AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
WOW air has made waves with ultra-cheap fares to Europe. You can pick up a ticket to Europe for as little as $99. Needless to say, for any low-cost carriers to remain competitive they have to really offer a bare bones service and charge for any extras. It now seems that in their drive to be more competitive WOW has gone a step further; they have cut the traditional free overhead bin carry-on, and have increased some of the fees they charge for other items as well.
Bigger Paid Carry On’s
Previously you were entitled to take a carry-on measuring 16.5 x 12.5 x 10 inches, with a maximum weight of 22 lbs. While this is no longer the case and you have to pay, WOW has increased the dimensions of the carry-on to 22 x 18 x 10 inches, with a maximum weight up to 26 lbs. They have also increased the dimensions of the personal item from 16.5 x 8 x 8 inches, to 17 X 13 X 10.
What is interesting is that even with the price hike, WOW has maintained a different pricing structure for flights from the East coast and those from the West coast to Iceland: East coast fees are $40.99 per leg, and from the West coast $50.99.
For flights to Europe from both coasts that merely connect through Iceland, the fees per carry-on have remained the same at $50.99
Seat Selection Has Gone Up Too
WOW has also increased their prices for seat selection. Standard seats will now set you back between $11.99 – $12.99, XL seats will cost $50.99, and the new premium XXL seats which will make their debut on June 1, 2017, will set you back $60.99. Although so far, little is known about the new XXL seats from WOW Air.
New Fare Bundles
With all the changes the company has announced, they are also introducing some new fare bundles that are designed to be more economical than just purchasing a standard ticket. The 3 new fare bundles are WOW Basic, WOW Plus, and WOW Biz.
- WOW Basic is exactly that, just a seat with one small personal item and nothing else
- WOW Plus is the same as WOW Basic, with the addition of a carry-on, and one checked bag up to 44 lbs. The fare bundle also includes Cancellation protection
- WOW Biz is the same as WOW Plus, with the addition of an XL or XXL seat depending on the aircraft, as well as a “Big Seat” on WOW Air’s new Airbus A330s. The bundle also includes a hot meal onboard, and priority boarding.
Overall
While it is always disappointing when an airline removes a benefit and starts charging for it, WOW air has somewhat mitigated the loss by increasing the size of the bags that you are paying for. Even with the extra add-on fees involved with flying WOW air, it is still a great deal for a hop across the Atlantic. It seems that the competition is heating up between WOW air and Norwegian for the ultra-low-cost transatlantic market.
Source: Travel Codex/James Dozer
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
I’m not a big fan of “pay as you use” airline initiatives. What’s next? Charging to use the washroom??
This is a good example of nickel and diming so the true cost is actually a lot higher.
Even less interest in this airline now.
Well it’s enough to know a 10 years old math and do the calculation of the total cost.
Not reaĺly complicated.
Now they are the Air Asia version of Europe… Probably won’t ever fly on them with this change.
Going with what Spirit Airlines and Frontier did, they follow what Europes Ryanair and Easy jet does, more money in the Airlines pocket and they board and unload the planes super fast without having so much carry on luggage.
With a all the extra fees, I would be curious to know the final cost of the trip.
This is really pay per use to its limit. Still interesting to see if this model works out!
Fees on flights are just too complicated for me. There has got to be a better way of keeping track who charges for what and what size bag. And can’t the airlines sell or at least endorse the correct bags to avoid each of their charges?
The way I have been avoiding this game is just not flying on airlines that do these things. But if more and more start doing it, we won’t have a choice.
I like the concept of allowing free under seat baggage and charging for the overhead baggage as long as this is clear and upfront at the time of booking. If I’m on a short trip I am used to now putting my bag underneath the seat anyway as overhead is usually very full. I think even a small fee would encourage those that could put their bags under the seat to do so, leaving more space for those willing to pay the fee for bigger bags. The fee though in this case seems very high at $40 or $50 and risks alienating passengers.
$99 to Europe form the US though is an amazing price, even though Iceland (which is well worth visiting) is quite a long way from the rest of Europe.
Explains why Wow airline can charge $99 to Europe..
more complications, and less service, you get what you pay for.
Still at the fares they charge paying for checked baggage can still be a good deal!
Unfortunately, we have started to see this in the US as well, with United and American “Basic” fares. Really sad.
Certainty these low cost carriers provide value for some, but stripping away the already thin fare inclusuions doesn’t seem to be the way to attract new customers.
Even with the cost of one carry-on, the prices are amazing and unbeatable! I will have to check them out on my next European flight!!
curious to see what their new seats are going to be
I hate being nickel and dimed to death by all these corporations
Right off the Spirit playbook. This is ridiculous.
I’ll be flying Wow Air soon so I’ll keep this is mind.
Seems a little bit like false advertising since no one is going to travel with a personal item only. 100 bucks round trip for a carry on seems excessive and those dimensions aren’t generous either. maybe time to buy some softer carry on sans wheels so they can be stuff in the carry on sizer. Mine isn’t as big as many I see but still never fits in any of those sizers due to wheels and cant be shrunk in size even if its only partly full.
Although it’s still often the cheapest option, I really resent these extra fees – a far starts off seeming cheap but then mounts up quickly.
With such cheap fares, perhaps its not a big deal??
Disappointing to hear but still a good deal.
40 to 50 bucks for a carry-on when the ticket itself is 99 dollars…that’s a pretty hefty price tag for a bag, but I guess I can’t complain if I can fly to Europe and back for less than 400 dollars.
My head hurts from trying to do all the calculations necessary when attempting to calculate what a ticket actually costs you on discount airlines versus a full price all inclusive ticket price carrier.
Well they have to make money somehow
Seems like they have to really be barebones to survive except things can get expensive once you add in all the costs for the consumer.