Wizz Air has relaunched its controversial ‘all you can fly’ scheme, despite backlash from environmentalists who claim it encourages excessive travel.
The first batch of 10,000 £414 (€499) yearly memberships sold out in 48 hours in August — but the price has now been hiked to £495 (€599) after the introductory period.
The scheme promises unlimited flights to 200 destinations in over 50 countries, for a flat fee of £8.27 (€9.99) per booking.
However, the ‘unlimited’ nature has been called into question, with customers on X claiming they failed to book a single flight after forking out for the membership.
Benjamin Flanagan wrote: ‘Biggest scam going by an airline, spend hundreds of pounds just for Wizz air to tell me there are never any flights available. I have never managed to book a flight since buying the membership in the summer.’
Another anonymous user added: ‘It’s a scam, cancelled my subscription. No flights available for this membership.’
Others said they found it impossible to book flights to many of the destinations included in the scheme.
Responding to these claims, a Wizz Air spokesperson told Metro: ‘Since the initial launch of the membership back in August, our data shows that availability has not been an issue for the vast majority of All You Can Fly members, who have been able to find availability on their preferred flights over 90% of the time. The membership is a brilliant way for spontaneous travellers to fly to WIZZ destinations at any time.
‘However, as clearly stated in the Terms and Conditions of the membership, each flight is subject to availability, and as such we cannot guarantee availability for members for every single flight. The details of this can be found on the All You Can Fly website.’
The budget airline’s chief executive József Váradi said there has been ‘huge demand’ for the scheme.
But it has sparked outrage among eco-campaigners, who initially expressed concerns after its launch, arguing it encourages people to take more flights than necessary.
Alethea Wattingon, senior campaigner at the climate charity Possible, previously called the Wizz Air scheme, ‘utterly grotesque and deeply stupid.’
‘Unlike what some may think, flying is not an all-you-can-eat buffet,’ added Jo Dardenne, aviation director at green NGO Transport & Environment. ‘How can airlines’ commitments to climate neutrality be taken seriously when they continue to push unsustainable traffic growth by offering dubious cheap schemes for flying on polluting jets?’
You can also book your tickets as late as three days before the flight is due to take off, but while the lump sum also includes one personal item, you’ll have to fork out extra for carry-on or hold luggage.
Once you’ve booked your trip, you can’t modify it either, so if you’ve had a change of plans then you’ll need to book a new flight. Additionally, you’re prohibited from cancelling your membership unless it’s within two weeks of purchase and you haven’t booked a single flight.
Defending the decision to expand the subscription scheme – the first of its kind in Europe – Wizz boss Váradi said: ‘This is just propaganda. People want to travel. The real question is how do they do that with the lowest impact on the environment.
‘You go to these COP meetings discussing carbon emissions and when you look around the airport you see hundreds of private jets. Whereas we just got recognised as having the lowest carbon footprint of any airline in Europe.’
The airline claims the best way to reduce its carbon footprint is to ensure the flights are as full as possible.
Wizz Air flies to travel favourites like Crete, Barcelona, Budapest, Malaga and Athens, among countless other destinations.
For frequent fliers to specific destinations, the carrier also offers subscriptions for individual countries such as Cyprus, the UK, United Arab Emirates, and Italy, under its Multi Pass schemes. These range from £30 to £55.
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