Has anyone flown on Volare Airlines

If you do check here you'll come across many posts from satisfied clients of Volare Air. The fares seem too good to be true but they are genuine.

I have not actually flown with them but I can attest to their being a good company to do buisiness with. I had booked two flights for next July back last winter. In March I got an email telling me of "schedule changes" that turned out to be so inconvienient that I had to make other arrangements. Since they clearly state no refunds I was sure I was out the money I had already paid them but when I called they very nicely agreed to refund the total amount, and they did. I would love to fly with them but unfortunately the routes I need (Venice to Prague and Prague to Milan) only have one flight per day and the new schedule has them very late at night.

At a glance, the fares can be very deceptive. A recent flight from VCE to PMO, then PMO to MLN for a total of 30 euros equated to $118 by the time the taxes, transaction fees, cc conversion fees and exchange rate were figured in. Still a good deal, but obviously not quite as low it appeared by the fare rates alone.

How could a 30 Euro fare convert to $118 even with taxes, etc.?

Many times the taxes are more than the airfare!

If anyone needs to contact Volare Airlines at Prague Airport, they are located where the ticket agents are in the check in area and are the farthest ticket agent to the right. They have a sign in the window that says SARA GROUP, Ltd. They also have an office in Prague.

Dear SRL,

The only concern I have with Volare is the number of schedule changes we have noted on some of their routes.

If you don't have to worry about connecting flights or trying to keep with a scheduled car rental pick-up or return, their prices (including the extremely high taxes, etc.)can still be less than a corresponding train fare.

We were going to fly them back from Bari to Rome on Easter Sunday, but in a two-week period, we noted four schedule changes. I'm not talking "minutes", but rather "several hours" in the schedule changes.

For our purposes, I hesitating booking for fear that they would continue to change schedules up until our flight day-----and we would be "stuck" without a rental car waiting for whatever the new flight times might be.

The taxes are 25-30 euro PER FLIGHT. Transaction fee is 6 euro per flight if going open jaw (only one fee if R/T).

We have flown Volare several times with no huge problems. They do cancel flights if they can combine with another later flight though. This results in a longer airport wait. Still, they are a great value when you can get the fares for 1-20 euros. Taxes and fees are high, but the airport fees in Europe are spendy. We recently flew to Sicily from Venice for 6 euros RT for each member of a family of 4. With all taxes and fees, the total was 200 Euros which is still great!
Cheers,
Jan

I have also flown them a few times and would do so again. Taxes do increase the fare quite a bit, but it is still cheaper than Alitalia. They also charge for overweight luggage, but again overall it is cheaper than other airlines and faster than the trains for long trips.

Cicerone (or anyone else with information), since you mentioned that Volare charges for overweight luggage, I thought I might ask what your experience was with that. I have asked this question concerning Alpi Eagles and apparently few people here have used them. Did you find Volare very strict about the luggage weight limits? The luggage weight limits on Alpi Eagles are low -2 checked bags - totaling 15 kilos (33 pounds) and one carryon weighing no more than 5 kilos (11 pounds). If I correctly understand the information on the website, they will allow you to take those weights without any extra charge. Anything over is 6 euro per kilo. I don't mind paying extra, but I am concerned that they might refuse to check luggage. Is this a possibility? I know the airlines are different , but I would give me some idea of what people have experienced. Thanks.

I have flown Volare twice at times when I had two very large suitcases. They did not refuse them, I just paid more in luggage charges than I did for the flight and tax! However, it was much cheaper all-in than flying Alitalia or Swiss.

The planes are large jets, so it is not a weight issue like you have on small prop planes in the Carribean where they can't actully take the luggage.

Thanks for the info. We determined it is much more economical, even with the extra fee for going over the weight limit, than Air France or others my husband checked. Alpi Eagles, however, are Fokker jets which I think are smaller than what Volare uses. Alpi Eagles is the only reasonably priced airline which had the Naples to Nice flight. Volare and others do not.

Thanks again!