I respect your journalist integrity in not asking for special treatment, and your opinions on Pepsi. It's nice to have a thorough reviewer doing such great off the beaten path airlines.
I flew with them from London to Toronto (well, Hamilton, which is a tiny cargo airport with like 3 passenger flights a day), and while it wasn't particularly comfortable being able to get a round trip flight to visit my friend for less than £300 was absolutely worth it, and I'd definitely do it again.
Flew these guys exactly 1 year ago from Boston to Paris through Iceland round trip. 3 x A321neo and 1x A320neo. I know the 3 former internet A321 planes we flew on had massive amounts of legroom and flip down screens showing the flight map. I understand these will be reconfigured to Play standard. We absolutely loved it! Planes were clean, tons of space on the A321s. Crews were awesome and super friendly. Everything was on time and I felt, was very comfortable. The A321 was far more comfortable but we had a whole row to ourselves on all flights. We travel light so the personal item was fine for us. Would absolutely fly them again. I hope they stick around! Huge fan here.
It doesn’t matter if the review is about the most over the top first class or basic economy, I just enjoy listening to someone who enjoys aviation and air travel share their experiences and thoughts. I also like that I feel I’m on board with them and Simply Aviation simply does exactly that! You and the likes of Jen Brooks, Nonstop Dan and Sam Chui keep my spirits up, i really appreciate all your hard work and am especially jealous you get to do this for a job!
I flew with them from Europe to SWF earlier this year. Being from Upstate NY, I actually appreciate having an international connection outside of NYC and wouldn't want them to change it. Plus, from SWF they also offer a bus into the city.
15:12 for an LCC, Interjet was one of the best ones out there. They only placed 192 seats on this A321 guaranteeing 34 inches of seat pitch of legroom (their emphasis on comfort also means they had recline and adjustable armrests). They even served complimentary snacks and full bottles of drink.
16:20 Ryanair flies to Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN) and not to Frankfurt Rhein-Main (FRA), they flew to FRA until March 2022. They plan to comeback once the new terminal 3 opens in 2026 with concourse G
I was going to comment the same thing as you there. I'd have expect a little bit more of the same criticism of it, especially that he mentions the odd choice of NY and Hamilton airports. Which is the exact same thing that RyanAir does
Do you know if they‘re actually still calling it Frankfurt-Hahn? Frankfurt is more than 100 kilometers away from Frankfurt-Hahn airport and it’s also located in the middle of nowhere in a different state and I remember Ryanair got a lot of shit for calling Memmingen airport „Munich-West“ because tourists didn‘t really think of „Bavarian countryside that has nothing to do with Munich“ when they thought of Munich and they therefore had to change it
That kind of "half jet bridge" (fixed covered stairs ending in a jet bridge attachment) at KEF can also be seen in several airports of medium-sized cities in Brazil. Virtually all airports of major Brazilian cities have true jet bridges now, and if the town is too small it will only have regular stairs, but this half-baked arrangement is sometimes used in the mid-range. It can be seen at the airports of João Pessoa, Campina Grande, Palmas, Londrina, Cuiabá, and Porto Velho, for example. The difference is that in these Brazilian airports the "half jet bridge" is close to the terminal building (they're relatively small airports, after all) and is often joined to a covered short ground-level passageway leading to the terminal, so no bus rides are necessary.
My guess with Stewart would be flight slots. If they're willing to fly to washington and BOS, they're willing to pay relatively higher fees, but acquiring the actual flight slots for an airport like JFK is shockingly expensive and difficult. I'd also be worried about delays - a long wait to takeoff at JFK could mean missed connections at KEF, which gets real expensive real quick, especially with those tight connections.
