Wizz Air fees an ‘eye-opener’

In his July ’05 column, Rick Steves mentioned Wizz Air as a low-cost carrier out of Budapest, so when I decided to tack on a second river cruise out of Antwerp to Basel following an already-booked October-November ’05 cruise that will end in Budapest, I checked out Wizz Air in early August. The fare I found seemed a great deal, even though it used Charleroi Airport in Brussels.

Then it came time to pay, and the cost was a real eye-opener, as follows for two people (dollar equivalents from Hungarian forints): base fare, $30.62; passenger service charge, $23.24; security tax, $8.90; passenger facility charge, $10.02; fuel surcharge, $22.81, and payment handling fee, $7.67.

The net result is the taxes and fees are almost 2½ times the basic fare!

TERENCE CUMMINGS
Long Grove, IL