Buyer Beware: Booking a Flight on Volaris

Recently, I decided on a lark to go with two girlfriends, Cathy and Jenn to Tuxtla and San Cristóbal, Mexico from Cancun. They already had their flights reserved, so I went in to make my arrangements. Buyer beware: then fly Volaris®.

Volaris®, the Mexican airline with the best fares (their claim, not mine), is a budget airline. It offers a low fee, then you add on services you desire. But as you can imagine some of those add-ons get buried.

I could see that Volaris®had automatically added “seat selection” ($10) and “flight insurance” ($8) to my bottom line. However, it was not until the next page that those options were offered. So I had to uncheck them.

The website developers at Volaris® made the “flight insurance” readily obvious. (I recommend flight insurance to anyone, unless you have adequate credit card insurance coverage, which I did) So I disabled the “add-on”.

The Volaris® developers hid the “seat selection” much deeper. I had to call Jenn to help me find that. Interestingly, the amount of $6 each way would have totalled $12, not $10 they charged me. That anomaly aside, I disabled the add-on for a reduction in my fare of $18.00.

Volaris® offered a 20% discount if flying internationally or within Mexico from February 4-March 31 and purchased by February 8. I met all the criteria, but Volaris®did not provide a “promo code” box, nor did the airline apply the 20% off to the fare. I purchased the ticket without the discount, because I didn’t know if there would be seats later, if I questioned the airline first. It was still a good deal, but not the $15-20 dollars I could have saved.

I have now written Volaris® asking for the 20% discount off my fare. In total, I have spent about an hour working for that flight reservation and discount refund. I am awaiting their reply; and am hopeful.

With all of that said, I still recommend Volaris® as a budget airline. I flew with them last year from Cancun to San Miguel de Allende without problems. If you know what to expect, if you are willing to be a savvy shopper, and if you take the time, you can fly inexpensively with one to two small bags without checking them.

Buyer beware: then fly Volaris®.