The UK’s best and worst airlines /

New analysis has revealed the UK’s best and worst airlines based on customer reviews ahead of the summer holiday rush. The study by Forbes Advisor, the price comparison and financial guidance platform, analyzed data from travel review sites and Twitter on 20 major airlines to see which ranks best for customer reviews and response to customer complaints and other concerns.

As it turned out, Jet2 sits at the top of the table with the most satisfied customers, while WizzAir is last overall.

Jet2 ranks extremely well in online reviews, with the highest percentage of five-star reviews on both TrustPilot, where it has 77% five-star reviews, and Trip Advisor, where it has 62%. It also had the lowest percentage of one-star reviews, with just 6% on both sites. The airline’s Twitter presence has also been generally positive: during the seven days that tweets to the airline were measured, it received 111 tweets and publicly responded to 58 of them, a response rate of 52%. That’s the fifth best response rate in the survey, while the average response time of 231 minutes ranks eleventh.

At the other end of the scale, WizzAir had the lowest customer satisfaction score: 88% of TrustPilot reviews are just one star, while 48% of TripAdvisor reviews are one star. However, WizzAir outperforms on Twitter, publicly responding to 74 of the 179 tweets sent to it, representing 41%, and doing so in the fastest time of any airline, with an average response time of just six minutes.

Virgin Atlantic was the second best airline in the study, although there was a significant difference between the percentage of five-star ratings across the rating platforms. On TrustPilot, it received only 18% of five-star reviews, while on TripAdvisor, 51% of reviews gave it the maximum rating.

In third place, TUI saw a similar effect, but in reverse: 67% of TrustPilot reviews gave the airline full marks, compared to just 33% of Trip Advisor reviewers.

Pegasus Airlines came second from last in the ranking, with four in five (80%) of TrustPilot reviews earning one star, while one in three (33%) of Trip Advisor reviews earned the lowest possible wash. It is also the only airline in the study not to have responded to any of the tweets sent after receiving 18 tweets in the seven days measured.

Vueling ranks third from the bottom and has the highest percentage of one-star reviews on TrustPilot, at 89%. However, it performs slightly better on Twitter, with a response rate of 31% and an average response time of 191 minutes, both of which rank 10th when compared to other carriers.

Commenting on the survey, Laura Howard, travel insurance expert at Forbes Advisor, said: “It’s the prospect of a summer holiday abroad that keeps millions of hard-working Britons going through the winter and spring months. But vacation is still only a small part of the year, so it’s important that it starts from the moment you arrive at the airport.

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“However, good airline customer service is integral to a positive experience – and our research reveals a broad spectrum of customer reviews, from Jet2 at the top to WizzAir at the bottom. But even if you choose a trusted airline that will fly to your destination at a time and budget that suits you, travel brings with it a whole host of potential unforeseen events – which is why getting comprehensive travel insurance is imperative . A travel policy will pay for other unforeseen events, such as emergency medical treatment abroad, repatriation (taking you home), lost or damaged property, and cancellation due to illness or bereavement. You can also make a claim if your flight is delayed or canceled in some circumstances. Policies are cheap compared to the cost of a holiday, and purchasing at the time of booking gives you the best protection if you need to cancel your trip. Having a travel policy you can fall back on if something goes wrong may not remove the prospect of poor customer service from your airline, but it will certainly take the edge off.”