By operating as an ultra-low-cost carrier, Wizz Air generally follows the point-to-point network model for the lowest airfares, meaning connecting flights are not really an option. However, that might change, as the budget carrier has recently launched a trial that allows some passengers to opt for connecting flights, but with a twist.
Wizz Air launches Mix & Match
Featured on the budget carrier's website after selecting a flight for booking is a soft launch for its connecting flight service known as Mix & Match, which enables some passengers to 'self-connect.' This means that instead of Wizz Air directly offering connecting flights, passengers can instead organize their own connecting flights.
Sounds confusing? It probably is, initially, since the budget carrier isn't offering a straightforward option for connecting flights. How Mix & Match works is that once a passenger has selected and finished booking their first flights to an intermediate airport, they will then be offered the possibility of booking a second round-trip flight from that intermediate airport to their final destination.
It is to be noted that using Mix & Match will still result in two different bookings, albeit with one single payment transaction. This means that passengers must collect their luggage at the intermediate airport, leave the transit area and go through passport control, if necessary. Checked baggage must also be checked-in again before the second flight.
Also, passengers risk being stranded at the intermediate airport if the second flight is canceled, as the flight is not deemed a connection and will be unprotected by the airline. Overall, and in the words of the airline, Mix & Match allows for longer trips. Passengers eager to try this new feature should note that since it is still a soft launch, only specific routes will be offered the option.
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Beating around the airport
Since it results in two separate bookings and is not a literal connection where bags are not transferred, it begs the question of the purpose of the Mix & Match flights. Unless Mix & Match flights do offer protection, which seems unlikely since it is still not a connection, then perhaps there would be a difference.
Or perhaps if booking through Mix & Match means no additional fee for passengers needing to re-check-in their baggage from the intermediate airport to their final destination, although this also seems unlikely. Given how passengers can already book several individual flights and go through the same process, the soft launch seems quite a beat around the bush.
While Mix & Match might seem entirely redundant, Wizz Air is not the only low-cost carrier to trial these bookings. Fellow competitor easyJet offers passengers something similar, whereby they can add all the flights required into a booking, resulting in the same booking reference and a singular payment transaction. Thanks to its partnership with Dohop, the connection is guaranteed.
What do you think of Mix & Match? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Ex-Yu Aviation