Condor is a budget airline known for its cheap fares and “best deals”. This airline was formed in 1955 and is regarded as one of Europe’s leading airlines. You can access their service to fly within Europe, the Caribbean, Africa, and North America. On face value, they make leisure travel easy and offer reasonable prices for trips to popular holiday destinations, but how good is their service?
This honest review will discuss what it’s really like to fly with Condor Airlines. I flew with them for the first time in the summer of last year. Here are all the things I liked and disliked.
Pros of Flying with Condor Airlines
Condor Airlines is good for many reasons. Here are some of the main ones.
Cheap Fares
Needless to say, the biggest pro of flying with Condor is their cheap ticket prices. International travel tends to be expensive overall, and travel costs only make it more inconvenient. However, with airlines like Condor, budget-conscious fliers can enjoy international travel for relatively affordable flights.
When you put Condor’s ticket prices in comparison to those of its peers and competitors, you will realize that they offer strategically competitive fares. When I booked my flight, I also noticed that both short-haul and long-haul flights had good deals. So if you are someone who wants to reach their holiday destination without overspending on travel expenses, then Condor is a great option for you. Personally, I didn’t mind the mid-flight experience because I knew I was retaining my budget for when I actually reached my destination. Ultimately, it depends on your priorities; if you want a luxury travel experience, then Condor may not be adequate, but if you want to spend as little as possible, then this airline has got you covered!
A variety of routes and destinations
This German airline is also a great option because of how many routes and destinations it offers. This airline was originally founded in Germany, but now it flies to almost 90 destinations around the world. Condor’s seasonal schedule changes quite frequently, so it’s best to keep checking; it’s possible that your desired route is not being offered anymore.
Regardless, Condor allows fliers to enjoy short-haul and long-haul flights to numerous destinations. When I was traveling within Europe, I ended up integrating cruises and trains in my travel itinerary along with the flights because it made everything more effective. Condor is a European-based airline that flies to sunny destinations in Europe as well as other places like the United States and Canada. You can get creative and fly to popular tourist destinations such as Spain, Greece, Turkey, and the Caribbean. As a digital nomad, I think the best part about Condor was that their seasonal routes made it possible for me to book vacations during peak travel times.
Other Pros
- Friendly staff: Condor staff, including flight attendants, check-in agents, gate agents, and flight crew, certainly make a lasting impression on passengers. I will give credit where credit is due and confidently say that Condor has the friendliest staff members I have ever met. Everyone was extremely nice and considerate, which made the travel experience somewhat pleasant.
- New aircraft: Condor has a newer fleet of planes, made up of Boeing and Airbus aircraft. Despite not being a full-service carrier, Condor’s planes are modern, and they certainly elevate the flying experience, adding a nice touch. If they keep up with these aircraft, soon they’ll be challenging other major carriers in the market!
Cons of Flying with Condor Airlines
Now, for the cons, these are some of the things that made my Condor experience unpleasant. Some of these issues were deal-breakers for me, but if they don’t bother you, then you have nothing to worry about!
Limited in-flight entertainment system
One of the biggest problems I had with Condor Airlines was its limited in-flight entertainment. While they have more options for long-haul flights, there is little to no consideration for short-haul flights. They offer “flystream,” which is a service that allows passengers to stream movies/shows on their own devices. However, this software is neither functional nor user-friendly.
Even on long-haul flights, the variety is very limited and often not satisfactory. You can not rely on Condor Airlines to keep you entertained throughout your flight. While it’s a tolerable problem on shorter flights, it causes more trouble when you are flying from North America to Europe with little to no entertainment. To top it off, the paid wifi is also terrible. It buffers a lot and is barely enough to check emails or browse the internet. If you are flying with Condor in the near future, I strongly recommend that you bring a book or pre-download a movie.
Non-responsive website
Another issue that I ran into was their online booking. Their website appears to be good at first impression, but for some reason, it’s not as user-friendly as you’d expect it to be. It took me almost an hour just to check in online. I originally thought that I was having internet problems because the interface seemed professional. However, fellow travelers and friends have also reported problems with the website’s responsiveness.
Apparently, their online platforms are supposed to give you live notifications and update you regarding changes. Unfortunately, that wasn’t what happened in my case. My flight was delayed, and I never got any alert. Had I known about the delay, I would have planned things accordingly. This was a very unpleasant experience.
Bad customer support
While I found the Condor customer service staff on the plane to be extremely nice, the same can’t be said about customer support. If you have any queries, questions, or doubts about your flight, chances are that you will never hear back in time. Generally, it is expected of low-cost carriers to have less competent customer support staff, but Condor has crossed all lines.
You can not possibly reschedule a flight or change details without getting multiple headaches and spending hours on it.
The customer support tends to be worse during peak travel times and holiday seasons, which is ironic since Condor supposedly targets “holidaymakers” and leisure travellers.
Uncomfortable seats
While I wasn’t expecting a budget airline to have prime seats, I also wasn’t expecting the seats to be this uncomfortable. Premium economy seats have better seats than basic economy seats, but even they aren’t as good as they should be, given how much extra they cost. Another thing that made me uneasy was the fact that there was only one armrest between seats. I ended up having to share my aisle seat’s armrest with the person sitting next to me, but it made me uncomfortable nonetheless.
One thing I noticed was that a lot of standard economy passengers had their jackets/sweaters stuffed behind their seats to make it more tolerable. I wasn’t carrying any overcoats on the return flight, but I suppose it could have helped.
It was also unsatisfactory because there was no extra space or room to stretch during the long flight. We were promised blankets in economy class, but apparently they “ran out”.
Potential for scam
Though this hasn’t happened to me personally, a lot of Condor fliers have reported incidents where they have been scammed with first-class/business-class tickets. The airline signs passengers up for Condor’s business class travel only to change it to economy later on. This potential for a scam is something that has deterred me from booking long-haul flights with Condor Airlines.
This usually happens when there is a layover and multiple legs are involved. What they do is, they shift you to the economy for the second leg of your journey without any due notice. None of the flight documents (including online details) mention this, and passengers are left to wonder where they went wrong. It’s unlikely in direct flights, but we recommend you be wary anyway.
This lack of transparency weakens trust between the business and the customer. It has certainly affected my opinion of Condor Airlines.
Final Thoughts
Concluding this review, I’d say that Condor is a hot-or-miss type of airline. Either you like it or you don’t. For me, it lacked most of the things that I look for in an airline, so naturally, it was a miss. I don’t have any regrets about flying with them because I knew what I was signing up for. However, I would avoid flying with them again as it wasn’t a good value for my money.
If the cons listed above are not deal breakers for you, then you may end up enjoying your journey with Condor Airlines. Long story short, it’s safe to say that Condor is a good option for people traveling on holiday and looking for cheap international flights. You will find a variety of routes and destinations, enabling you to access your desired leisure spot.
As long as you can deal with the limited in-flight entertainment, bad customer support, and other issues, you are good to go!
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