V-Flyer

Time for a short but sweet post-university/pre-work trip with friends. Potential destinations had ranged from Stockholm to Santander but eventually the consensus settled on Dubrovnik. As cost was a driving factor, we turned to Wizz Air, a low-cost outfit from Hungary as our carrier which necessitated a 5.30am meet at Luton for the 6.55 departure. Even at this early hour the terminal was remarkably busy with all the usual commotion of people trying to make their flights. Having checked in online and with only hand luggage, we proceeded to security where the one piece of hand luggage rule had clearly caught many out, judging by the numbers rearranging their bags on spare bits of floor. Having said this, the security lined moved quickly, helped by the fact that shoes did not have to be removed. Once through, there was just enough time to pick up some food from Pret before making the long journey towards Gate 6 where the flight was departing from.

Once at the gate, boarding had already started and we made our way onto the bus for the transfer to the plane. There was a bit of a scramble towards the steps as everyone got off the bus wanting the best seats, but we managed to sit together in the middle of the A320 despite being in the latter half of the boarding scrum. It was a pretty full flight and once everybody was on, the captain announced a flight time of 2 hours 25 minutes and we were on our way. A manual safety demo was carried out while taxiing towards the runway and we took off about 15 minutes late.

When the seatbelt sign was turned off, the flight attendants began the drinks service with all you would expect accepting payment in both Euros and Pounds. The attendants were efficient and friendly, albeit blunt at times – one passenger who was doing his best to display how uncomfortable he was asked if there were any exit seats free and was told that they were only for passengers who had paid for them. He then pleaded that this was his first time on Wizz Air and that there was no way he could have known which was met with the reply, ‘well you’ll know for the second time’ – probably not an exchange you’d find on Virgin, although to be honest, I am quite partial to the very matter-of-fact way of many Eastern Europeans.

The rest of the flight was rather uneventful with the duty free cart coming round and me once again unsuccessfully trying to get some sleep. However, the seat was more comfortable than the Continental seat I endured during my recent transatlantic trip and the plane was nowhere near as hot. The seatbelt sign came on about 30 minutes prior to landing and we were treated to a very smooth arrival into Dubrovnik airport bang on time and we deplaned to clear blue skies and the temperature up in the low 30s.

Jonathan

Thank you for the great TR.