WOW Airlines Ceases Operations

[brett]

WOW ceased all operations today. Lots of stranded passengers.

No surprise, the writing had been on the wall for some time.

It is unfortunate. We need companies like this to compete with majors and force them into fair one way pricing.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Never heard of them.

 

[Anna J]

We took them to Paris last October. Good thing we booked with British airways for our upcoming trip in April!

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Will be interesting to see what Norwegian does. They are another cheap way to cross the pond.

 

[marko]

It is unfortunate. We need companies like this to compete with majors and force them into fair one way pricing.

IMO cheap outfits like this only make the big boys lower their standards and make the flying experience worse. There's just so much you can cut before everybody has to go the cattle-car route.

What's happening is that you have the low-end "I'll-never-fly-them-again" providers like Spirit and then the decent lines that still provide First Class for a price. Apples and oranges that will hopefully never meet.

Then, you end up with these whacked out situations where 'economy' doesn't even get you a bottle of water and 'premium economy' along with a whole lot of other euphemisms for cheap seats, charged bags, headsets, etc. maybe an upcharge for seat belts?

I'll take my 2B seat.

 

[brett]

We did 10 flight segments on our winter trip this year. We found that some of the discount airlines we use provided much better service and flight experience than did our United flights. Not to mention our experience is that we have a much better chance of getting a newer plane on a discount airline than we do on a major.

 

[Cobra9777]

My daughter flew WOW roundtrip from DFW to London via Reykjavik. Fare was $800 vs $1500 on BA. The $800 included her bag fee. She said it was a perfect flight with amazing service and a comfortable seat. No complaints at all.

I see nothing wrong with diverse options for informed consumers who want choices. There are certain trips where I value comfort, and others where I just want the cheapest fare possible that gets me from A to B.

 

[marko]

I see nothing wrong with diverse options for informed consumers who want choices. There are certain trips where I value comfort, and others where I just want the cheapest fare possible that gets me from A to B.

I agree. What I was commenting on was the belief that the discount providers put a beneficial pressure on those delivering more comfort, i.e. same comfort for less money.

I don't view it as beneficial but rather a downward pressure on services, ruining it for those who are willing to pay more for such.

As a case in point, there was no way at all that I could've got my 90 y.o. mom and disabled brother to Florida this winter without buying first class seats. If providers like WOW put enough pressure on airlines to eliminate those types of seats, flying private would have been my only other option but at $10K each way, not an attractive one.

 

[braumeister]

Will be interesting to see what Norwegian does. They are another cheap way to cross the pond.

I read an article about Norwegian recently that talked about their financial woes (might result in bankruptcy sooner rather than later). Similar to WOW in many respects. An industry source quoted in the article said they didn't have their act together as a low cost airline in the way others like Ryanair do. He said they are not really a low cost airline, just a low fare airline, which is a very different thing.

I'd like to see them turn it around because we flew over on Norwegian earlier this month and it was cheaper than anything else I could find. Pretty good, too. Not as smooth as the big guys like Delta, but not at all bad.

 

[samclem]

I agree. What I was commenting on was the belief that the discount providers put a beneficial pressure on those delivering more comfort, i.e. same comfort for less money.

I don't view it as beneficial but rather a downward pressure on services, ruining it for those who are willing to pay more for such.

Why? Any airline is moving aluminum tubes filled with seats from one place to another. If people are willing to pay for roomier and nicer seats (meals/drinks/whatever) then we can be assured an airline will provide them. And if people want dinkier seats, they will be there, too. They can put them all in the same tube.

If I want a roomier seat, I wouldn't want to ask someone willing to squeeze into a smaller seat to pay for it.

 

[Alan]

Will be interesting to see what Norwegian does. They are another cheap way to cross the pond.

We are scheduled to fly back from LA to London with them tomorrow. Hope they survive for another couple of days at least.

Low cost airlines always have this risk unfortunately.

 

[Bamaman]

I think Norwegian has made a bunch of operational changes--and a shot of additional capital. They're the 3rd largest budget European air carrier--after Ryanair and EasyJet, so they have a intraEurope business in addition to the Transatlantic business.

I hope they hold it together for our 5/25-6/9 trip to Spain & Paris.

 

[Freedom56]

The grounding of the 737-MAX has placed Norwegian in a difficult predicament. This is probably why they filed an immediate claim against Boeing. I can't see them surviving beyond 2019. The raised some capital that should keep them afloat in 2019 but their debt levels are increasing and will likely breach their covenants later this year.

Easyjet will survive as they are profitable and have a simple point to point short range operation model.

I'm sticking to the premium carriers for long haul flights. We shop for business class fare deals and plan well in advance to get the best deals.

 

[braumeister]

The grounding of the 737-MAX has placed Norwegian in a difficult predicament.

