WOW Airlines created quite a stir when it announced its flight from California to Europe at a cost as low as $199. Starting June this year, the carrier is all set to fly the new routes and wow its South-western passengers. It's indeed great news for the travel enthusiasts, mainly for those who are always on a shoe-string budget.
This Icelandic low-cost airline has already established itself as one of the most economical carriers within Iceland, along with multiple flights from Iceland to a number of cities in Europe and North America, with a stopover at Iceland's capital, Reykjavik.
The budget carrier came into news when it announced an unbelievable fare of $99 flight from the East Coast to Europe. And playing to their strength, the company has now ventured into United States' South West, albeit at a higher rate. According to CBS San Francisco, WOW Airlines CEO Skúli Mogensen believes they are the pioneers as he told Forbes "Low-cost carriers like Southwest in the United States and Ryanair in Europe have been the most successful and profitable in the industry but have generally operated locally. No one has done it with transatlantic flights."
But here's the catch. Mashable revealed that the much-advertised amount of $199 is a one-way fare and not the overall roundtrip expense. The revelation, however, has done nothing to dampen the spirits of the new stateside fans, as evident from the social media posts. To keep the excitement going, WOW has started a free ticket contest under the hashtag 'WowinCali' on Snapchat and Twitter.
Jumping into the bandwagon, a lot of other airlines have started announcing new routes at stupendously low costs. Norwegian Air is said to aanounce that they would be offering a $69 fare for its East Coast-Europe route by 2017. On the other hand, Ryanair stunned the masses with its $15-tickets claim to Europe by 2020.
However, like all low-cost flights, WOW also has the no-frills deal attached with its fares. Passengers going for the cheapest ticket will have to do without the 'extras' like food, movies and leg-room. An upgrade is available at 20% extra cost for all these luxuries. Morgensen says "You only pay for what you use. If you travel light, there are no extras", according to International Business Times.
The airline is set to fly to Reykjavik from San Francisco five times a week, and four times from Los Angeles, starting June. There are more on the pipeline as it aims to cover almost 21 European destinations, including Amsterdam, London and Paris.
Join the Conversation