Vueling Airbus A320. Photo / 123RF
Stephanie Holmes flies from Rome to Split, aboard Vueling Airlines V6736.
Plane: Airbus A320 with Vueling — a Spanish low-cost airline with hubs in Barcelona and Rome's Fiumicino airport.
Class: There's only one.
Price: Advertised fares on Vueling's website can be as low as $58.
Luggage: Passengers get 23kg of checked baggage and 7kg of hand luggage.
Check-in: This was a connecting flight for me, having come all the way from Auckland with Qatar Airways. My bags had been checked through all the way to Split, but I had to pick up a boarding pass for this leg of the journey, which I was able to do at the gate an hour before flying.
Airport experience: Fiumicino is a lovely, spacious airport, with lots of natural light, good shopping and great dining options, with typically delicious Italian food on offer.
Flight time: A swift 45 minutes.
On time: About 15 minutes late to leave.
Seat: 24D, an aisle seat in this 3-3 configured aircraft. It was pretty basic, with limited space to stretch out.
How full: To bursting. I was glad I got on early and stowed my cabin baggage overhead as latecomers were struggling to find space.
Entertainment: Just Vueling's Ling in-flight magazine.
Food and drink: Available to purchase, but nothing — not even a glass of water — given out for free.
Service: The crew were gorgeous, but on such a short flight their passenger interaction was quite limited.
Fellow passengers: Mostly European holidaymakers heading to Croatia for some summer sun.
Toilets: Forty-five minutes was short enough for me not to go.
Would I fly again: Yes, they're equivalent to Jetstar, getting you to Europe's hot spots for reasonable prices.
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