All those reasons plus a long runway that it shares with an Air National Guard base. Stewart has hosted a few of these low-cost European startups over the years. They've also got seasonal service to the Faroe Islands with Atlantic Airlines
I totally agree with the sentiment on Hamilton. I live in Toronto and Hamilton airport is quite far away (85km). YYZ has great public transit options (airport train, many bus routes, etc) but Hamilton doesn't. It's 1h30 by car from Toronto on a good day, or a 40 minute bus ride from the Hamilton commuter rail station (which is minimum 1hr 30 to ride to from Toronto). Parking is like $30/day at Hamilton. Hamilton is primarily a cargo airport for the Toronto area so it's inconvenient, I'd rather pay more for the convenience of YYZ over YHM.
I want this kind of Airline. Just the basics what matters most is getting you safely to your destination with a decent comfort. 😅 I don’t want to eat on a long flight because I’m just sitting anyway and I will feel just feel bloated.
I honestly wouldn’t mind flying Play from the UK (London Stansted in my case) to the USA via Keflavik. Their prices to Stewart Airport (for New York City) from Stansted via Keflavik are pretty reasonable and you get what you pay for. It’s not British Airways, nor Virgin Atlantic at the end of the day. Bring a couple of good books, a fully charged iPad with plenty of games or movies downloaded and some snacks or a sandwich and you’ll be fine.
@@alyonapetrova694 There is a coach service (operated by Megabus) that goes from Stewart Airport to Manhatten, that is specially timed for the Play flights to and from Keflavik. Journey time is approximately 90 minutes.
It's like 70 miles from Stewart. That may be a deterrent for most people if they have to get a taxi or rental whoch is going to add more to your cost of travel. If you are in JFK, then the train would do. I agree with him that they should just fly into the major airports, probably better for demand and customer base.
@@andidede3653 I supposed we’ll have to see what Play thinks. If they did consider moving from Stewart to one of the main airports, I reckon they would go with Newark rather than JFK.
Love the concept of Play, sadly like shown in your Video many of there flights have a low load factor (or at least to low for their business model). So hopefully they can survive.
they’re my regular airline after moving to toronto from dublin! great prices, almost always unbeatable. the transfer in iceland is always smooth with ample time. i found them very strict with carry on sizes, finding most airlines (even ryanair) no longer check, but certain play desks have been super strict and some customers opt to avoid certain employees who seem stricter. you get when you pay for (i.e no food) and probably the least comfy seats i’ve sat on for a plane (i’m only 5’10”). but, staff are friendly, young and bubbly. it’s very worth it over all for someone in there 20s with no extra money. but if i had the means to pay an extra 100 if a better carrier was on sale, id pick that any day for a direct flight with food and amenities included!
I actually rarely watch videos depicting business or first-class journeys, since my chance of travelling on such classes is extremely low. So what if the service is good? Those are not something for the masses or peasantry. I prefer your economy-class reviews because for me that matters more. Keep up the good work!
I love PLAY airlines. I flew with them in July 2022 from Boston-Paris, and the crew was amazing. Super friendly and helpful, the food was good, legroom was Insane lol I think I had like 1-2 feet of legroom, and another really cool part is during the cruise phase, the screens above your head come down and show a live view of the outside under the plane. Only real complain I have about PLAY was the flight didn’t take off until about an hour later. Overall, great time flying them. Also Keflavîk was a nightmare lol
New York Stewart is honestly so inconvenient if you are in the New York area. Most people would not even consider it as in the NYC area because its so far away. In fact, its literally 2 counties away from NYC, so most people living in the city and the suburbs prefer to just fly out of LGA , JFK, EWR or Westchester county airport (HPN). It would make more sense if play flew to Newark, as it is cheaper, closer to NYC, and many low cost airlines fly there instead of JFK (French Bee for example).
