European flights are often already extremely cheap, and Wizz Air is shaking things up further with its new All You Can Fly pass. But before you start dreaming of jetsetting around Europe (and even beyond), there’s some fine print to consider. This new offer is not a good deal for all types of travelers, as is almost always the case.
Wizz Air, one of Europe’s largest ultra low-cost carriers (ULCCs), just launched a new way to fly around Europe (and even a few neighboring destinations) as much as you want.
Unlimited flights. Sounds amazing, right? Even as a Canadian, this could be a great deal, but there are major restrictions to know about.
Let’s dig into the details of the Wizz Air All You Can Fly pass.
Overview of the Wizz Air All You Can Fly pass
If you love Europe and go there often enough, the Wizz Air All You Can Fly Pass can be a pretty amazing deal. But only if you love to explore many new places once you’re there, to make the pass worthwhile, and if you’re flexible. Being flexible on everything is always the key to traveling for less.
Here are the basics:
- Pay €599 per year (about C$902)
- You can cancel before renewal
- Book unlimited flights
- Maximum 3 flights per day
- Valid for all 780 international routes in 53 countries
- Domestic flights in Italy are excluded
- Pay a €9.99 flat fee for each flight (about C$15)
- The ticket includes a seat and a small bag (nothing else)
- Like with all Wizz Air flights, you can pay if you want extras
- You can only book 72 hours before departure
- There are no minimum seats guaranteed
Here are the logistics:
- Membership starts September 25, 2024
- And lasts 12 months
- Only 10,000 memberships will be sold for now
- But that could change
- Refundable for 14 days
- If you don’t book a flight
- Not to be confused with existing Multipass passes
- The All You Can Fly pass is a bit different
Here’s how to take advantage of it:
- Buy the pass on the Wizz Air website
- Pay with the right credit card for travel purchases
- Start booking flights for €9.99 each in September
You need to select an airport in the purchase process, but that doesn’t mean you are limited to that airport. As mentioned, the pass is valid for all 780 international routes in the Wizz Air network.
Is the Wizz Air All You Can Fly pass worth it?
Essentially, you are prepaying a relatively low amount to get an unlimited amount of flights for just €9.99 each for an entire year. If you want to travel a lot, that’s amazing.
But you need to be willing to decide on a spontaneous destination 3 days before, as you can’t book earlier. That’s honestly not that much of an issue in Europe, where there are dozens or even hundreds of wonderful destinations, and surely one of them will have availability.
I love the U.S. more than the average person, but still, there’s really no comparison between all the options for incredible European destinations and visiting unlimited cities in the U.S. with the similar Frontier unlimited flights pass we told you about last year.
I’ve only visited about 20 European countries and they literally all have great places to explore.
Wizz Air also actually has a few flights to North Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and even the Maldives. Some of those routes to farther-away destinations can be more expensive and they can make the All You Can Fly pass worthwhile with 1 or 2 trips alone!
I’m tempted to buy it just for the routes to Uzbekistan (one of my favorite countries in the world) and its neighbors and the route to the Maldives in South Asia. These are places that are expensive to fly to. There’s Jordan and Egypt, too. The wonderful Caucasus. But I’m not sure that’s where I want to go in the next year specifically…
Otherwise, for other routes within Europe, assuming you’re saving a very conservative $50 per one-way flight, you need to take 18 flights (9 roundtrips) to break even with the pass. But if you save $100 per flight, which seems realistic, it requires just 9 flights (or 5 roundtrips).
That’s obviously easy if you live in Europe, but it’s doable even by traveling there just 2-3 times in the next year — although it’s definitely not for everyone! Not at all!
Flights from many Canadian cities to Europe are often as little as $500 roundtrip, as I explained in my most recent TV interview as a travel expert. And the cost of living is much lower than in Canada if you go East, which also happens to be by far our favorite region of Europe and the region best served by Wizz Air.
Keep in mind that the All You Can Fly pass is best for those moving around with flexibility, because unless you do short trips, you won’t necessarily know for sure if the return flight has availability with the pass before booking your outbound flight. If there isn’t, you can always book a normal ticket, but that means you need to fly even more to make the pass purchase profitable.
