least-punctual airline flying to or from the UK last year. You can see my review of the experience from a few years ago here.

As I outline above, there are a number of catches that make the offer less attractive than the headline marketing suggests. It is worth reading the full terms and conditions if you are seriously considering it.

Don’t forget that the introductory offer of €499 is only valid until the end of tonight. From tomorrow, Friday 16th August, the pass will cost €599. You can buy it on the Wizz Air site here.

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