Made for interesting watching. I flew on PPB & PPC for the long haul this year and found the legroom on PPC to be uncomfortably tight, especially when there's a full personal item under the seat and the seat in front reclines... Play had some untouchable fares when they launched Hamilton (or Toronto Hamilton as they refer to it), so definitely add $70 for the extra legroom seats. Stewart is far out, but Hamilton isn't too bad for Toronto in my opinion - they're probably missing a trick not advertising it as nearby airport to Niagara Falls... Hamilton will need Play anyway once Swoop disappears, so I'm sure they're getting an excellent deal there!
legit honest reviews and transparency is what I appreciate. Much respect. Picking Hamilton is definitely to save money on slots. It's mainly served by other Canadian ULCC and even then, connections within Canada is quite limited. I agree it's bad business choice for Play.
Thank you for your Transparency and for focusing on Economy. I only fly when on Holiday so I dont fly First Class or Business, because I want to spend money on my Vacation not on the Plane.
I really love watching your videos as you show us the most honest and transparent reviews as a regular traveller flying in economy. I don’t want any first class review as I have never travelled in it and won’t be able to relate.
Please please review jetBlue transatlantic flights! Very similar prices, just a bit higher but I hear the product is waay better! On a different note, I love that hamburg airport provides free water fills unlike DUS or FRA Thanks for measuring the transit time, thats always good info to know which you can't really get anywhere else.
But, when you consider all the added costs, are they a better value than a legacy carrier? After looking at this video and considering my WOW experience, I'll say no. If a legacy carrier fare is $150 more or less, it's always going to be a no brainer for me. As an av geek, low cost carriers are usually not worth the hassle.
I don't think a legacy carrier fare would be 150$ more though. I fly across the atlantic near yearly with varying airlines and the cost never came close to what flyplay (or wowair before, and even icelandair way way before) costs. At least 300$ more, if not even more. Of course depending on time booked but I've flown with united for a grand and wowair for 400 before. The only airline that came close was aerlingus, once I flew with them for 440 including a bag and meals.
@@Pvemaster2 Watch the video again. You're thinking about a base fare, but it's much more complicated. When you fly a low cost carrier, the fare is cheap if all you're traveling with is a backpack. Everything else costs extra, including a carry-on bag, a checked bag, food, water, seat selection, a printed boarding pass. Mind you , all these charges are one way, so if you're flying roundtrip it's double. And, you don't get a blanket or a pillow unless you pay for that too. By the time you pay for the extras. The fare is just about the same, or no more than $150 cheaper than a legacy carrier, then you have to sit in a plane with cramped legroom, crappy seat, no WiFi, no entertainment, etc The worst part is, if you need to pay for all those things, the fare may end up being more than that of a legacy carrier. By paying the extra for a legacy carrier, you'll have almost everything you need to enjoy a longhaul flight, including all the beverages you want, at least a meal and a snack service and snacks in between, and a more comfortable seat. I speak from experience when I say, in most cases, flying a low cost carrier on longhaul simply isn't worth it.
They sell tickets for 250€ but for only 1 small bag. With a carry on it will be minimum 350€ and than without any meals or a bit of comfort. Get the flight through heathrow, Amsterdam or paris for the same price but with much more comfort.
As a NY suburb dweller I don’t think you appreciate the hell of driving into Kennedy from anywhere that isn’t on Long Island. I’d much rather go to Stewart.
Long haul LCC’s are fine if you go into them with the proper frame of mind. If you expect anything more than the equivalent of a bus ride, you’ll be really disappointed. One thing to always check and this is based on our flights on Singapore based LCC Scoot. If you have luggage you need to check in, always compare the fare plus luggage fees with legacy carriers on the same route. For example, if we’re traveling from Singapore to Bangkok, I’ll compare the Scoot fare, including luggage, with Singapore or Thai. Often times, it can be pretty close. And at 6’2” tall, I have a hard time on Scoot’s 28” seat, whereas SQ and Thai have better seat pitch.
