Over the years, I’ve flown between the U.S. and Spain on a few different airlines. Usually, I fly with Iberia, American, or Norwegian. But for our most recent trip, we tried an airline I had never even heard of before — LEVEL Airlines.
Usually, we try to travel during the off-peak seasons to find cheaper tickets, but we had a few reasons for needing to be in Europe this August-October. Not only were we applying for our Spain digital nomad visa and checking out our destination wedding venue a year in advance, but we also wanted to get engagement photos taken in Porto, Portugal. We accepted the fact that we were going to have to pay more for plane tickets than we’re used to.
However, we found LEVEL Airlines to be about on par with what we typically pay when flying between the U.S. and Europe. From Boston to Barcelona, it was $540.50 per person. We did have to use Southwest points to get us to Boston from Kansas City, but it was worth it for the cheap flight on to Spain.
Here’s what you need to know about LEVEL Airlines and my review of my experience.
Booking Your LEVEL Airlines Tickets
LEVEL Airlines is a low-cost flight operator based in Europe, with its main operating base in Barcelona. According to my research, it only has 4-5 planes in its fleet at this time. LEVEL is also operated by Iberia, for whatever that’s worth. Nothing about the flight seemed to be related to Iberia at all. It also may sometimes appear as “Vueling operated by LEVEL.”
So, booking our tickets. While we typically try to book using the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card booking portal — and get 5x points on our travel, LEVEL wasn’t showing up in the portal, so we had to book with LEVEL Airlines directly. You can also book with your favorite booking site, such as Booking.com, but your options may vary.
After you search your desired destination and dates, you’ll come to the screen where you select your flight and ticket. You get two choices: Economy and Premium. Then, you select the level of service you want: Light, Comfort, or Extra.
With Light, all you get is the seat on the plane and your carry-on bag (and personal item). Comfort gives you a carry-on and personal item, a checked bag, and meals and drinks on the plane. And Extra gives you two checked bags, meals and drinks, a flexible ticket, and seat selection.
Knowing we could pack for two months in just our carry-on backpacks, we went with “Light” both ways.
Logistics
We were able to check-in online 24 hours in advance. LEVEL emailed us a PDF that had both of our tickets with bar codes to scan. This was enough to get us through security in Boston; when we got to the gate, we took our passports to the gate agent who scanned them and then printed us a typical paper boarding pass.
Even though we didn’t pay to choose our seats in advance, we were seated next to each other since we were on the same ticket. In the front/middle of the plane, the seat layout is 2-4-2, and in the back it’s 2-3-2. On our way there, we were in the middle and aisle in the 3-seat section. However, there was a family of four that got split up, two and two, where their two sets of seats weren’t even anywhere near each other.
I feel like we boarded the plane fairly early, which was good because the overhead bins over the center seats were clearly smaller than those above the window seats. Since we were on the plane before a lot of other people, we put our bags in the bigger bins.
Security
Usually, security goes pretty smoothly, but we had a few hiccups that were directly related to LEVEL airlines while going through security in Boston.
While we both have TSA Pre-Check, that’s not typically available when you’re flying internationally. No big deal. We went through the regular line. Boston, like many other airports, is using the machines where you only have to give the TSA agent your passport/driver’s license, not your boarding pass, before entering the x-ray/scanner area. I gave them my driver’s license and headed for the line, starting to take my electronics out of my bag, with Matt behind me.
A minute or two later, I heard my name — Matt was shouting for me because he’d gotten held up at the ID verification point. The machine was saying there was a mismatch between his name and the one printed on his ticket. The TSA agent told us to go to the LEVEL Airlines counter to get it all straightened out. So we went back to the departures hall and searched for the LEVEL Airlines counter.
There was no LEVEL Airlines counter.
We walked the full length of the departures hall and didn’t find it. We asked an information desk worker for help, and she didn’t know where we could find it. However, she did say that it should open 4 hours before departure. We looked at the clock, and it was less than 4 hours before departure.
Eventually, we went back to the TSA line and explained what happened. It turned out that several people’s tickets were having issues with the ID scanner, and they had one old machine that scanned both IDs and boarding passes, so we got in that line. There was no issue with Matt’s ticket, and we were able to proceed as normal.
