Fare sale: WOW Air rolls out $99 one-way fares to Europe. What's the catch?

October 12, 2017

Fare sale: WOW Air rolls out $99 one-way fares to Europe. What's the catch?

WOW Air's inaugural flight to Baltimore/Washington International Airport gets a water-cannon salute on May 8, 2015. (Photo: WOW Air)

WOW Air, the Icelandic budget airline known for offering European sale fares for less than $100 one way, is at it again.

The carrier rolled out a fare sale Monday, offering $99 one-way flights to seven destinations in Europe: Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Dublin, Edinburgh, Stockholm, and Copenhagen. The offer is available from five U.S. destinations: Baltimore/Washington (BWI), Boston, Chicago O'Hare, Newark and Pittsburgh. WOW's two California cities – Los Angeles and San Francisco – also are included in the sale, with fares available for $119 one way.

All of the included routes require a connection (or stopover) via WOW's hub at the Keflavik Airport, located near Iceland's capital of Reykjavik.

MORE: WOW Air, known for $99 Europe fares, adds four U.S. cities in the Midwest | $99 flight to Europe? Here's what it really costs

The sale covers flights departing Nov. 1 through Dec. 13, traditionally a low-demand period for airlines. Some of the $99 fares were showing up on some October flights, too.

What's the catch? There are several.

First is availability. Though the $99 one-way fares (and the $119 one-way fares from California) showed decent availability as of 8:30 a.m. ET on Monday, the fine print from WOW's fare sale noted "the offer applies for 1,250 seats on selected flights, only when booked on a return trip." The California sale fares were to be capped at 600 seats, also on "selected flights." Combined, that means only 1,850 itineraries will be sold at the $99/$119 outbound fares.

Speaking of that required "return trip," fares back to the U.S. were not available for the same $99 fare. Still, many of the routes showed fares back to the U.S. for as little as $189 one way -- though return fares on some days pushed $500. But, those able to combine the lowest fare options could still snag a relative bargain.

TODAY IN THE SKY: The most surprising airline flights to Europe? Here are two dozen options (story continues below)

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A search for flights from Baltimore to Amsterdam returned a fare of $99 to Amsterdam and $189 on the return – a round-trip price of just $289. (WOW lists Baltimore's BWI airport as "Washington," for those doing their own searches).

The itinerary – which includes a connection in Iceland – was for an Nov. 14 departure and a Nov. 18 return. Similar fares showed early Monday across numerous dates from October through mid-December, though some dates already appeared to be selling out of the cheapest fares as of 9 a.m. ET.

Also under the heading of "availability," fliers should know that putting together a standard "long weekend" itinerary might be tough. Fares for Thursday-Sunday itineraries, for example, were harder to find than itineraries that included a longer stay or required travel within the workweek.

TODAY IN THE SKY: WOW Air offers $99 fares to Europe; What's the catch? (2015)

Another "catch" bargain-seekers should be aware of on WOW: Fees.

For those unfamiliar with WOW, it operates with an "ultra low-cost" model. That means it charges for everything from checking a bag to requesting an advance seat assignment. Small carry-on bags are free, but bags weighing more than 11 pounds will cost at least $39 to bring on board.

In our Baltimore-Amsterdam fare example, the $249 fare does not include an assigned seat, checked luggage, large carry-ons or food and drinks. How much would adding those items cost? Booking WOW's "WOW Plus" fare category – which includes a carry-on, a checked bag and a "standard" seat assignment -- ups the round-trip fare to about $466 round trip.

Booking a la carte, adding one checked bag to all flights on that BWI-Amsterdam itinerary would cost $120 round trip. A large carry-on would add $80 round trip. Adding both would tack $200 on to the round-trip base fare. Selecting "standard" legroom seats on each flight (all aisle or window) added about another $24 to the fare. In summary, adding one checked bag (but not a carry-on) and seat assignments bumped the overall around-trip fare to about $443.

Fliers also should bring their own water or food if they don't want to pay more. WOW charges for those items in flight.

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