[icenspice]

I had purchased an Excellence fare from Almería to Luxembourg via BCN which, amongst other things, guarantees a free middle seat at the front of the cabin. Nothing could be further from the truth. I sat down in my allocated 1A to find an infant in 1B and mother in 1C. The older brother was separated and was in 5F. When I caught hold of the situation I immediately offered to change to 5F. Both mother and CC were extremely grateful. I also noticed that 1E was occupied by an infant with 2 adults on either side.

Roll on to the Pau Casals lounge at BCN. Under no circumstances rely on the info. on the departures monitors. During the hour I was there I was constantly checking them and twice asked the receptionist about the flight to LUX. Within 10 minutes of ‘Embarque’ appearing on the screen I was at the gate to find the place deserted and my flight on its way…with my luggage as I soon discovered.

I returned to the lounge to make a complaint about the complete lack of flight information. From there I was passed to Iberia baggage handling (useless) with a colleague of the lady I was dealing with laughing at me.

I then found myself at the Vueling ticket desk on the departures level…and this is when I really lost my cool. I was asked for over a €100 to change my flight to the next one 48 hours later. It was only after slapping the back of my hand on the counter that they agreed to put me on the Orly flight at 06:30 the following morning free of charge (I have the bruise to prove it lol).

I have only this afternoon been reunited with my bag after it arrived at LUX on Friday evening. Apparently, LUX airport does not have a contract with Vueling to deliver lost luggage to your home address.

A complete waste of a weekend chasing up my luggage, dealing with couldn’t care less, unprofessional and at times downright rude staff.

Vueling… never again.

[FDOS_UK]

Sorry to hear that experience, icenspice.

I used to like Vueling, but wouldn’t touch the company with a barge pole these days.

[ontherunhome]

I flew with them once, and it will be only that once if I can possibly help it.
The service was dreadful from ground staff at BCN. On the plane, it was dirty, had sections of carpet missing and the seating was so close together, my knees were wedged into the seat in front. It was to Marseilles so only 45 minutes or so, lucky for my knees.
Never agian.

[openfly]

Vueling two horrendous sectors. Fortunately had aisle seats so could put legs in the aisle. 6ft and 26″ seat pitch doesn’t work. Annoyed the cabin crew but the only alternative was to stand! Miserable crew, dirty aircraft, late….and their ex boss now runs BA!
Never ever again.

[icenspice]

Indeed. BCN-ORY was on an A319. I had an aisle seat in row 9, and just as I was nodding off after 24 hours without sleep, I received a trolley in the knee…¡joder! + dirty look.

In fairness, the domestic sector on an A320 in row 5 had noticeably more legroom.

Going back to the top, just exactly what is the policy wrt luggage travelling when the airline knows the passenger is not? Surely, my bag should have been offloaded. This is the second time it has happened to me this year. I always thought it was a strict no no.

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=817296]Indeed. BCN-ORY was on an A319. I had an aisle seat in row 9, and just as I was nodding off after 24 hours without sleep, I received a trolley in the knee…¡joder! + dirty look.

In fairness, the domestic sector on an A320 in row 5 had noticeably more legroom.

Going back to the top, just exactly what is the policy wrt luggage travelling when the airline knows the passenger is not? Surely, my bag should have been offloaded. This is the second time it has happened to me this year. I always thought it was a strict no no.

[/quote]

I would have said your baggage travelling without you is a serious security breach.

[capetonianm]

Vueling weren’t bad when they started but predictably as they fell under the influence of Iberia, possibly Europe’s worst legacy carrier, things deteriorated and the staff, particularly on the ground, became ruder and more unhelpful, in line with the Iberia ethos, so we stopped using them. I won a court case with them over a 12 hour ‘schedule change’ a few days before departure, and got EU261 compensation.

I used them a few weeks ago for the first time for about 6 years, as due to timing constraints I had no choice. It was worse than ever, cramped aircraft, dirty seats, rude cabin crew, garbled and incomprehensible announcements from cockpit and cabin crew. Ironically, the KLM flight on the same route was cheaper than Vueling but being a couple of hours later meant I had to take the earlier Vueling. Never again. Well done Alex Cruz, another feather in your cap as you drag BA down the same path.

[CathayLoyalist2]

Well should I slash my wrists now? I will be travelling with VY to Barcelona from Alicante on Thursday evening to connect with a new CX flight from Barcelona to HKG on Friday. I am travelling Thursday as I have to book the ALC-BCN-ALC sectors separately as the BCN-HKG-BCN sectors on CX are utilizing upgrade vouchers. VY is the only direct service to BCN from ALC and I did not want to risk the VY flight out of ALC on Friday morning being delayed for obvious reasons. I shall update this thread on my experience.

[capetonianm]

I would have taken the train. 5 hours, about €70 in ‘preferente’ and undoubtedly more comfortable and reliable. !Que tengas mucha suerte con Vueling!

[CathayLoyalist2]

Capetonianm, I’ll stay with VY as it is tomorrow plus the ticket is non-refundable so I’ll see what transpires!!.Podría necesitar más que suerte

[canucklad]

Without being smarmy, there are other low cost options out there, I do believe there’s even one from Ireland that is on up! : )

And on a serious note, FR’s legroom has never been an issue, primarily because they’ve removed the back seat pocket. I presume Vueling still have them?

[icenspice]

Simon, absolutely no question about a security breach. Not only did my bag travel without me, it sat at LUX airport from Friday evening until Monday
afternoon when I went out to pick it up.

Maybe LCCs put punctual departures before security?

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=817493]Simon, absolutely no question about a security breach. Not only did my bag travel without me, it sat at LUX airport from Friday evening until Monday
afternoon when I went out to pick it up.

Maybe LCCs put punctual departures before security?

[/quote]

On those grounds alone I would take it up with the airline and advise them of your intent to pursue the matter with the regulator if you do not receive a satisfactory explanation.

[icenspice]

I received a message from vueling yesterday to inform me they were still trying to locate my bag…WTF!

And to end the story, I took the first TGV to Metz. Then a regional to Luxembourg…I was so tired by this stage I fell into a deep sleep and woke up back in France…I swear, you couldn’t make it up ?

[CathayLoyalist2]

Just updating my recent Vueling experience. Alicante – Barcelona on 6th July. Boarding a bit chaotic as they forgot to announce in English they would be boarding by row numbers so the subsequent scrum at the gate had to retreat and wait. A completely uneventful 45 minute flight and the middle seat in the first few rows was kept empty as per the fare offering. Landed on time and bag arrived within 15 minutes. Returning from Barcelona on Fri 14th July CX kindly through checked my bag to Alicante via HKG and BCN. This avoided having to collect bag in BCN and recheck it in and allowed for potential delays out of HKG which appear to be increasing for flights to Europe due to ATC affecting the whole of China not just individual airports in China. Vueling flight only two thirds full but the middle seat free inthe front rows didn’t appear to be operating. Left on time arrived on time and bag arrived in Alicante within 15 minutes. As with all airlines hotels etc the brand promise is only ever tested when something goes wrong. For these two flights nothing of note to report.

[Author]

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