So that was kind of a fluke, but my concern about LEVEL not having a counter is still an issue, right? We didn’t have bags we needed to check, but what if we had? There was no information whatsoever about LEVEL Airlines, and no evidence that it existed in the departures hall. 🤷♀️
Experience
While I’ve taken plenty of long-haul flights in my life… this was the first one where food wouldn’t be provided. With this in mind, Matt and I used my free lounge-access passes from TrustedHousesitters.com to get access to the Air France lounge. We ate enough to fill us up — that way, once we got on the plane, the only thing we had to focus on was sleeping during the 7-hour flight.
It was actually kind of nice not having to worry about being awake when the meals came around. During a typical Iberia or American flight, when you’re going U.S. to Europe, dinner is served about an hour after takeoff, and some sort of breakfast is served an hour or two before landing. Which means your time on the plane is punctuated in key moments when you really want to be maximizing your sleep.
I’d give the experience on the way there a 7/10. On the way home, Barcelona to Boston, I’d give it a 3/10.
Flying back to the U.S., the lack of food was definitely more inconvenient. First, the flight back to the U.S. is like 2 hours longer than on the way there, so it’s a long time to go without eating anything. And second, you aren’t really trying to pass the time sleeping. So not having any mealtimes to look forward to was definitely a bummer and made the flight feel as long as it was. Add in being sick (like I was on the way home) and it was kind of a miserable experience.
Luckily, even if you don’t pay for a full meal, you can purchase items with your credit card on board if you get hungry or thirsty. Matt and I paid, I think, €5.50 each for a thing of ramen noodles as a snack, which didn’t feel too expensive. We tried to bring a few snacks of our own, but snacks go quick on a 9-hour flight.
Besides the lack of a meal, there are a few other things to mention. While the seat backs did have screens, the selection of TV shows and movies was very, very limited on the way over to Spain. We didn’t care too much because we wanted to be sleeping, but it seemed like there were about 8 very, very old movies and maybe 3 TV shows. However, on the way back to the U.S., the catalog seemed to be like 5x as big with plenty of well-known movies and even popular TV shows like The Big Bang Theory and Friends. Not sure what the deal was on the way over to Europe.
One thing I didn’t like: there wasn’t an interactive map to check the status of the flight! (Which is my favorite thing to look at.)
Also, half of the bathrooms were “out of service” on the flight back to the U.S., which luckily didn’t seem to cause any problems.
Value
Did I like flying LEVEL Airlines more than flying with Iberia or American? Definitely not.
Would I choose to fly with LEVEL again if the price were comparable to Iberia or American? No.
Was it the right choice for this particular trip? Yes, it was.
With all the travel we’ll be doing between the U.S. and Spain in the future, I’m probably going to avoid LEVEL Airlines if I can. It’s a budget airline (sorry, “low-cost” airline) and it kinda feels like it. I mean, not as bad as RyanAir. But as far as the lack of information in the airport, lack of a meal, and lack of entertainment options, you can tell it’s a low-cost carrier.
However, I appreciated that LEVEL offered prices — in the middle of peak travel season — that were comparable to what I’d pay on other airlines during non-peak seasons. If I’d flown with Iberia or American, we probably could have expected to pay a few hundred dollars more per person.
We probably won’t even have the option of flying LEVEL Airlines again, considering our Southwest points are running low and we’ll probably have to book flights with itineraries from Kansas City instead of our favorite coastal hubs.
But traveling on the cheap is one of our values, so it was worth it for us, in this particular scenario.
Plan Your Time in Barcelona
Book the Best Hotels in Barcelona: Barcelona Hotels
Things To Do in Barcelona: Sagrada Familia and Gaudi Private Tour with Skip the Line Tickets // Barcelona Tapas Tour with a Local Foodie: 100% Personalized & Private // Paella Barcelona: Market Visit, Tapas, Sangria and Paella Class
Day Trips from Barcelona: Barcelona – Girona & Costa Brava Day Trip // Medieval Villages Small Group Day Trip from Barcelona // Montserrat Half-Day Tour with Tapas & Gourmet Wines
My Other Posts About Barcelona: Everything You Need To Know About Visiting Barcelona // Day Trip: Barcelona to Montserrat Tour // How to Visit Mount Tibidabo, Barcelona
Anyway, those are my thoughts about my experience with LEVEL Airlines! Of course, your experience may vary and I can’t promise you’ll have a decent experience like we did.
Have you ever flown with LEVEL Airlines, or are you thinking about it? Let me know in the comments.
