(Just a warning: this post is mostly an experience on budget airlines WOW. Which in our case, translates to a sad story of 5 hours aboard a plane with nothing to show for it…)
Flights across the pond and into Europe range anywhere from $700 to over $1000 a piece. So when budget airlines WOW (yes, that is the real airline name) offered $259 flights From Washington DC to London, with a single measly layover in Reykjavic Iceland, we figured it would be worth a shot.
Now it’s a budget airlines, so not everything is as it seems. The flight didn’t leave from Regan or even Dulles airport, but BWI in Baltimore, MD. It’s not too bad, just a little further out—about an hour drive compared to 15 minutes to Regan or even 30-45 to Dulles.
The price however, is a bit too straightforward. The cost of the flight was literally just that: the price to fly. If you want to bring more than a personal item, have a snack, or even choose your seat, you must pay additional fees. After selecting all the add-ons we wanted and added taxes, our total came out to $775.92—about half the price of the next cheapest airlines.
Here’s what our breakdown for one person came out to:
WEB AIRFARE: $245.96 USD
SEAT RESERVATION (BWI to KEF): $38.99 USD
SEAT RESERVATION (KEF to LGW): $19.99 USD
IS Airport Service Charge Winter period: $2.63 USD
ZU passenger fee Winter: $3.50 USD
US-INTL TRANSPORTATION TAX DEPARTURE: $17.80 USD
US-PASSENGER CIVILATION SECURITYSERVICE CHARGE: $5.60 USD
US-PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGE: $4.50 USD
1 PC. CABIN BAGGAGE MAX 12KG: $48.99 USD
Our e-tickets listed our flight as leaving at 7:10pm EST, and like the excellent travelers that we are, we got there a full 2 hours early for check-in, even with our single “XL” carry-on luggage.
Our carry-on bags were weighed and tagged before we took them through security. With the purchase of an Extra-Large luggage, we were allowed to take a max of 12kg with larger dimensions (which were necessary to our particular carry-on luggages), as opposed to the 10kg max of a small carry-on.
This terminal looked quite new and crisp, though small. Charging outlets and USB ports abounded by the seats in the waiting area. The only edible amenities in the terminal were a small snack stand and a place that sold burgers, patty melts, salads, and sandwiches. An aside: there were no pokestops, poke gyms, or even pokemon (we looked).
Oddly, the flight was listed as “on time” to leave 10 minutes earlier than the time listed on our e-ticket.
We didn’t mind it and we didn’t even start boarding until about 6:45.
There were no boarding groups, but the WOW airline personnel asked that those needing assistance, traveling with kids, with a birthday, anniversary, or honeymoon line up first. They repeated the announcement, asked those folks celebrating something to raise their hands and gave a cheerful “woohoo” as they boarded.
Once the plane was fully boarded we still waited for a while until the stewardesses made an announcement that we needed to get an emergency door on our plane checked and possibly repaired. A short while later (8pm-ish?) a mechanic boarded and it would be several more hours until another update.
Sitting in an airplane is thirsty business. Since no one was allowed to disembark, a stewardess gave me a bottle of water rather than let me fill my bottle at the terminal fountain. At this point (9:30-ish) we were still sitting at the gate with the repairman on board.
Another short while later, a stewardess made a nervous announcement. They would need to get 60 people off the plane in order to take off. Any volunteers would get room/board, a roundtrip ticket with WOW, and be put on a flight the next day. If there weren’t enough volunteers, the people in the 13 rows closest to the door would have no choice but to disembark and take their offer. They also passed out free snacks and water to quell any hanger.
Nobody outright said that the emergency exit door did not work, but it seemed clear enough. As 60 people left the plane the door stayed open and still no one was allowed to disembark. Crowds began to form near the entryway, for cool air, as the front and back of the plane became pretty warm. Luckily our seats were near enough to the door that we had plenty of airflow.
At this point we weren’t sure if we regretted passing up the offer of disembarking in exchange for the next-day flight.
More waiting, since now they had the task of unloading the checked bags of the passengers that had to disembark. Stewardesses came around with an assortment of used magazines as peace offerings.
Our captain announced around 11pm or so that they were simply waiting for baggage handlers to unload the plane, a sad and pathetic reason to hold a huge plane up for hours, in my opinion.
Alas, this is the reality of budget airlines. Thankfully, our thoughtful friend Callie prepared us with a Carry on Cocktail Kit for a pair of whiskey Moscow Mules (complete with a fancy linen coaster)!
Finally, at the strike of 12:43am, we are moving!
Overhead bins still open, tray tables down, and I can only assume all the people splayed out in the empty rows sleeping were still in their places as passed out as possible. While we made our way to the runway the pilot makes a quick announcement apologizing again but letting us know we are on our way to take-off and the stewardesses quickly move to at least close overhead bins before taking their seats too.
I promptly conked out and can’t say much about the in-flight service. Jon said they gave everyone whatever they wanted off the menu. He reported that the pizza/flatbread dish he ordered wasn’t all that great.
Upon landing we rushed to the WOW desk to get seats on the next flight out to London. While those heading to Paris, Amsterdam, and somewhere else were told the earliest flight they could be placed on was the next day, we were placed on a flight to London a mere 6 or so hours later. We were the lucky ones. We spoke to another passenger who was returning home to the UK. He said that it was his first roundtrip flight with WOW, and though they didn’t experience quite the delay we did his flight out to BWI boarded late as well.
On the bright side, there’s a food voucher to spend and an Icelandic airport to explore! 
I’m just shaking my head at the airline’s long delay before takeoff from BWI. Wasn’t there a recent FAA something not allowing passengers to be kept on board fir such a duration? Hopefully the return leg will fly as scheduled. Have a fun and safe time in the UK!
Yes! One lady who was fuming on the plane said it was a violation to keep people aboard a plane at a gate for more than 3 hours. We were at the gate. I can’t say I ever got too grumpy though I think if I hadn’t been able to sleep on the flights I’d have been in a wretched mood. Plus, Iceland!
That 3 hour rule is for US-airlines only and domestic flights, thank the DOT for these. International airlines and flights have undefined rules. (They did give you water which is one of the items.)
Sorry to hear about the bad experience… but enjoy Iceland and London — I await a full report as I’m looking for suggestions for a future trip! 😀
Oh that’s great to know. It was just long and draining, surprisingly it wasn’t the worst flight/travel experience we’ve ever had. So far the tube has felt like a theme park ride – so fast and it feels surreal! Will be keeping track of our experiences here for sure =D
🙁 Wow.