Airline Reviews Summary
| Airline Reviews | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airline | Area | Rating | ||
| Delta | United States | Love 'em | ||
| United | United States | They'll do | ||
| Southwest | United States | Love 'em | ||
| American | United States | Leave 'em | ||
| Frontier | United States | They'll do | ||
| Alaska | United States | They'll do | ||
| Virgin | United States | Love 'em | ||
| Jetblue | United States | Love 'em | ||
| Air China | Asia | Leave 'em | ||
| Air Asia | Asia | They'll do | ||
| Thai Airways | Asia | Love 'em | ||
| Citilink | Asia | Leave 'em | ||
| Ryanair | Europe | They'll do | ||
| Lufthansa | Europe | Love 'em | ||
| Turkish | Europe | Love 'em | ||
| WowAir | Europe | They'll do | ||
| TAP | Europe | Love 'em | ||
| Wizz Air | Europe | They'll do | ||
| LATAM | South America | Love 'em | ||
| Viva | South America | Leave 'em | ||
| Avianca | South America | Love 'em | ||
| Qantas | Australia | They'll do | ||
| Jetstar | Australia | They'll do | ||
Airlines Around the World
I love lists of all sorts. And I love traveling and flying. I’m a pretty average flyer – I’m only 5’-6”, I engage in the regular chit chat upon sitting down, and I usually just put my headphones in and sleep for the majority of the flight. I’m a window seat kind of gal, but I’m short enough that sitting in the middle seat (on a shorter flight) isn’t the worst thing for me. Basically, I’m not hard to please. So here you have it, a list of every airline I’ve flown (past the age of about 22, I can’t remember any of them before that!) and my review of each one via my very scientific and accurate rating system:
-Leave ‘em: Do what you can to book a different airline unless the time and/or price is unbeatable.
-They’ll do: No need to book the higher priced airline if this one’s available. Just know what you’re getting yourself into, and you won’t be disappointed!
-Love ‘em: Good prices, good service, good food – book them even if they’re slightly pricier!
US Airlines
Delta
Love ‘em – Sweet, sweet Delta – oh how I love thee. I’ve encountered two types of people in regards to this airline – people either love Delta, or despise them with a fiery passion. In my opinion, the con is by far the cost – I wish I flew Delta more often, but it’s usually outpriced by its competitors. When I do fly Delta, I’m always reminded that it would be worth the extra money to fly them. Airlines like United & American Airlines have started using a new tier of airline tickets – the ultra low cost/nothing included fare. Delta recently adopted this new ‘nickel & dime’ rate, which definitely knocks it down a few pegs for me. It just causes confusion and takes away appeal. If I wanted a low budget airline and cost, I’d fly Frontier. Even with that outside, Delta’s pros majorly outweigh their cons.
United
They’ll do – “Meh” is the best way I can describe United. I’ve had good experiences, I’ve had bad experiences. They’ve gotten tons of backlash in the media over the last few years (understandably), so that’s unappealing. The Star Alliance that they’re a part of has tons of international partners, so that’s a huge plus – I can often add to my United miles without even flying United. If United is the cheapest option, I have no problem booking with them. I won’t go out of my way to book them, either. Recently I flew United from Sydney – Houston and Houston to Richmond for 40,000 United points + $165, insanely good deal for booking just two weeks in advance! I even got upgraded to first class on the Houston – Richmond leg even though I don’t have status.
Southwest
Love ‘em – It took me awhile to get on the Southwest bandwagon. The boarding process deterred me, and to this day, still stresses me out. However, the incredibly nice gate agents and flight attendants, the two free bags, the free change and cancellation fees, MORE than make up for that. The people that work for Southwest genuinely seem to like their jobs, which is so refreshing. I generally feel more valued as a customer with Southwest, and I just love flying them. That being said, the boarding process is so annoying. I always set my alarm to check in exactly 24 hour before the flight, yet even with that diligence, still get stuck in the higher B group. Most of the time, I just pay the extra $15 each way to get an A boarding group.
American Airlines
Leave ‘em – Maybe my experience with American Airlines is just unlucky, but I loathe flying them. Almost every time I do, the gate agents and flight attendants are in a terrible mood and incredibly snarky. I use the same two bags every time I fly – my carry-on sized suitcase (always fits in overhead bins) and my backpack. One time, a particularly grumpy gate agent made a huge stink about my bag size while in a crowded line waiting to board, but I eventually convinced him it’d fit in the overhead bin (which it did, as always). Like United, it’s a little hard to put my finger on why I despise AA so much, but I do know that through all my experiences flying them, I now actively avoid booking with them.
