Breeze Airways Review
Today I’m sharing a review of the budget airline, Breeze Airways after a few flights over the last year. This post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own. Spoiler: it is mostly fantastic.
Budget airlines hold a special place in my heart as I live 10 minutes from the Provo, UT airport (PVU) that just last year began service to Orange Country where my sister lives. It is such a quick, easy and relatively inexpensive way to visit for a weekend here and there. However, as we all know, a lower price point comes with not just lower levels of comfort, but sometimes a steep decline in reliability.
Budget Airline Blues
Last summer I booked a trip on Allegiant Air to Orange County to help my sister with her new baby. My flight was canceled an hour and a half AFTER it was set to depart – giving me no choice but to shell out $300 for a last minute ticket on Delta for that night. I received no compensation beyond a refund for that flight, and even my refund required talking to 5 different people before they were able to refund my first leg without canceling my return flight.
Ever since this experience I have been weary of Allegiant and was excited when the Provo Airport welcomed the newest budget airline, Breeze Airways. Below I will be reviewing my experience flying breeze for a quick 4 day trip to Orange County.
My Breeze Airways Review
Booking & First Impressions
My experience with Breeze started the day before my flight when I went to check in (My husband booked the tickets, but he reports that the process was pretty standard). I was able to check in in approximately 4 seconds on the Breeze website using my last name and confirmation number. I was impressed with the user experience on both the Breeze website and the app. Unlike other budget airlines I’ve flown on (Allegiant, Frontier, and Spirit) My boarding pass was a full-screen QR code that interfaced with my Apple wallet. This is, of course, standard practice for regular airlines like Delta and Southwest, but budget airlines usually send you a PDF that you can save or print.
We booked a 7:15 AM flight out of provo and as PVU is a very small airport, planned to arrive at 6:15. We woke up to a text that departure had been moved up 15 minutes which caused some anxiety, but ended up not being a problem.
Once through security, our experience was seamless. It’s hard to leave a complete rave review based on one positive flying experience but..
Are Breeze flights comfortable?
The interior of a breeze flight is pretty standard for a budget airline, but I found the seats to be slightly more comfortable than others and one MAJOR plus was not just USB charging ports, but USBC as well. This was my first time ever seeing that as an option on an airplane.
How much legroom do Breeze planes have?
Breeze planes offer 31 inches of legroom which is approximately 3 inches more than their competitors Frontier and Spirit and comparable to both Allegiant and the economy seats on Delta.
Breeze Crew and Flight Attendants.
All my experience with Breeze staff is their Provo-based crew, but they are phenomenal. From what I understand, the average employee age is much younger than most airlines, pulling largely from the student population in Provo, and they were incredibly pleasant and kind. From my research, it looks like they are on average also less experienced, but as there were no crises on my flight, I can’t speak to that.
My Return Flight:
Our return flight was slightly less blissful as (due to issues with the previous plane using our gate) our flight was delayed over an hour. Upon boarding, I also tried to use the bathroom on the plane and there was no toilet paper. Flight attendants were not able to locate the toilet paper until after we had reached our cruising altitude.
Are Breeze flights reliable?
My experience with Breeze customer service is limited to only my most recent trip where I decided to fly out a day earlier than I originally planned. First I had to reach out to customer support to separate my booking from my husband’s as he would be taking our original flight. I then went to change my outbound flight where it said the cost differential would be $129. This felt pretty steep given that the original flight cost half as much, but I was willing to proceed. However, when I clicked continue, I got a pop-up window that informed me there had been a recalculation and my flight change would cost $211. The cost of a whole new ticket at this point was only $200, so it all felt a little sketchy. I ended up booking a cheaper ticket through Allegiant (Ironic, I know). And am currently working through customer service to cancel my outbound flight without canceling my return.
Overall, customer service is definitely a place where Breeze scrimps by not paying people to be available to field calls and resolve issues. They don’t have any option to call, so you have to contact them via email or request a text. The text option is highly automated and makes it tough to get any specialized support.
I would say customer service is Breeze’s major downfall as it doesn’t promote any kind of customer loyalty. However, if you don’t foresee needing to make any changes to your ticket you should be all set.
Conclusion: Will I fly Breeze again?
Breeze Airways is certainly a budget airline, but it blows its budget airline competition out of the water. The biggest things that stuck with me were comfort of the seats, the demeanor of the flight crew and the reliability of flights. I will absolutely be flying Breeze again and again (but with a renewed sense of caution regarding flexibility).
Tips for flying Breeze:
- My number one travel hack for ALL budget airlines is this to buy this travel backpack. As you know, budget airlines don’t allow a free carry-on, so I bought this bag to use for my weekend trips and it fits WAY more than you would think.
- Utilize Breeze for shorter flights. For me personally, the seats are adequately comfortable for any flight durations, but I could see the less comfortable seats and slightly smaller leg room being problematic for taller people on longer flights.
- Download the Breeze app! I said it above and I’ll say it again, the user experience on the Breeze app is phenomenal. Check-in is easy. Notifications about flight changes are prompt. I think having the app is generally best practice no matter what airline you’re flying, but I’m impressed that such a new, and budget airline is so on top of things from a software perspective.
