Budget travel: EIN - TSR for 15 euros RT with Wizz Air
 

This is my first trip report. It's not much in terms of great photo quality, but hey I am only starting and wanted to show a route most people probably have never flown here. This EIN - TSR route started up this spring. It seems like it could be doing better; the plane isn't entirely full , and we paid a ridiculously low price for the ticket. However I hope that popularity rises for this route. Aside from TSR, Wizz also flies to Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca from Eindhoven if you want to go to Romania.

Who said flying needs to be expensive? We paid only about 15 euros a person round trip for this flight. We did not purchase any amenities (nor checked baggage), because we did not need them. A beer on board the flight was 3 euros though, quite cheap but I don't like to fly with no alcohol :mrgreen: And it's not like they made a lot of money off us otherwise.

Flight information:
W6 3526
A320
EIN - TSR
Scheduled departure: 13:35
Actual departure: 14:05
Scheduled arrival: 16:45
Seats: 8BC

We begin at Eindhoven Airport, a small airport in the south of the country. We live about 2 hours from there. Though AMS is much closer, of course EIN is the main LCC gateway from the Netherlands (aside from hard to reach NRN and CRL).
Checking the app we learnt that our flight had a delay of 30 minutes, well before we reached the airport. So no hurry today.

The ''''ínternational'''' terminal at EIN (as in, non-Schengen) is a piece of terminal behind a glass wall with only a handful of gates. Romania is also non-Schengen so we were condemned to wait here.

http://i.imgur.com/15ziCsa.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/rw20bTD.jpg

Wizz Air has very restrictive baggage rules, almost no bag really fits into the small compartment. But they are mostly difficult with trolleys, if you just bring a backpack it'll generally be fine. We did not see them check anyone for this flight, as it was only abuot 75% full.
http://i.imgur.com/QB1RmIC.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5EFVF9I.jpg

Our flight was 'boarding' for a very long time, with all the sheep standing in line (we know better), while nothing actually happened.
http://i.imgur.com/HmTCGiX.jpg

'Boarding' is, in EIN, still just walking over the tarmac to your plane and walking up the stairway. No buses, no jetbridges.
http://i.imgur.com/qWir0JH.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/n6cBgB6.jpg

There she is
http://i.imgur.com/BieFs3E.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/9ZVN2zI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/isAJ9S6.jpg

We were in Row 8. Of course you don't need to expect that much leg room. Seats do not recline. However, unlike with FR there IS a seat pocket which I do enjoy greatly. Nothing more annoying than not having a seat pocket.

http://i.imgur.com/NpzVCst.jpg

Odd Polish advertisement on the seats. This is not a flight to or from Poland, though of course Wizz has a very large presence on the polish market.
http://i.imgur.com/Dh2rqRw.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/bohbkkV.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ZqiEMhi.jpg

We arrived with the expected delay in Timisoara. Here as well it's just walking over the tarmac. There was a very long line at immigration, sadly.
http://i.imgur.com/T4JPPm3.jpg

Timisoara is a beautiful little town (300 000 souls) for a short weekend trip. I would reccomend it if you get a cheap flight like we did.
http://i.imgur.com/Rb2OsLE.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Fvvegvl.jpg

Flight info:
W6 3525
A320
Scheduled departure: 11:45
Scheduled arrival: 13:05
Seats: 25DE

Soon it was already time to return.
http://i.imgur.com/F9VMC1H.jpg

TSR still had a humongous old-fashioned screen, which I was very happy about. It just has so much more charm than the digital displays.
http://i.imgur.com/u4XifHZ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/4LpkI2W.jpg

We can already see her in the background
http://i.imgur.com/7jNiRYH.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/zlCuiWY.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/JKXwU01.jpg

I am very new at this plane hobby, so I don't know what the plain in the background is. EDIT: I think it is the ATR 72 operated by TAROM.
http://i.imgur.com/WhwkVCE.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/khHZKGW.jpg

The occupancy on this flight was a bit better than the outbound, but still not jam packed.

http://i.imgur.com/z3X7eRR.jpg

Rainy arrival at EIN.

http://i.imgur.com/SsVSXCZ.jpg


Overall opinion:
Value for money? Well duh. For 15 euros, I would stand the entire damn way if I had to, haha.
The seat is not very generous, and I think it is for the better that there is no recline. As long as you have space in the overhead compartment it's fine, really, and it's not like you will be using Wizz for long-haul.
Unlike FR, they don't play annoying commercials, tunes and music during the flight. They just announce the necessary stuff in Romanian (this case) and English and that's it. No dumb lottery tickets either.
Meal/drink service is good, but paid of course. Are the FAs friendly? Not really. They do their job and when asked something they will give a short, concise reply and that's it. No elaborate small talk or friendliness. And honestly can one expect more for 15 euros? You can pay with Lei, Euros or credit card. Oddly I needed to present my passport when paying with credit card, not sure if that is normal elsewhere. Prices of the beverages/food are steep, but you don't HAVE to buy them and that's of course the entire point.
The outbound had a delay of 30 mins, but it was announced on the app beforehand and the delay did not become larger, so I can hardly count it as a negative point.

Overall: Wizz is what-you-see-is-what-you-get. Or rather: what th you pay is what you get. If you just want to get from A to B for cheap and no frills, there is no reason not to fly them. However if you start buying amenities, the price quickly adds up and you had better just fly a regular airline. I will not pay for a Wizz ticket if any mainline carrier is even remotely competitive in price.

Detailed report. Thanks. Looks like a quaintnand interesting town.

Thank you for the report. 15 € is indeed Budget and it´s not too bad what you get for it;) The town looks like it´s worth a visit

Unusual and useful TR, thanks.

I'm using W6 more often now that they have a direct flight from NAP to WAW, slowly ditching LH.
A 6-8/hour with connection versus a 2/hour direct for a 1/4 of the price is simply unbeatable, even for a status conscious pax.

And I even enjoy fast track and lounge access due a NAP new frequent flyer program.

As you said the onboard experience is decent overall and even including the large carry-on luggage does not add up an outrageous fee.

OT: amusingly the LH answer to a new competitor has been raising the price. All happy then.

I fly Wizz a lot - obvious when you are living in an Eastern European city. On short haul flights, I refuse to pay 100 euro or more for a flight I can book for 10 euro on a low-cost. I rather save the money and spend it on a fancier hotel/meal on the ground.

While legacy carriers like Aegean and TAROM are still decent, many others are semi-budget airlines anyway. I honestly don't see any difference between lets say KLM where you have to pay as well for luggage, and only get a crappy package of crackers on board. If I need to fly to the Netherlands or Belgium, I rather fly Wizz to EIN or Ryanair to CRL (or if there is a flash sale, TAROM to AMS or BRU).

Bakpapier - so how did you enjoy the stay in Timisoara? Did you try some of the local food/drinks you asked about?

I have been to Timisoara once sometime in the last couple of years as well, but I forgot what I flew to get there - probably LH. Nice town for a day trip but not so much to interest me there otherwise.

Cool TR:). Flying Wizz on Tuesday. My first time on a European LCC so should be fun:).