Frontier
They’ll do – You get what you pay for with Frontier. Some people scoff at their ‘budget airline’ reputation, but as long as you know what to expect, I think it’s completely worth flying them. Three quick stories with Frontier: 1) My flight got delayed 4-5 hours each way from IAD–ORD with zero communication from the airline or gate agent, super frustrating. We ended up getting $100 vouchers each way…which was more than our $180 RT ticket. Win! 2) I called their customer service inquiring about a flight change due to a personal schedule conflict. They apologized that they didn’t have a flight to accommodate my new schedule, gave me a full refund on my flight, and a $75 voucher for the ‘inconvenience.’ Win! 3) We were taking off in Denver when the pilot suddenly slammed on his brakes, really scary. Turns out a service light having to do with the oil came on right before we were about to lift off. They took us back to the terminal, deplaned, had us on a new plane and on our way in 1.5 hours. Impressive!
Alaska Airlines
They’ll do – I’ve only flown Alaska Airlines a handful of times, but each experience is fine. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. Nothing spectacular happened. They seem to have a pretty strong alliance of happy customers behind them, so that makes them more appealing.
Virgin Airlines
Love ‘em – I kind of feel like a liar for saying speaking highly of Virgin since I’ve only flown them once, but I just loved it! The atmosphere of the cabin, the price, the comfort, the in-flight entertainment, I’m a huge fan. Also my mom’s maiden name is Virgin, which alwayssss makes people giggle. I can stand behind a company that’s not afraid to make people giggle.
Jetblue
Love ‘em – I feel similarly to Jetblue as I do to Virgin – I’ve only flown them a few times, but everytime is lovely. The flights are cheap, you can check a bag for free, they have live TV, spacious legroom, and nice flight attendants and gate agents. They’re also expanding their routes to South America, which is so nice! I flew from DCA to Cartagena, Colombia for about $170, win!
Asian Airlines
Air China
Leave ‘em – I stated this earlier, but I’m not hard to please when it comes to flying. But good lord, flying Air China was straight up misery. You’re not allowed to use your phones at all during the flight (which in our case, was 13.5 hours each way), not even on airplane mode and to simply play a game or read a book. The flight attendants were not kind, really snarky, and seems very bothered when asked for something like a cup of water. My entertainment screen didn’t work on one of my (13 hour) flights, and I wasn’t allowed to use my phone. The food was super disgusting. There was a couple next to me on one of my flights that took their shoes and socks off and basically leaned on me for 13 hours. It was just all around a miserable experience both times.
Air Asia
They’ll do – They’re a low budget airline in Asia with super cheap flights in Southeast Asia. Our one hour flight from Bangkok to Phuket was $26. However, they do nickel and dime you for baggage fees and anything else you want. We ended up only get charged for baggage fees for half of our flights, no one really seemed to have a standard on when to charge. The flights were pleasant and the flight attendants were friendly. After traveling around Southeast Asia for over a month, I’ve flown them many more times and am always quite pleased with them – especially now that I know what to expect.
Thai Airways
Love ‘em – The first time I flew with Thai Airways was from Rome to Singapore. My other options for the flight were Air India and Aeroflot, both which have pretty bad reputations and had long layovers in either Dehli or Moscow. I begrudginly booked Thai Airways, even though it was a few hundred dollars more. Oh boy, I’m so glad I did. It was such a lovely flight. It was about 11 hours from Rome to Bangkok and 3 hours from Bangkok to Singapore, and it was all pleasant. There are tons of options on their entertainment system, you get fed a lot, really comfortable seats, pillows, and blankets. I liked them so much that I decided to fly from Bangkok to Koh Samui roundtrip, and I paid more to fly Thai Airways. It’s only an hour flight there and back, but we got fed on those flights as well! I just love them.
Citilink
Leave ‘em – I almost feel bad giving them such a low rating since the actual flights were totally fine, but the booking process was hellish. Citilink only flies within Indonesia, so we flew them from Bali to Sumatra. I booked online for July 23. When I received the ticket in my e-mail, it said July 21. Confused, I tried calling the number – didn’t work. I finally got to speak with someone on a chat, and basically there was nothing they could do. The only three options to correct this error were 1) get someone in Indonesia to go to the airport to change it for us 2) cancel and get a 75% refund 3) change the flight when we get to Indonesia. At that time, the flight change was only 210,000 IDR (~$15). We decided to wait until we got to Indonesia. Finally when we arrived, we went to the counter, and the price had gone up to 1,375,000 IDR (~$95). The whole process was bonkers.
