When speaking of budget airlines, the typical reaction is adverse because, with most budget airlines, there’s a sacrifice on comfort, quality, cleanliness, customer service, routes, and complimentary services. Sometimes the price of budget airlines versus the major airlines can help justify the means, but it still doesn’t help your traveling experience.
The one bright spot in the budget airline companies for us has been Eurowings. Eurowings is our most used airline in Europe and has been for the last seven years because they have hubs all over Europe, with the majority being in Germany. We, mainly Tash, fly with them at least once every two months.
Today’s post will be about why we think Eurowings is one of the best in class for budget airlines. From routes to benefits, I’ll give a detailed post on all the benefits you get from flying with this one-of-a-kind budget airline. Of course, this post will be entirely subject to your personal experience and if Eurowings has availability in your usual airport hub.
Best Routes
The reason Eurowings became our most used airline is that they fly from our most used airports (CGN is a hub for Eurowings) with the best available routes. We lived in six Italian cities over the past eight years, and still, no matter which airport we’ve used, Eurowings has had the best routes when flying to Germany and Spain.
Flights from CGN include (20 more available):
Flights from MXP include (20 more available):
A couple more factors that separate Eurowings from the majority of the budget airlines is that they fly to main airports in Europe and they’ve branched out destinations throughout Europe and not stuck in routes only connecting to their home country, which is Germany.
International budget airlines are notorious for flying to the smaller airports available. For example, if you’re flying from Cologne, Germany, to Milan, Italy, RyanAir flies to Bergamo’s airport, which is one hour from Milan!
Some budget airlines can be a little cheaper than Eurowings, depending on the route, but most of the time, either Eurowings will be the same price or more expensive with better route options. Like I said before, this has been our experience thus far.
As you see below, RyanAir has the cheaper flight but flies to an airport outside Milan. Flying to the main airport versus flying to an airport one hour out the way for 30 euros less has to be a decision on what is better.
Most budget airlines need to fly to or from their home country. In the past years, Eurowings has broadened its European routes. Until recent years, Eurowings also did the same under the name GermanWings. The expanded routes have also helped bring Eurowings to the top of the list for budget airlines.
Eurowings spoils you with more than just great routes and its expanded reach. The comfort, amenities, and the overall cleanliness of the Eurowings aircraft, which is now a bigger deal than before, has helped keep us happy and loyal customers.
When Eurowings isn’t available, and we have to choose another budget airline (unless a partner airline is available), we’re always pretty sad.
Airline Comfort
When booking with budget airlines, you grow to accept the drop in the quality of your trip. Most flights over the last two years have been up to date, but the few that weren’t up-to-date had good quality seats. Most budget airlines have extremely uncomfortable seats that do not recline, are outdated, and have no space for taller people. Eurowings is one of the exceptions.
Customer Friendly Services
Budget airlines are most known for having low-cost fares. Along with those low-cost fares, they’re also known for charging you for every extra service you would like to add. These add-ons make your 20€ ticket jump to 50€ unless you’re traveling with a small, and I really mean a small book bag.
***Recent Eurowings update***
***Our flight on May 20th was canceled because of the weather. Eurowings placed everyone in a hotel a few miles from the airport and gave us the option to fly to Dusseldorf the next day. We informed them that we did not accept that option because DUS airport is an hour and 15 minutes away from our home and we don't want to take a train with four suitcases. The gate agent told us we would not get reimbursed for the second hotel stay because the weather disturbance was not in their control. A week later and a professional email by Tash stating that we should get fully reimbursed with full details. Eurowings then wired us the total room rate for our stay at the Sheraton Milan Malpensa and gave us two 20-euro food vouchers. Eurowings should have covered our food, but they decided to provide us with the full 150 euro for the room rate as well!***
Eurowings is rare because they offer different fare classes similar to the major airlines. Eurowings offers Basic, Smart, and Biz classes, with each adding more services to your flight.
The ability to pick classes takes the extra work out of your booking process and helps reduce the stress of being charged a ransom fee when checking in at the airport. The option to have add-ons with your flight included with the fare you choose doesn’t sound special if you only fly with major airlines, but when flying with budget airlines, this is a rare commodity.
Eurowings offers three fare classes, including add-ons priced as double when booking separately. Here’s a comparison with Eurowings and RyanAir showing the differences when adding services compared to booking a fare class with it included:
Eurowings Fare Classes:
RyanAir Fare Classes:
As shown, the initial price can be cheaper with other budget airlines, but if you’re thinking of adding any services to your flight, Eurowings is more than likely ahead of the pack.
Since covid started mid-2020, Eurowings has implemented one of the best flexible booking services possible. Instead of having the hassle of fighting for money when plans change for any reason, Eurowings allows you to get vouchers for flights that last three years.
We've almost abused the new system because of the flexibility given. Out of six flights taken in 2022, we canceled and rebooked over ten times.
***the voucher process allowed us to save a couple of hundred dollars on our last trip that was paid by the team because we switched dates and used the extra money for a higher class***
Frequent Flyer Program
When flying with budget airlines, having bonus opportunities to save money is rare. Eurowings points structure is through the airline program, Miles&More. Miles&More has 40 airline partners with 100+ travel partners to earn miles when flying, driving, or sleeping. Because Miles&More has such an enormous footprint, Eurowings, in turn, offers excellent opportunities to gain miles and earn status.
This structure makes Eurowings a valuable option to be your leading airline for flights because of the ability to choose any of the other airlines connected to the Miles&More for routes when Eurowings is unavailable. You’ll ultimately gain miles and status towards the same airline program.
***Tash and I are currently trying to gain status with United Airlines that would give us Gold Star Alliance. A post is coming soon about the process***
Today’s post was to show you that we take first-class flights when there’s an opportunity, but budget airlines play a vital role in our travels as well. Eurowings allows us to be money savvy while gaining miles and qualifications towards elite status. Choosing a budget airline that works for you should be route-specific. The only hope is that your chosen airline will help build towards a better travel experience.
Until next time, before you pack your bags, don’t forget to PACK YOUR POINTS!
I am not a financial advisor and highly recommend doing your own homework about the credit card you want to apply for! All of the content on my website, page and channel are for entertainment purposes only.
If you’d like my opinion or help in forming an idea of what works, I’m here to help.
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