Vueling have no self-respect and cannot be trusted. Avoid flying with them.
On Sunday 9th of August 2015, I was due to fly on flight VY8963 from Oporto (13:45) to Brussels (17:05).
My reservation was made and paid for on February 18th 2015, almost 6 months before the flight.
I made a first unsuccessful attempt to check in online some 3 or 4 weeks before the flight. At the time, I was informed that I would only be able to do so within 3 or 4 days of the date of flight.
On Friday August 7th 2015, I received an e-mail flight reminder specifying that I would be able to check in online up to 4 hours prior to boarding.
On Saturday August 8th 2015, at around 3PM, I made another attempt to check in online, and was informed that online check-in was impossible less than 12 hours prior to boarding and that I needed to go to the check-in desk.
On Sunday August 9th 2015, at the check-in desk, to my disgust, I was told the following:
"The plane is overbooked. I can check you in, but you do not have a seat. You must go to the gate, and wait for everyone who has a seat to board the plane. We will then see if there are free seats, and you might be able to board. There is no guarantee, because we do not know if there will be many empty seats, and there are between 4 and 8 people in your situation."
Here I would like to remind you that I was refused to check-in online for a flight that I had BOOKED and PAID for almost 6 MONTHS IN ADVANCE.
What was to happen if I did not get on the plane?
"If you do not have a seat, you must collect your bags, come back through security and go to the vueling desk in the main hall of the airport where they will try to put you on another flight. If necessary they will help you for accommodation."
What are the guarantees of me flying on the date the reservation was made?
"None"
Here I would like to remind you that I had BOOKED and PAID to fly on THIS DATE almost 6 MONTHS IN ADVANCE.
At 14:10, 25 minutes after the plane was due to leave, I was attributed a seat. When I arrived on the plane, cabin staff were quite obviously also irritated at the situation, and I received very little help to lift my suitcase into the overhead locker, even though my hands were full. When I asked if they could hang my suit in the front of the cabin for me, I was told to fold it and stuff it on top of the suitcases.
The flight departed at 14:25 - 40 minutes late.
Some passengers were made to wait for 1 hour on the plane before take-off. According to my neighbour, the cabin crew made no attempt to justify or apologise for the discomfort and delay.
The flight landed at 17:25 - 20 minutes late.
The plane was so late at take-off that we were unjustifiably late upon arrival. It is common knowledge that low-cost airlines traditionally plan more time than is necessary for their flights. They like to fool their passengers into believing that they have arrived "conveniently" early. On this occasion, it was unsuccessful. Again, there was no attempt to justify or apologise for the discomfort and delay.
I am disgusted to find that any self-respecting airline fails to guarantee a seat for a customer who booked and paid for his flight nearly 6 months in advance.
I struggle to understand how any self-respecting airline can show so much disregard for its customers.
But this is built on the assumption that vueling is indeed a SELF-RESPECTING airline - which it is oviously not. A self-respecting company would have demonstrated more concern for its passengers. It is easy to see that VUELING REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE DELAYS AND DISCOMFORTS THAT THEY - ALONE - ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR.
The ONLY POSSIBLE CONCLUSION is that vueling's chosen policy is the following: "WE ARE NOT EVEN GOING TO PRETEND THAT WE CARE" (and I stress that this is the polite version of the chosen policy...).
"We are not going to pretend we care if you booked 6 months in advance.
We are not going to pretend we care if you don't travel on the day you paid for.
We are not going to pretend we care if you have been waiting for 60 minutes without any explanation.
If you are not allowed to board the flight you booked, we are not going to come to you with a solution, you must come to us to find a solution.
We are not going to pretend we care about our staff. If the plane is late and the passengers are unhappy, we expect the staff to deal with it."
In light of the above, it will come as no surprise that I wish vueling my most contemptuous disregards. read more