As for booking hotels last-minute, a lot of less experienced travelers don’t seem to know that it’s really not an issue. If you avoid peak holidays, booking hotels last-minute can be even better. We almost never book hotels in advance, at least not non-refundable ones.
Finally, given the restricted number of available seats, the pass may not be as useful for couples or families. At least not the first year, since no one knows how good seat availability will be. If everyone gets a pass but seats aren’t available for everyone, it’ll cost you a lot more to buy the extra tickets and require a lot more flights to break even.
Who it’s good for:
- Frequent travelers to Europe
- Digital nomads
- Travelers who are flexible on the destination
- Travelers who don’t mind last-minute trips
- Travelers who understand ULCCs
Who it’s not good for:
- Those who prefer to plan trips far in advance
- Those who don’t travel often
- Those who want many travel extras and optional add-ons
- Those who travel in groups
Where can you use the Wizz Air All You Can Fly pass?
Wizz Air has a huge network in Europe. There are many interesting destinations available.
Domestic routes in Italy are the only exclusion.
You can play around with the route map on their own website if you want to see specific options, or use the Flight Connections tool as always (there are 4 distinct Wizz subsidiaries to look at, though).
Which seats will be available with the Wizz Air All You Can Fly pass?
That’s the great unknown.
Like all airlines, Wizz Air flights are rarely 100% full, but seat availability for All You Can Fly pass bookings is limited, and not all seats are available.
The airline doesn’t specify how they allocate seats to pass holders. The assumption is that you’ll find seats if you’re flexible with your destination, but there’s really absolutely no guarantee. Especially since it’s the pass’ first year.
What is included with the Wizz Air All You Can Fly pass?
The only thing included is the seat and a personal item, which is a small backpack that fits under the seat in front of you.
That’s always the case with all ultra low-cost carriers — and even many Basic Economy fare classes with non-ULCCs, like WestJet and Porter in Canada.
If you plan on using the All You Can Fly pass for short trips, it’s easier to travel ultra light. If not, you would have to pay all the extras if you booked the flight normally anyway, it’s really still a good deal to save on the plane ticket price itself if you fly often enough.
If you want carry-ons and checked bags, they are pretty affordable on Wizz Air, as low as $24 (10kg) up to $58 (32kg).
What are other restrictions with the Wizz Air All You Can Fly pass?
Flights booked with the pass cannot be modified at all.
Losing the €9.99 flat fee is actually a very low penalty, but the terms state that if you miss a total of 3 flights, they may revoke your plan without refund and even possibly charge you a penalty of up to €599. They do mention that you can contact them if you have a medical issue keeping you from flying.
They do this because they don’t want travelers booking flights they might not take, as many travelers already do in Europe given the extremely cheap flights. For example, many travelers book 2 flights to different destinations for the same dates for €50 roundtrip and then decide their destination the date of, based on the weather forecast or even their current mood.
When flight are just €9.99 like with this pass, it would obviously be even more tempting to book backup flights, even if they can only be booked 3 days ahead. They want to avoid that to keep more seats available for other pass holders.
What’s the difference between the Wizz Air passes?
This new All You Can Fly pass is new, and works the way described above.
It is not to be confused with existing Wizz Air Multipass passes offered for a similar fixed fee. These include a set number of flights, not unlimited flights. And they must depart from a specific country.
The Wizz Air Multipass is offered in 10 countries:
- United Kingdom
- Italy
- Austria
- Poland
- Cyprus
- Albania
- Romania
- Bulgaria
- Hungary
- United Arab Emirates
You can read more details about the Multipass on the Wizz Air website.
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Summary
Wizz Air’s new All You Can Fly subscription plan offers unlimited flights for €599 per year, plus a €9.99 fee per flight. It’s best for frequent, flexible travelers who can book at the last minute. With restrictions like 3-day advance booking and limited seats, it’s not for everyone. To get your money’s worth, you’d need to fly a lot. While it could revolutionize European travel for some, carefully consider your travel habits before signing up.
What would you like to know about the Wizz Air All You Can Fly pass? Tell us in the comments below.
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Featured image: Zakynthos, Greece (photo credit: Alex Azabache)