-Cathy
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Originally Published on October 21, 2023.
This was really helpful to read! I just booked the same route for August. Thanks for posting!
Hey Brittany, thanks for stopping by! Glad you found it helpful. Enjoy your trip!
-Cathy
Thanks, Cathy. We are planning a cruise that ends in Barcelona in April 2025. We will want to fly back from Barcelona to Boston. We will stay overnight in Boston and fly Southwest from there the following day so no worries about making connections.
From what I’m seeing so far, flying Premium Economy on LEVEL appears to be MUCH less expensive than, for example, Iberia. Premium Economy also seems to include a number of extras that your budget experience did not, especially the extra seating room.
You mentioned not being able to find a Level checkin desk at the airport in the U.S. Do you know if they have a checkin desk at Barcelona Intl (BCN)? We will obviously have bags to check after our cruise.
You also rated your return flight from Barcelona to the U.S. much lower than the flight there (3/10 vs 7/10). Why so much difference? How much do you think flying Premium Economy might have improved that experience?
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Hey Roger,
Thanks for stopping by, and for your comment. Yeah, Premium Economy would likely be more comfortable than what we booked. The reason I gave it a 7/10 on the way there was because, usually on the way over to Europe, our main concern is trying to sleep as much as possible. When there was no meal served, we didn’t have to worry about staying up for that, then sleeping, then waking up 2 hours before landing for the breakfast items. Which meant the whole duration of the LEVEL flight was essentially devoted to sleeping.
I gave it a 3/10 on the way home because the flight was a couple of hours longer going back to the U.S., and not having a meal in that situation, when we were trying to stay awake, made the whole experience a lot worse. At least on a 9-hour flight with American, Delta, etc. there are a couple of meals to break up the long flight home. It also lost a couple points due to one bathroom being out of order, and one thing I wanted to order from their in-flight menu was sold out. (Also, I was under the weather and absolutely miserable on top of that, so maybe that clouded my experience a bit.)
As far as there being a check-in desk in the airport in Barcelona, I’m going to guess the answer is yes. I believe LEVEL is partners with Vueling, and we actually happen to have a Vueling flight out of Barcelona tomorrow night, so I’ll take a look for myself and get back to you when I can.
Thanks again for your comment and I hope this helps!
-Cathy
Thanks, Cathy. If you could report back and let me know if Level has a checkin desk at BCN, that would really help. Or perhaps they might use the Iberia checkin? The Veuling checkin should know as well.
As far as the meal goes, I’ll have to check again on Premium Economy, but I believe a meal is included with that fare.
Hi Roger,
I can confirm that LEVEL Airlines has a check-in area at Barcelona Airport, in Terminal 1. While they don’t have their own permanent desk, they had two vertical banners that were in the area between Vueling and Iberia’s desks. Photo attached.
I hope this helps!
-Cathy
ooh, I could write a book about Level and not sure anyone wants to hear these things. Our son and most importantly our young grandsons live in Barcelona. We live on Cape Cod, so after a friend recommended Level, we started to use them last year.When you are flying so much, non-stop is such a luxury. Two bad experiences later I am rethinking ever booking with them again, although I have two flights booked in the future.
Last May 2023, we were leaving on Level for Barcelona. After a 30 minute delay, they started boarding us, stopped boarding for a while, then boarded everyone and we took off. I fell asleep immediately,but woke up suddenly; something seemed to be wrong. A couple minutes later, the pilot comes on and says, “for your security, we are returning to the airport (Logan in Boston). The plane really sounded like there was something wrong and my husband was watching the status screen and trying to figure out what he could do if we crashed. I am serious. The plane was descending fast and it was flying at 4,000ft for a while before we safely landed. They never told us why, they just dumped all of us in the airport and told us we would hear from them in an email within three hours. That never happened until 2 days later. WE were already home by then. We took 3 flights after that and they were fine, but two of those flights we were notified that inflight entertainment was not working because of technical difficulties (most likely because most people want to sleep on the way over and they save money that way).
In May 2024 we had a lovely flight there (again, no entertainment), but very smooth and great flight. We arrived 3.5 hours before our return flight to Boston and at the counter were told, you are on standby and the flight has been overbooked. Depending on when you checked in you may or may not get on the flight. Nice. I booked this flight a year in advance, but did not buy seats which has never been a problem before.