About 10% of their fleet. They can get through this.

 

[brett]

One other benefit to the discount carriers is that they often fly routes that the majors do not or have much better connections. Or they have much more frequent flights.

We just spent a month in Australia. Each three budget airline Jetstar flights (including Sydney-HNL) were code shares with Qantas. Same route, same plane, same time, same seat but considerably less expensive even when adding in the cost of increasing our carry on from 7-10KG etc.

We used Scoot, a Singapore Airlines budget arm, to get from Krabi, Thailand to Gold Coast Australia. Two flights, 12 hours or so $190 AUD ($140USD). They were the only carrier from where were were without spending hours longer going to other hubs than Singapore and paying hundreds of dollars more.

The planes were all in good condition and appeared fairly new. No old boxcars.

 

[brett]

We learned the 'easy way' last year when we had to cancel a China trip for medical reasons.

After cancelling I checked to see if the credit card I used included trip cancellation or trip interuption insurance. Fortunately it did and the full amount of our cancelled trip was refunded. We were just lucky. I should have done this prior to making the booking.

Now, we have taken a mental note of the various benefits that each of our cards has. This means more to us that any cash back scheme. We are now careful to book travel on the right card.

 

[6miths]

DW almost was booking a flight for DS to London the night they went under and wondered why WOW wasn't showing up. We almost booked DW and I a month ago on WOW to London as I wanted to stay a couple of nights in Reykjavik. DW decided maybe another time. Lucky call.

 

[Red Badger]

Why? Any airline is moving aluminum tubes filled with seats from one place to another. If people are willing to pay for roomier and nicer seats (meals/drinks/whatever) then we can be assured an airline will provide them. And if people want dinkier seats, they will be there, too. They can put them all in the same tube.

If I want a roomier seat, I wouldn't want to ask someone willing to squeeze into a smaller seat to pay for it.

Case in point - Le Compagnie. Biz class only airline. NWR to CDG with those angled "lie flat" seats. About $2G round trip. <80 seats per plane. Hardly putting downward pressure on WOW, Norwegian, etc. Not for everyone, but an affordable/alternate way to cross the pond without being shoehorned into a coach seat.

 

[socca]

Not to mention our experience is that we have a much better chance of getting a newer plane on a discount airline than we do on a major.

I found myself on a Delta flight to the Midwest last year. Before takeoff, I noticed that the interior seemed 'old'. I looked at the plane info card in the seat pocket - it was a MD-88. Having a few spare moments, I googled this plane. The last MD-88 was delivered in 1997, making the plane at least 20 years old - ouch.

I'm not a pilot. What's it like to fly a MD-88 vs. a 737 MAX 8? In particular, how much more automated are more modern planes? I've heard that this is a contentious topic among airplane experts, with some folks claiming that excessive flight automation leads to less capable pilots.

 

[brett]

We flew Jetstar, Australia, a few months ago. Three flights. Two internal, one from Sydney to Honolulu.

ALL three were codeshares with Qantas. And the Qantas fare on the same flight, same seats, was a fair bit higher. The same thing happened three years ago on our flight to Honolulu.

We actually think that you have a better chance in getting newer planes on a discount airline. This has been our experience in Europe and in Asia.

 

[BigNick]

Case in point - Le Compagnie. Biz class only airline. NWR to CDG with those angled "lie flat" seats. About $2G round trip. <80 seats per plane. Hardly putting downward pressure on WOW, Norwegian, etc. Not for everyone, but an affordable/alternate way to cross the pond without being shoehorned into a coach seat.

We went with La Compagnie in 2017. Unbeatable price for a comfortable seat with nice food, but the plane was a bit old, which showed up in missing small bits of trim, one or two seat controls that needed a lot of tweaking, etc. The inflight entertainment system is on Android tablets, but a good 20% of them weren't working, and the within-plane WiFi was often down which stopped them all from working. And the cabin crew looked rather tired. The secret to successful low-cost service provision is to let as few of the cut corners show as possible, and I didn't think they did that very well. But they have two newer A350s coming soon, so maybe that will freshen things up a bit.

In September we are going to Montreal from CDG or FRA. Currently thinking of going in Air Transat's Club Class, which is as low as $1000 round-trip.

 

[brett]

We find Air Transat particularly good for open jaws to Europe.

 

[Nemo2]

We find Air Transat particularly good for open jaws to Europe.

A few years ago we took their last outward bound flight of the season Toronto-Barcelona one way.......that one flight was half the price of other airlines.....grabbed it and went to Barcelona a week earlier than we had initially anticipated.

 

[brett]

We did the same on a one way to Porto. Looking at them now for YYZ-Athens and back CDG-YYC. Current fares are excellent.