Five stars for a charter are my eyes failing me? (Thomsonfly)

Member Name: freediveheaven

Product:	Thomsonfly
Date:	27/05/07 (933 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Seem to get extra leg room

Disadvantages: Could moan about the prices but that would be unreasonable in my opinion

I have never been one to go on package holidays, my parents never went on them and so I have grown up always looking to arrange my own travel and accommodation, in total I have only ever been on four package holidays in my entire life hence I have very little experience of using charter flights. Friends had recommended Thomsonfly as a good option for cheap flight only deals supported by the fact that they also fly from a local airport to me so when planning a trip to Barcelona for the ankle biters and myself at Easter I checked them out and I must say I was very satisfied with the whole experience.

Booking

I booked the flights directly through the website and I was very easy to do. The website is clearly set out and from it you can book either just your flights or a complete holiday package with all the options included of mixing and matching your requirements such as car hire and hotels as well as insurance. The company fly from 20 UK airports so one of the great benefits is that you can choose to fly from somewhere local which reduces the overall cost especially if this means you can be dropped off and picked up so avoiding airport parking fees. They fly to over 80 destinations worldwide however the majority are European based but you can sill get to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt and Marrakech as well as the Canary Islands. Obviously not every destination is served by every airport but our local airport of Coventry did service Barcelona so I was happy and my alternatives of Luton and Birmingham also had flights to Reus which is close by. The fact that from Coventry I could fly into the main airport of Barcelona made it and easy decision as some of the other budget airlines did not do this meaning lengthy (and costly) transfers.

Anyway the search engine is really good and once you have input date, destinations and numbers travelling in to it your flight options come up from which you can choose. I did find that the flight times were in the evening which is not ideal however you do have to make some compromises given the prices and also the fact that the flight home was also in the evening meant that we got a full days sight seeing when it was time to return.

Once you have selected the flights you want and gone through the payment procedure then you will receive a confirmation e-mail with all of your flight details and a booking reference which is required when you check in however I found that this was not asked for merely our names and passports. There are no tickets issued for the flight so unless you need to make any changes the next point of contact is when you arrive at the airport to check in. Any changes can be made online once your booking has been completed up to 24 hours before departure.

Check In

I found the staff at check in both on the outward and home legs of the journey to be polite and efficient, and our luggage was processed quickly and eats allocated at check in thus meaning we did not have to endure the scrum to get seats together that you sometimes find with certain airlines.

The deadline for check n was 40 minutes before departure which suited us fine as the airport we were using offered little in amenities. One thing I was very pleased about was the fact that each passenger has a total baggage allowance of 25kg made up of both hold and cabin which again is far more generous than certain other budget airlines.

The Flight

When I’m flying with a cheap airline my expectations are often lowered accordingly however there are a couple of things that must happen. I want to arrive at the destination I paid to arrive at and within about 30 minutes at least of the intended arrival time (slight delays I will tolerate). I also want my luggage to arrive at the same time and place as well and finally I would like to have a cabin crew who can smile and answer any question I might have, other than that I don’t really expect them to provide me with a nourishing meal, I do expect to pay a premium price for any refreshments I purchase and I do expect to have a pretty cramp journey.

I’m pleased to say that Thomsonfly delivered on all my expectations with only one exception. On the plus side the flight both on the outward and return journey actually landed ahead of schedule and with my entire luggage, on the return flight it was a little late in departing but this was marginal and it more than made up the time once in the air.

All of the attendants were very smart, polite and very helpful and were able to confirm which of the three terminals my return flight would be from and roughly how much a taxi would be into the centre of Barcelona. I got the impression that they were a happy crew and certainly worked well as a team.

The food was overpriced as you would expect but compares well with other airlines and there was a reasonable amount of choice for those who wanted a snack and the service was fast and efficient, I also liked the fact that they were quick to come around and clear away your drinks after you had finished.

The one area they did not live up to my expectations was in the comfort levels, I found that I had a lot of leg room which was brilliant, in fact it was comparable to some of the commercial carriers I have been on for trans-Atlantic flights and was a real bonus as it meant I could stretch out and catch forty winks during the flight. If here was one deciding factor that would make me use the company again then this was it especially for a four to five hour flight to Sharm for a diving holiday the extra legroom would be much appreciated.

The plane itself was very clean as were the toilets and all of them were in service. The in flight magazine looked like it was coming to the end of its shelf life and was well thumbed but overall the whole flight was a pleasant experience.

Summary

I must say I would definitely consider Thomsonfly again, the choice of airports is good and they are competitive on price. Booking well in advance I got flights to Barcelona at Easter for a total of £161.00 for the three of us and that was £15 more than the original booking price due to Uncle Gordon adding another tax hike to the cost of flying in February. The extra bit of leg room was really nice and the fact that they tend to fly into the main city airports makes everything more convenient.

Unlike one Irish low cost airline I can think of Thomsonfly does not place a restriction on the number of passengers they will carry with special needs however they do require people who have such requirements to contact them prior to booking to ensure they can meet those needs otherwise if the request is made after booking the passenger may incur additional costs.

For more details check out the website at

http://www.thomsonfly.com/en/index.html


Thanks for reading and rating my review.

Summary: A good value charter flight only company