Teacher Trekker

I recently flew round trip with XL Airways from New York City to Paris, France. My travel dates were not flexible, but I had ample time to search for a cheap ticket. I shopped around for a few weeks prior to the trip. No matter what website I searched, or how I tried to manipulate the search features, the same flights and prices kept reappearing. The cheapest fare I found was a round trip ticket with non-stop flights via XL Airways. The ticket cost approximately $600. This was $200 cheaper than any other airline offer at the time including those with transfers.

Although I was not familiar with the airline, I didn’t really mind. In the past I have flown many airlines that I’ve never heard of and had little or no problems. Unfortunately, this was not the case with XL Airways. I experienced and witnessed a handful of problems during both legs of my trip. I had 4 complaints before the flight even took off that I tweeted about. A few more issues became apparent during my flight to Paris. By the time I landed in New York, my list of grievances had only grown, and my previous complaints became that much more apparent.

The Poor Management of Long Lines Became a Reoccurring Theme

Here is a detailed list of the top 10 reasons why I will never fly with XL Airways again.

Reason # 10 – Website Issues When Using Mobile Devices

When I tried to login using my mobile device, I had some issues opening the main login screen. I would be able to put in my name but not the confirmation number. The animation would close before you could enter both fields. A family member also had some problems navigating the website using a different mobile device when searching for information about my return flight. After numerous attempts these problems seemed to be more glitches than major problems.

Reason # 9 – Food & Beverages

Both flights did come with a meal. They were average by airline food standards. There was a warm main course with a side dish, a bread roll and dessert. I found it ironic that they served French toast an hour before landing in Paris. Was that a joke? They served pasta on my return flight. If you didn’t pay extra for the vegetarian meal you were stuck. There was no choice of dishes during either meal.

My bigger problem was with the beverages and snacks. Only water and coffee was free with the meals. When they came around for snacks they were not free. The first person in my section ordered a can of soda and a snack. Another attendant gave him a bill a minute or so later, and he almost lost it. He thought they were complimentary as they are on most international flights that come with a meal and a snack. That usually includes the choice of soda, juice, coffee or water for both. Well this was not the case with XL Airways.

On a side note, the flight staff was more than willing to offer passengers more bread rolls whenever they wanted, but since none of them were ever warm, I declined. I know to plan ahead as most airlines are becoming much cheaper when it comes to in-flight snacks and beverages. Purchase items before you board the plane so this is never an issue.

Cartoons for the first hour anyone?

Reason # 8 – Poor In-Flight Entertainment

Despite being an international flight, both airplanes did not have personal televisions. There were a number of overhead screens. They were actually quite small. My closest option on the return flight was unwatchable due to glare from an open window. Why someone had their window wide open with the sun blasting into the cabin when every other one is closed amazes me, but that’s not the real issue. The next closest viewing screen was broken. So essentially the entire left side area I was sitting in couldn’t see anything!

The entertainment was also interesting. Both flights began with some sort of French children’s cartoons. Maybe they were American, and I just know nothing about children’s television programming. At one point there was a French comedian with no subtitles. That was followed up by Night at the Museum dubbed in French with English subtitles. It was so far away, it was impossible to read. Make sure to bring your own reading material, electronic devices and other ways to stay busy. Read, write, blog, eat, sleep.

Notice the glare on closest television and the turned off broken television behind it. I didn’t want to watch any of the programming anyway.

Reason # 7 – Give Me My Air Conditioning

The first thing I do once I settle in my seat is adjust the air nozzle. To my surprise, there were no individual air vents in the cabin. I always find airplanes hot and take comfort in the fact that I can adjust the settings to my liking. To make matters worse, when we arrived at the gate in Paris there was a problem with the door that took 10 minutes to handle. While this problem was being fixed, the air conditioning system in the cabin was not circulating any air. Airplane cabins can get pretty warm in a short period of time. At no point did I need a blanket during either flight.

No Individual Air Conditioning & Tons of Empty Storage Bins

Reason # 6 – Lack of Email & Social Media Response

After experiencing problems with my flight, I made efforts to contact XL Airways using social media a number of times. I also emailed their customer service department. I have yet to receive a response back from them beyond a generated email. There has been no response on social media platforms. Many other airlines customer service departments do a much better job responding to passenger concerns via email and social media. Clearly there is little concern for getting back to their customers. Since I don’t plan on flying with them in the future, I have not ranked this higher on my list. However, if a NYC to Paris trip was a flight I frequently traveled, it would be much higher on my list of complaints.

Always arriving on the tarmac and never the gate.

Reason # 5 – It Was the Furthest Away from Everything

No seriously, wherever it was, the check-in, departure or arrival gate was the furthest walk, drive or shuttle away. At JFK Airport, the XL Airways check-in gate was the furthest away when driving up to the departure entrance making it difficult to find somewhere to double park the car. If you came by shuttle or bus, it was the furthest walk from the drop off point. It was also a long walk from the security checkpoint to the departure gate. Bring your walking shoes, because the situation was only worse at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

From the train station I passed every other airline before reaching the XL Airways check-in gate. After doubling back and getting through security, it was the furthest walk to reach the gate in that area of the terminal. I carry a Fitbit and determined that I walked approximately 1.5 miles (2.3 km) just getting to the airplane. After landing, we had to be shuttled back to the terminal gates. Never in my life have I needed to take a shuttle at JFK airport.

