We investigated whether it is possible to get to the Maldives cheaper with Wizz Air than with traditional carriers.
Since Wizz Air started flying from Abu Dhabi to Madives, the possibility of cheap travel has opened up. We all know that as soon as low-cost carrier starts to fly somewhere, there is an immediate a chance to get somewhere for a few euros. Most people want to go to the Maldives because of the beautiful beaches, diving opportunities, and other water activities. Especially when you see photos of those white beaches and turquoise sea, you simply see yourself there in the shade of a palm tree sipping a drink and cooling your feet in the sea. There is no direct connection to the Maldives from Zagreb and Croatia, so we have no choice but to transfer somewhere in Europe or the Middle East.
We have researched the cheapest prices for the period from September to April next year (2024).
Legacy carriers
From Zagreb, the best connections are via Istanbul, Doha, Dubai, and Vienna, with classic airlines.
Qatar Airways offers tickets in the pre-Christmas period at a price of around 1,000 euros. The ticket includes checked baggage of 25 kilograms, food, and drinks. The flights are with a stopover in Doha. Until the end of this year, Qatar offers return tickets that include checked baggage at the price of 958 euros.
FlyDubai offers tickets at a price of around 700 euros, that include 20 kilograms of checked baggage and food during the flight. The flights are with a stopover in Dubai. This is also the promotional price for the period until April next year.
Turkish Airlines offers tickets for 750 euros with a layover in Istanbul. Passengers can bring 30 kilograms of checked luggage, and the food during the flight is also included. The price of 750 euros is currently the lowest ticket price in the period until April 2024.
Among the airlines from Europe, there is Austrian Airlines, which offers ticket prices at roughly 850 euros. The price includes checked baggage of 23 kilograms and food during the flight. The flights are with a stopover in Vienna. In the period until April of next year, the prices for a trip with hand luggage only amount to around 750 euros, while for a trip with checked luggage of 23 kilograms, there is an additional charge of around 100 euros.
Wizz Air
No low-cost carriers fly from Zagreb to the Middle East, so the combination with Wizz Air’s flight from Abu Dhabi to the Maldives is only possible if we take Wizz Air flight to Abu Dhabi from another airport in our vicinity. Once in Abu Dhabi, we can then transfer to the flight to the Maldives. Wizz Air flies from nearby airports in Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, and Sarajevo.
Before we start looking for cheap tickets, all passengers must be aware that this is a low-cost carrier, which when you buy the most basic ticket, practically gives you a seat and the possibility of bringing one small handbag into the cabin. Everything else needs to be paid for, especially additional luggage. It should also be taken into account that Wizz’s passenger cabin is not the most comfortable for long journeys. The distance between the seats is small, the back of the seat cannot be tilted, you won’t even get a glass of water, you have to pay extra for everything. Also, if you are traveling with a companion, you must pay for a seat reservation if you want to sit together, otherwise, the system will most likely reassign you.
However, there are certainly many travelers for whom comfort is not in the first place, but the price, so they will put up with some discomfort. But in return, they will get cheap tickets.
Abu Dhabi – Maldives
The Wizz Air flight from Abu Dhabi to the Maldives departs at 11:45 and lands at Velana Airport in the Maldives at 18:05. The Wizz Air flight departs from the Maldives at 19:00 and lands in Abu Dhabi at 23:40. The cheapest flight offered in the period until April 2024 is about 90 euros one way, or about 180 euros for round trip with only hand luggage included. In case someone wants to pay extra for hand luggage, a suitcase and a backpack will cost about 50 euros for both directions. Accordingly, we arrive at a price of roughly 240 euros for a round trip. But if you still need a little more luggage and pay extra for checked luggage of 20 kilograms, then the price rises to 370 euros.
Prices (the best):
- Return ticket (basic luggage): 180 euros
- Return ticket (basic + additional suitcase for the cabin): 240 euros
- Return ticket (basic + 20 kg checked luggage): 370 euros.
Vienna – Abu Dhabi
|
Vienna |
Abu Dhabi |
Transfer time |
Abu Dhabi |
Male (Maldives) |
|
13:00 |
21:40 |
14:05 h |
11:45 |
18:05 |
|
Male (Maldives) |
Abu Dhabi |
Transfer time |
Abu Dhabi |
Vienna |
|
19:00 |
23:40 |
22:35 h |
22:15 |
01:20 |
The flight from Vienna to Abu Dhabi departs at 13:00 and arriving in Abu Dhabi at 21:40 p.m. Since the flight to the Maldives leaves at 11:45, there is no choice but to stay at the airport and sleep on a bench or find some kind of accommodation. Unfortunately, the time between flights cannot be used to visit the tourist attractions in Abu Dhabi since most of it is during the night. It is eventually possible to visit those that can only be seen from the outside and no ticket is required. You have 14 hours of waiting time between flights.
