Wizzin' on Wizzair

This is not going to be a glowing report.  Today (May 23, 2015) we are taking a flight from Paris to Vilnius. Tomorrow we return.

We have purchased 41 flight segments for this trip, 9 for Shannon or Megan, and 32 for us.  Once in Europe (Istanbul on March 24) we have flown the four main budget airlines: Pegasus, Ryan, EasyJet and (only today) WizzAir. 

Flying into or out of Istanbul is very difficult.  Like Paris CDG and our home airport Atlanta ATL, Istanbul IST is connected by rapid rail and takes about an hour. But whether out of IST or the outlying airport Sabita Goçhen (which requires a train and a long bus ride but only costs TL 10.5 - $4), getting THROUGH the airport's seemingly endless lines makes me wince thinking of going to what is otherwise my 2nd favorite (to #1 Paris) city in the world. 

Paris' 3rd airport (Orly is #2) is Beauvais (BVA).  BVA is HARD to get to and very expensive to get to.  An example is this trip. We are flying 2 1/2 hours on a fairly new A330 Airbus carry 180 passengers.  The flight - like all of these cheap carriers - is very cheap: €38 each, each way ($42). Total airfare: €156.  But, the last bus to catch our 8:40a flight leaves the bus station at 5:40a and the Metro only starts at 5:30a so instead of using our transportation pass which covers all Paris transportation for a month (€110), we have to take a €16 taxi.  The bus is €16 each, each way.  And - here's the wizz on Wizz - they are the only airline that does not accept etickets AND they don't tell you until you arrive at the airport and they demand an additional €30 each for us using an eticket!  We have time so we hike over to Terminal 2, track down an internet kiosk (which won't accept credit cards) and pay €5 to print a boarding pass!

So €16x4 + €16 + €5 = €85 in add ons to €76 in flight cost!  We won't be flying Wizz or from BVA again.  By the way, EasyJet flies out of CDG, and seems much more efficient than the others.