European Airlines
RyanAir
They’ll do – If you’ve heard of RyanAir, then you’ve most likely heard the horror stories. Back in 2015, I was adamant that this is by far the worst airline I’ve ever flown (Air China coming in a close second). It’s a “budget” airline, but my ~1 hour flight from Dublin to Edinburgh was $220 round trip. Our flight to Edinburgh got delayed 10 hours, with absolutely no communication from the airline, and zero compensation for our time or costs. Now, in 2018, I’ve flown them a few times within Europe, and actually had pleasant experiences with them. I’m not sure they’ll ever go in the “love ‘em” category, but I’ll no longer “leave ‘em.”
Lufthansa
Love ‘em – I don’t have any spectacular stories about Lufthansa, but I’m always confident when I book flights with them. Reliable, clean, affordable, and great airline partners. I’ve snagged some really good deals with points on Lufthansa before too – definitely worth booking.
Turkish Airlines
Love ‘em – I really enjoyed flying Turkish Airlines from Washington, DC to Istanbul, Istanbul to Rome, and back again a few weeks later. There were menus for each meal, snacks you could order anytime, tasty turkish delights and pleasant hot towels after takeoff, and kind flight attendants. I enjoyed my first flight with them so much, that I was looking forward to my trip home – crazy, right?!
WOW Air
They’ll do – Another low-budget airline that recently became popular. They have a pretty interesting story, and they’ve only been in operation for a few years. It seems like they really started the “stop over” mentality, becoming popular for the stopovers in Iceland from the US to Europe. Their jets are magenta and the flight attendants wear traditional uniforms that are magenta. If you know what to expect, you won’t be disappointed!
TAP Air
Love ‘em – I booked a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Prague, and TAP offered a one to five day stopover in either Lisbon or Porto, free of charge. It’s a great business model – boosting tourism for Portugal and letting me experience another city. I chose a four day layover in Lisbon, and thouroghly enjoyed both my flights from Rio to Lisbon & Lisbon to Prague. Great entertainment system, comfortable seats, pleasant flight attendants – everything you want for long haul flights.
Wizz Air
They’ll do – I’d never heard of WowAir until this past summer, and I ended up flying them a few times when I was touring around Eastern Europe & London. I booked last minute and spent about $100 each way from Ljubljana to London and Bucharest to Budapest, including baggage. They were pretty strict during the check in process and reminded me of Ryanair a few years ago. If the price is right and you know it’s a low budget airline, it’s worth booking.
South American Airlines
LATAM
Love ‘em – I flew LATAM the most when I was in South America, and I looooove them. They’re not even that much more expensive than their competitors! You’re always fed on board, free checked bags, spacious, great entertainment systems (along with a good app!), really nice flight attendants. I highly recommend!
VivaAir
Leave ‘em – I really didn’t enjoy anything having to do with my flight from Medellin to Lima on VivaAir. The nickel and dime fees are really expensive, there’s virtually zero leg room (and I’m not very tall!), and you just feel like you’re stuffed into an aluminum tube with your ~200 closest friends. Not a fan.
Avianca
Love ‘em – I only flew Avianca roundtrip from Lima to Cusco, but it was so pleasant. I was with three friends, and they helped us rearrange so we could sit together. We had the exit rows on both flights, so I can’t speak to regular seats leg room, but ours was (obviously) incredibly spacious. Anyone who’s flown into Cusco knows that it’s kind of an intense landing in the mountains – and I felt perfectly safe flying with Avianca!
Australian Airlines
Qantas
They’ll do – I almost feel like I don’t even have a right to review Qantas. I’ve only flown them once, from Bali to Melbourne. It was a redeye flight, departing at 10PM & arriving at 6AM, I slept almost the entire time. It was pleasant, I think? They have a good reputation and my flight was cheap, so I have no complaints.
Jetstar
They’ll do – Similar to Qantas, I’ve only flown Jetstar once, from Melbourne to Sydney. I flew out of Avalon Airport, close to Melbourne – just a super tiny airport with three gates. The flight was delayed about an hour, and then we sat on the runway for another 30 minutes. It was a bumpy ride to Sydney, but the flight was only $60 including baggage, so I can’t complain.