We were told to stand in line (my husband had gotten in line and we were first in line thinking that would make a difference and after 3 hours, the only people they took were people who had bought seats but had been told they were on standby. Instead, the sent us back down to the counter to rebook a flight. They told us to go to counter 200 (there isn’t a counter 200) so we were just standing at Vueling not knowing what to do. Again, my husband scouted out the area and talked to some people and led the leftover 35 (35 people had to be rescheduled) to an Iberia counter. Some people needed a hotel and were sent 40 minutes away. We were luckier because Barcelona is only 20 minutes by cab away and we spent a half hour with my son before going to sleep. They booked us on an Iberia flight (not non-stop) and we got home safely. It was an awful experience. This was all a ruse. Obviously, they had enough seats on an Iberia flight the next day. Truly awful.
Hi Catherine,
Wow, you’ve had some really unlucky experiences with LEVEL. Although at some point it makes you wonder… is it considered “unlucky” or is that just how they are? 🤔
Thanks for stopping by to share — hearing all kinds of different experiences is super helpful. I hope your next LEVEL flights are uneventful!
-Cathy
Of course found this article AFTER booking with Level for our trip to Barcelona. We are flying direct from Logan Airport and plan to check a bag. Does anyone know what counter to check in at? Since Level doesn’t have a counter?
Terminal E: https://www.flylevel.com/en/at-the-airport/airports-terminals/
Hey! So, I’m guessing there IS a counter, somewhere — I’m not sure why it wasn’t available when we were there. But certainly there must have been plenty of people who had checked bags on our flight. Most likely, the counter just opened late (not 4 hours before departure, like it was supposed to) which is definitely on-par for LEVEL, it seems… but it has to exist.
We are booked on TAP through Lisbon in October in economy extra, which gives us extra leg room and more recline up front and a fully refundable airafre ($787 each). We are in fact in row 6, where there is no seat in front of us and enough leg oom for the window occupant to get up to go to the nearby bathroom without disturbing my wife and I in the aisle and middle seats. I was thinking of booking the non-stop in Premium on Level through Ibera, which had a lower price than Level itself (only $13 more than our airfare on TAP, which we would have booked one day earlier because the late arrival in Barcelona (12.15pm) was not compatible with our 5pm sailing and 3.30pm check-in cutoff, and staying at the Eurostar Gran Marina with easy access to the cruise dock shuttle, for around $200 USD. Thanks for the warning. We are staying with TAP, getting in at 10.35am on the day we sail.
I can appreciate this article I want to take a trip and I recently found out about LEVEL. Knowing other experiences will help when the unexpected happens.
They just cancelled our flight from Boston to Barcelona (6/22/24 IB 2626). We got an email notification that said if you don’t hear from us in 2 hours call our customer support line. We did that, only to find out that their phones only operate 9a-9P. So we have to wait 10 hours just to try and remedy this. Never again.
Oh no, I’m so sorry that happened to you. It’s so unfair when something like that happens, especially when it cuts into your much-anticipated vacation time. I hope you got it figured out. I’d love to hear what happened next if you remember to stop by here again.
-Cathy
I just flew Level from Barcelona to LAX and like someone said above, there was no inflight entertainment despite there being tvs on the seatbacks. This made the nearly 13 hour flight pretty darn boring. The food was decent and once I figured out where to check-in Barcelona, everything else was okay.
Hey Sarah,
Thanks for stopping by and for your comment! I can’t believe there was no entertainment despite the seatback screens. I can’t even imagine how long that flight felt.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
-Cathy
The worst airline ever, you have to paid for a blanket a piece a trash. The food ? The food is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. Not even prisoners are given that food, in a carton with a horrible smell you have to be very hungry to eat that crap.
I will never ever , plus late for maintenance ., the worst
Hey Rosa,
Sounds like you had a truly terrible experience! Thanks for stopping by to share.
-Cathy
My wife and I just flew Level from Boston to Barcelona and returned two weeks later via Level. We got there and got back. Food was OK but, you can also bring your own on board. Their website is less than clear and easy to navigate (OK, it sucks). My wife hates take offs and landings so a direct flight to Barcelona was great as we didn’t have to go up and down at other airports to catch connecting flights. Overall, we’d do it again for a direct Boston/Barcelona flight and if the price was right.
Hi Ralph,
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experience!
-Cathy