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Quick Answer

VoyageHacks has reviewed 15 airlines in depth: 13 full-service carriers (Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa, Air France, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Saudia, Air India and Air Serbia) and 2 low-cost ones (Vueling and Wizz Air). Every review answers the same questions in the same order: what a return fare really costs on that airline’s busiest routes, what the fare includes, how much legroom economy gives you, how punctual the airline is according to independent data, and what the catch is. Pick a carrier below to read its verdict.

Airline is the one booking decision that is hard to undo. The fare is only the start of it: the bag you did not know you had to pay for, the seat pitch on whichever aircraft you happen to get, the connection that leaves you 90 minutes to cross a terminal you have never seen.

Every airline below has its own page, with the same structure, the same checks and the same honesty about the one thing that would send us to a competitor.

Full-service airlines

Low-cost airlines

How we rate an airline

  • Fares you can actually book. We quote a return fare band on the airline’s busiest routes rather than a headline “from” price, and we print the date we checked it.
  • What the fare includes. Cabin and checked baggage allowance, seat selection, meals and change rules, because the cheapest fare family rarely includes all four.
  • Legroom, stated plainly. Economy seat pitch in inches, plus the aircraft in the fleet that is the outlier in either direction.
  • Punctuality from independent data. On-time arrival and cancellation rates from sources such as OAG and AirHelp, never the airline’s own marketing.
  • The catch. Every review names the one thing that would make us book someone else.

Airline guides and comparisons

Judging one airline and choosing between several are different questions. These guides handle the second one:

Frequently asked questions

How does VoyageHacks review an airline?

Every review runs the same five checks: a return fare band on that airline’s busiest routes with the date it was checked, what each fare family includes in baggage and seat selection, economy seat pitch, on-time arrival and cancellation rates from independent sources such as OAG and AirHelp, and a plainly stated catch. We do not claim to have flown every route: the figures come from the airline’s published conditions and from independent performance data, and the verification date is printed on each page.

Which airlines has VoyageHacks reviewed?

Fifteen so far: thirteen full-service carriers (Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa, Air France, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Saudia, Air India and Air Serbia) and two low-cost ones (Vueling and Wizz Air). Each has its own page on this hub, and the list grows as carriers are added.

What is the difference between a full-service airline and a low-cost one?

A full-service fare normally bundles a checked bag, a seat and a meal into the ticket price and lets you change it for a fee, while a low-cost fare unbundles all of that and sells each piece separately. The two are only comparable once the bag and the seat are added back on: with hand luggage only on a short route the low-cost fare usually wins, and once a checked bag and a chosen seat are included the gap often disappears.