Jaunted

First-Person Flight Review: Vueling's True to Form

4/30/2008 at 10:00 AM
Tags: Vueling Airlines, LCC, Low Cost Carriers, Airlines, Flight Reviews (all tags)

Last year, Spanish LCC Vueling, was getting solid ratings on luxury, friendliness and value. But passengers also warned that late flights were a sure bet, too. Seems old habits die hard.

We booked a solid €122 deal to Barcelona on Vueling's user-friendly website but a few weeks later an email arrived saying our departure would be delayed due to "operational circumstances." The first delay was 25 minutes, then a month later we got an email with another 1 hour delay, making the estimated departure from Venice 10:10 pm.

At the airport, all systems seemed "GO" but just before boarding, the flight was delayed another 30 minutes making the total delay from our original reservation almost 2 hours. That put us at our digs in the grittier section of El Raval at about 1:30 am, apparently the hour for horny Spaniards and prozzies.

Despite the trouble, we're still major fans of Vueling's short check-in lines, cushy leather seats and bright-eyed flight staff. The carrier also recently announced a connection between Madrid and Malta, making it the only Spanish airline to have regular routes between the two destinations.

Related Stories:
· Vueling Airlines Flight Review: Luxury on a Budget [Jaunted]
· Flight Reviews coverage [Jaunted]