Apparently this is cost effective for the airline. It adds even more waiting time, paces, and transport for passengers. I don’t mind walking and humping my rucksack. It wouldn’t be the first time, and it won’t be the last. The same cannot be said about all travelers. This was a bit much for a trip through the airport even for me. Be prepared to walk!

This was the final row of four before the check-in counter. Notice the women on the right shuffling items between luggage in an effort to meet the 5 kg weigh maximum.

Reason # 4 – No Self Check-in Kiosks & Long Lines

When I arrived at JFK airport, there were no self check-in kiosks. They are always a faster option, specifically since I never check my rucksack. I can speed my way past lines and head straight for security, saving ample time at various points in the airport. Instead, I needed to wait on considerably long lines. They moved faster in New York than they did in Paris only because there was more staff working the check-in gate. Make sure to plan accordingly, since you won’t be able to print out your own ticket even if you are a carry-on only passenger. The lines at the gate were not any better. Be prepared to stand around for a considerable amount of time.

Reason # 3 – Online Seats Not Honored

After receiving the typical 24 hour prior to departure email notification, I logged into the XL Airways website to confirm my seat. (I would like to point out that the email reminder came from Expedia and not from XL Airways.) It redirected me to the XL Airways website. After experiencing some issues with the mobile website, I was able to log in and confirm a window seat and proceeded to log out. When I checked in at the gate, I was so concerned with the bag issue that I did not check to see what seat I was assigned. Why would they change my seat? Isn’t that the point of online check-in? When I finally realized the flight staff at the gate were unable to do anything about the problem, I was stuck with a middle seat. I was not pleased.

On the return flight they didn’t even ask to check my bag. I wish the airline staff that gave me so much difficulty in NY could see this photo now.

Reason # 2 – Carry-On Luggage Policy

Generally, I am never asked to take off my rucksack when I need to check-in at the airport. This was not the case with XL Airways. I was told they needed to weigh all bags regardless of whether they were carry-on or not. The bag fit well within the dimensions, but weighed just over the 5 kg (11 lb.) allowance. I was forced to check my bag, but at least it was free of charge. I never want to give up my bag to the airport monsters that eat and lose luggage constantly.

After boarding the plane, I noticed that almost all of the overhead bins were half empty. Someone behind me even made the same comment to a companion. My bag easily would have fit, and it is clearly not a backpacker friendly airline or policy.

On the return flight I wasn’t even asked to weigh my bag, but I was running late and they wanted to get to the gate as quickly as possible despite the long walk ahead of me. Once on board there were also many empty overhead bins making it clear the same policy was in effect. Puzzling!

Reason # 1 – Poor Customer Service & Staff

At almost every point on both legs of the trip I experienced unpleasantness with the staff. First there was the issue with the bag. All I wanted was a simple explanation, and the manager in charge was unnecessarily rude. He only repeated a company policy that was packed into fine print and then forced me to the back of the line to check-in since I did not have my ticket.

There was the man I mentioned who was not informed that the soda was for sale before the attendant opened it for him. Then there was the other flight attendant who a little while later woke me up to ask me if I needed a snack or drink. Yes, the ones you need to purchase.

Finally, there was the XL flight staff that was trying to tell me that I needed to wait in the same line with foreign nationals trying to enter United States Customs. From the impression that I got, the staff on the flight were French. I am a US citizen, and this was the line I was supposed to be on, so please step aside and let me pass. He threatened to call a TSA agent. Okay, so I called the TSA agent over first to explain the situation. In almost an instant there was a remedy for the problem. I was let through and the line was opened up for US citizens. For whatever reason, that the line was closed and the staff was ushering everyone onto the same line baffles me, but I am more than aware of airport etiquette, the JFK Customs gate at Terminal 4 and my rights as a US citizen. I was so fed up with this airline that I couldn’t wait to be interviewed by an often stoic Homeland Security agent and leave this airline behind me forever.

Conclusions

Personally, I will never fly XL Airways again. Some may try and say that I just had a bad experience. Perhaps on one flight this may be true, but I experienced issues going to Paris, as well as new problems coming back to New York, and reoccurring grievances persisted on both legs of the journey. I can’t say this was a fluke or random mishap. These problems seem systemic in an airline that is looking to cut costs any way they can regardless of the customer. The do offer cheap fares, but that comes at a price. Consider these factors if you are thinking about booking a ticket with XL Airways. I hope that this list of the top 10 reasons why I will never fly XL Airways again has been informative. You have been warned. If you do choose to fly with XL Airways and have a better experience that me, please let me know about it.