In the period until April 2024, the lowest ticket price is 59 euros per direction, so around 120 euros for a return ticket with hand luggage included. For additional hand luggage, you will pay 41 euros per direction, which means around 80 euros for a return trip, which means around 200 euros for a return ticket. If you decide on checked luggage of 20 kilograms, then the return ticket will cost around 270 euros.
Prices (the best):
- Return ticket (basic luggage): 120 euros
- Return ticket (basic + additional suitcase for the cabin): 200 euros
- Return ticket (basic + 20 kg checked luggage): 270 euros
Budapest – Abu Dhabi
|
Budapest |
Abu Dhabi |
Transfer time |
Abu Dhabi |
Male (Maldives) |
|
11:00 – 13:00 |
22:00 – 23:00 |
13:00 – 14:00 |
11:45 |
18:05 |
|
Male (Maldives) |
Abu Dhabi |
Transfer time |
Abu Dhabi |
Budapest |
|
19:00 |
23:40 |
21:25 – 22:35 |
21:05 – 22:15 |
00:10 – 01:20 |
In December, Wizz Air flight from Budapest to Abu Dhabi departs between 11:00 and 13:00, depending on the day of the week, and arrives between 22:00 and 23:00. The flight to the Maldives leaves at 11:45, which means a long 13 or 14 hours of waiting for the flight.
Return flight to Budapest is around 21:00 or 22:00 1and landing in Budapest is after midnight. The flight from the Maldives arrives at 21:40, which means that there is no possibility of a quick transfer, but you have to wait for almost 24 hours. There, travelers will have to think about some kind of accommodation in Abu Dhabi.
For the most favorable ticket, you will spend around 110 euros with only hand luggage included. If you add additional hand luggage, the price rises to 215 euros. But if you need a 20-kilogram suitcase with you, then you will pay 280 euros for the return trip.
Prices (the best):
- Return ticket (basic luggage): 110 euros
- Return ticket (basic + additional suitcase for the cabin): 215 euros
- Return ticket (basic + 20 kg checked luggage): 280 euros
Belgrade – Abu Dhabi
|
Belgrade |
Abu Dhabi |
Transfer time |
Abu Dhabi |
Male (Maldives) |
|
17:50 |
02:05 |
9:45 |
11:45 |
18:05 |
|
Male (Maldives) |
Abu Dhabi |
Transfer time |
Abu Dhabi |
Belgrade |
|
19:00 |
23:40 |
14:20 |
14:00 |
17:05 |
The flight from Belgrade to Abu Dhabi departs at 17:50 and lands in Abu Dhabi at 2:05, while the return flight departs at 14:00 and lands in Belgrade at 17:05. Compared to flights from Vienna and Budapest, the waiting time for the flight to the Maldives is 9 hours, but for the return flight, you have 16 hours between flights.
The price of a return ticket with hand luggage included is around 100 euros, if we add checked luggage weighing 20 kilograms, the price will increase to around 230 euros.
The cheapest return ticket with small hand luggage is around 90 euros, if you add additional hand luggage, then the price rises to 185 euros, and with an additional suitcase of 20 kilograms, the price for the return trip is 214 euros.
Prices (the best):
Return ticket (basic luggage): 90 euros
Return ticket (basic + additional suitcase for the cabin): 185 euros
Return ticket (basic + 20 kg of checked baggage): 214 euros
Sarajevo – Abu Dhabi
There are no Wizz Air flights to Abu Dhabi from Sarajevo in the requested period.
Non-guaranteed transfer
Passengers must be aware that they do not have any protection here in case of major delays or flight cancellations. This means that if one of the flights is canceled far enough in advance, the only thing Wizz Air can offer is to change the travel date. This can create additional costs, for example, you have to stay a day or two longer in Abu Dhabi or the Maldives, or you leave a day earlier or later from Europe. You have to change dates for accommodation, which is sometimes also challenging if you don’t have a free change of date. This can also create additional costs. If you are a day or two late and you have already arranged excursions in advance, unfortunately, you may lose money if the agencies do not want to change the dates or do not want to return the money. If one of the flights is delayed due to bad weather and you are late for the next flight, then you have to buy a new ticket, and buying a ticket on the day of travel is very expensive.
