kyleclogan

The SO has a habit of finding new budget airlines (god bless Scott’s Cheap Flights), and today found one that I can’t for the life of me find a discussion on FT about, PLAY airlines.

What seems to be the next iteration of WOW, they are spinning up Boston routes to Europe through Iceland. While this sounds great, I am certain the airline will go the way of its predecessor.

I arrive at my question. Typically I come to FT to qualm any unwarranted excitement about a new carrier like this (*cough* Le Compagnie *cough*). Does anyone have experience flying them/could point out glaring risks of flying them (scarily low number of planes, etc)?

MisterBill

I'm planning to fly to Iceland in August for a cruise, and was considering Play since they will be flying out of Stewart Airport in Newburgh, NY, which is extremely convenient for me compared to JFK and EWR (and a much more pleasant experience). But I was already questioning whether to take a chance, and your talking about low numbers of planes got me concerned about what would happen if they had equipment problems and had to cancel my flight because they did not have a backup plane to roll out. I am still interested to hear about the in-flight experience, however.

danpeake

Anyone able to share their experience with the airline?

Braniff

Icelandic. Low cost, no frills. Brand new planes, expanding. Young, lively crew. Would book them with confidence.

PHLFlyer

Flew with them in September from Stewart-Newburgh NY (SWF) to London Stansted (STN) via KEF. Crew is all young, friendly, and efficient. Buy on board drinks/snacks/sandwiches. Nothing is free. Trolley passes thru the cabin after takeoff but they happily return any time for additional purchases if you ring the bell.

No blankets, pillows, nor entertainment on board. 2 of my flights (KEF-STN and STN-KEF) were on their most recently acquired aircraft (TF-PPD) that had signage in English and Russian, and lacked USB charging. The other aircraft had 2 USB chargers per each section of 3 seats.

Planes were new-ish, but the seats could use more padding. I paid extra for exit row which was comparable to domestic US carrier exit seating. I had brought an old airplane blanket that I folded up and sat on for additional padding.

All 4 of my flights were early (the SWF-KEF arrived almost an hour early, at 3:45am, and there was nothing to do in KEF airport at that hour). I was happy that I had bought a sandwich on the flight from the USA and didn't wait until my transit as there was nothing open in the airport until 6am (and my onward flight to London started boarding at 5:45am).

I'd say if everything goes according to plan, they're fine. However they don't have a large fleet, nor are you able to contact them by phone, so if there's any operational problems you could be stuck. That said, I'd definitely fly them again if the price is right.

danpeake

Pretty good experience as well. As said, you pay for everything (although seat assignment provided at checkin for free). I paid for an exit row seat ($36 from BWI to KEF). My flight also got in early (arrived at 4:30 a.m. instead of 5 a.m.). My biggest complaint was the flight times themselves - my flight left at 7 p.m. which is not conducive to getting even a small amount of shut eye - and that was before the rowdy group on my flight started playing cards in the aisle and wouldn't shut up.

The planes I flew were former Interjet planes and the legroom was excellent in the exit row and seemed decent in the regular rows too. But the padding definitely left something to be desired.

Ground staff didn't bat an eyelash at my larger backpack (not sure how they're policing the carryon restrictions, if at all).

No way I could take that flight to Europe with such an early departure and "short" flight to KEF and onto Europe but I'd fly them to Iceland again.

drseagrass

Had pretty much the same experience as above on flights from BWI-KEF-CPH. Flights left early and arrived early. Interjet Airbuses on both legs with Spanish/English placards, plenty of leg room in the exit room; regular seats were not cramped either. No charging capabilities. The overhead monitors played throughout the flights showing progress with a plane with a blue tail (Interjet) imposed on the mapped geographical image and the time displayed in Interjet relevant cities such as Hermosillo, Bogatá, and Nueva York.

vivere

It seems like Play got two A32N from their lessor which is factory new, so not any Interjet stuff. I will probably book a ticket with them today, because of their winter sale.

drseagrass

Had a good experience flying the return leg CPH-KEF-BWI also. Flights left early and arrived early, easy transfer at KEF and customs and immigration at BWI is pretty easy compared to IAD---10 minutes from

former Interjet plane exit row

A-321 Neo exit row
plane door to terminal door. The CPH-KEF flight was on an A-320 neo that was not an Interjet plane and the seating was tighter both in exit row and in general. The exit row on the Interjet plane was really like poor man's first class (photos attached). After paying for the aisle exit row and a carry-on bag, the ticket price was still half of what SAS and Icelandair wanted. Didn't have a Saturday overnight and that still costs you on the big airlines over the pond.

salut0

How much extra would you say per person it would cost to make the standard PLAY experience into something akin to economy on a mainline carrier with which you have elite benefits (lounge access, pick of good seats for free, carry on a backpack as well as a roll aboard bag?).

I ask because I’m looking into constructing a trip LHR-KEF on BA, followed by KEF-SWF on PLAY, but I’d like to have lounge access in KEF between flights and also wonder about the other benefits.

I assume regarding irrops that they’re just as recalcitrant about paying for EU261 comp as most other carriers are, especially low-cost ones…

drseagrass

I am not sure this is the best way to phrase the question. You can pay more with PLAY than a bare-bones ticket costs and get a nicer seat and bring more carryon stuff aboard and you can buy a meal, and since the starting price is typically lower than the mainline airlines, except for lounge access, your experience might even seem superior to the mainline airline experience for an elite flyer and you could still come out ahead on pricing. But flying on PLAY is not like flying on SAS or even Icelandair. It isn't necessarily bad, in many ways for the pricing, it is better, but their ability to help you in the case of irrops is likely to more limited due to the small plane fleet. The Icelandair lounge at KEF is nice, but you can't buy access to it. The criteria to get in is at https://pixels.icelandair.com/bltd6d...717.1695436968. I would worry about flying BA to Iceland and then having the PLAY ticket on a separate itinerary. If one airline lets you down, the other one will fly without you. Planning a stopover in Iceland each way on such a separate ticket itinerary would be less risky.

wingnuthead

Not sure if its apples to apples... I have elite on a couple of mainstream carriers and other than some seat selections, I don't get that much. Certainly don't get lounge access at the carrier lounges.. I switched to Priority Pass at this point for lounges plus the occasional Amex/Chase lounge.

Also, don't know if you saw, but Play goes to Stansted... certainly not anywhere near LHR, but at least you could get the entire itinerary that way. Apparently, the allow stopover fares if you contact them. I don't know this other than reading that a few people did this so they could say in Iceland for a few days.

Also, I live near SWF, and awesome airport!!

Braniff

https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/t...bin-crew-2023/