I love David's narration and the efforts he makes to make accurate pronunciations and what I love even more is the context and background he provides an all of his videos. No other Aviation reviews RU-vidr does that as well! (that is if they even bother in the first place)
Those smaller airports often have lower landing and service fees, which is one reason I found flights between Hamilton and London as low as like $150 each way, however Toronto-Pearson would still be better to pay an extra $50-100 because of convenience and actually a much cheaper parking cost
that lavatory space is ridiculous. Compare that to a Swiss A220 which feels 4 times as big. Also I think Geneva has bridges that lead to a small building and then you need to take the bus.
If you're gonna do the Play experience, you gotta do it right: fly into/out of Stewart Airport, the New York airport that's nearly 2 hours outside New York!
Flew with them from Dublin to Boston and back. Flights were on time and most importantly 3 out of 4 flights were pretty empty, allowing for a whole row of space. The prices were insanely cheap too (205 euro). Crews were nice. 10/10
Geneva Airport has sort of the same jetbridges, but there are four connected to each other and they all serve four bus stands to take you to the main terminal.
I took this from New York to Keflavík and it was decent. The airport was very small which I liked and it was about 10 mins away. It was my first time flying internationally and it was very nice. The time we arrive is very early in the morning (about 2am Iceland) but going back home wasn’t such a bad time. I would do again as it was cheap and very nice. I actually hear the Play Airlines airplanes sometimes above my house.
Hey David I am a huge aviation nerd I am not even a teen yet but I loveeee❤ planes. I was wondering if you could maybe one day make a video from ATL to PAP Haiti, again huge fan. BYE!!!✌️😃
Another super cool video. Maybe you can make a video about the people behind SimplyAviation. Why are you flying that frequent? Because of your job or RU-vid or because you're simply loveing it?
I am always impressed by how knowledgeable you are about the airline's aircraft and network choices! Never have wasted a minute in your videos, definitely the most honest reviews on YT!
Honestly I think Play Airlines are alright for what the price you are paying, I flew from Paris to Toronto via Reykjavik for $250 direct, it's a fair value.
As someone who as flown Milan to Denver through Iceland with Iceland Air I can tell you it gets crazy at security, line was at least 3 hours long and we had to skip like for our flight which was still delayed by one hour at least
I flew LUX-KEF-JFK back in January 1993 😂 back then low cost was an unheard thing. Icelandair was awesome! As was New York…the Empire State Building still had the small observation deck open, the one at the very top! I am not a fan of low cost airlines. I’d rather go for a legacy carrier and for long haul at least Premium Economy. At 56 life you s showing me the sell by date, and I don’t compromise anymore. But then again, I have seen what there is to be seen in our world. Except Australia. But I have friends living there and once I retire I have the time to go down there, and make it a winter escape for a few months.
I thought I remember some time ago Heathrow had some of those permanent stairs. Or is my memory failing me - was a long time ago so may have got rid of them.
16:19 you refer to people looking at flights to Toronto which is YYZ/ YTO not YYC. I guess Hamilton will serve as a Gateway to Kitchener-Waterloo, Grimsby, Buffalo, and Burlington. If promoted as a North America to Europe route. Pretty similar to when Continental used to fly from Bristol, Eng.UK to Newark and Air Transat from Exeter and Newcastle to Toronto on a triangle route YYZ- NCL- EXT - YYZ.
Honestly it just broke me when SIA replaced SilkAir with a low cost Scoot , their ticket price is somehow cheaper but their onboard product is overpriced & slightly below standard comparing to their neighbour AirAsia
Great review David, as always I just wonder though, how much cheaper these low cost carriers really are compared to full service legacy airlines, especially after you hand out extra money for baggage and buying their very average meals, plus having to bring your own entertainment on them. In my view, for short haul, low cost carriers are OK, but not for medium or long haul.
In my experience about half as cheap. I can buy my own meal at the airport and bring my tablet anyway. Why pay 800-900 to fly with delta or united when you can fly play for 400?
Its fine if u get for free for a very new airline that had just comes out since its like the first glimpse as long as its not like airasia or ryanair giving free tickets its fi e