With this, we do not want to scare passengers and discourage them from traveling with Wizz Air, we just want to point out and warn of potential challenges if irregularities occur.
Potential costs in Abu Dhabi
In Abu Dhabi, accommodation in a hostel starts at around 10 euros per night, for an apartment you need to spend at least 20-30 euros, while hotel prices start at around 50 euros. If you would like to stay at the airport itself, there is accommodation available for 70 euros.
Public transportation from the airport to the city center costs 1 euro, while a taxi costs about 20 euros, again it depends on which part of the city you want to go to.
You still need to add a few tickets, food, souvenirs, and other expenses, and you can easily spend a few more euros. We can say that the time spent in Abu Dhabi will not be very wasteful, so you will spend 50 euros for the hotel, and another 25 for other expenses. We multiply this by 2 because you have to spend a day in Abu Dhabi both on the way out and on the way back, which means that the cost is about 150 euros.
But it all depends on whether you stay all night at the airport or decide to sleep in a bed. Sleeping in the airport means that you will have money left in your pocket (or in your account), but after a night spent on a bench in the airport, you will regret that you did not pay a few euros for accommodation and slept in a real bed.
Travel costs to Vienna, Budapest or Belgrade
As all these cities are more or less similarly distant from Zagreb, we can say that a similar amount of fuel will be consumed. With an average consumption of 7 liters, about 90 euros of fuel will be consumed. An additional 20-50 euros will be spent on tolls. Car parking will also cost a certain amount of money, and of course it depends on the number of days we are on the road, but let’s say that we will spend about 30 euros to park the car. So we arrive at a price of around 150 euros, which includes all the costs of traveling by car.
If you were to travel by bus, a return ticket from Zagreb to Budapest, Belgrade or Vienna costs around 40 euros.
You can go to Vienna and Budapest by train, but there are fewer departures than by bus, and the prices are similar to those for the bus.
Conclusion
If you are a bit more of an adventurous soul and are ready to take a little risk, then you can go with Wizz to the Maldives. Of course, it is important to pack everything in as little luggage as possible, but realistically, do you need more than swimwear in the Maldives?
For those who do not want to sleep at the airport, want to go to the Maldives without any major stops, and do not want to panic because of delays, we recommend classic carriers. Especially if you are traveling with children, perhaps a better option would be to travel with classic carriers, because how can you entertain the children during a journey of more than 24 hours. That could be quite challenging. This trip is adapted for students or people who have a lot of vacation days and can afford a few extra days to travel because of the long time needed to wait for another flight.
But for the price of around 300 euros, is it worth the risk?
Ticket prices for the return trip (basic hand luggage):
- Vienna – Maldives – Vienna: 300 euros
- Budapest – Maldives – Budapest: 290 euros
- Belgrade – Maldives – Belgrade: 270 euros
If you travel by bus, add another 40 euros for the ticket, plus a couple of euros for transportation to the airport, we can put roughly 50 euros for transportation.
This means that for a return trip to the Maldives, you will spend 350 euros, which is half cheaper than with classic carriers.
If you add 20 kilograms of checked baggage:
- Vienna – Maldives – Vienna: 640 euros
- Budapest – Maldives – Budapest: 650 euros
- Belgrade – Maldives – Belgrade: 584 euros
In addition to the 50 euro costs for bus transportation to the airport, the price rises to approximately 700 euros, and we conclude that in that case, it is better to pay 700 euros and fly with FlyDubai or 750 euros with Turkish Airlines.
These are some of the positives and negatives of traveling with Wizz Air to the Maldives:
Positive side:
It can be much cheaper if you travel with only small hand luggage
On the way you can see Abu Dhabi
Excess money from the ticket can be invested in better accommodation or excursions in the Maldives (or another trip)
Cons:
Waiting time between flights is at least ten hours (midnight)
Extended journey for double compared to classic carriers
A more uncomfortable journey compared to classic carriers
Reduced baggage in the basic ticket
There is no food or drink on the flight
Non-guaranteed transfer
Departure of the plane from another country, it is necessary to plan the trip to the airport (bus, car, train)
It becomes very expensive if checked baggage is taken
Remark:
At the time of writing this article (end of the August) these were the ticket prices, over time they can easily change to a higher or lower price. Variations in flight schedules are also possible.
