First Choice/Thomson flight review

remember 1960/70s BOAC/Cunard painted VC-10s, and didn’t Laker do a job or 2 for cruises with a 707 Laker Carribean

I suppose the aircraft could have carried on, not bothering with the fuel stop, don’t think it’d make it though… :rolleyes:

The problem is people expect modern day air travel to be the same as Pan Am used to operate a gazillion years ago, especially if they’re forked out for a 5-star cruise. Sadly this doesn’t happen, unless you want to go by private jet, which is the only way you’ll get what you want.

its like chalk and cheese
you buy a P&O cruise where you spend 2 weeks in luxury on there ship
but the ship you to and from it like cattle
i really think its P&O who should be checking they are meeting there customers expectations.
My Parents have done these trips a few times, and on the ones where it starts in Accapulco, there is often a refuelling stop in the middle of the night
they spent 2 hours in Cuba airport with no facilities!

Might I just add some comments from the other side of the fence as it were.
If it’s wrong then its wrong no point trying to deny it. Having said that at least Lindylou gave some response and contact details to follow up if required. I can’t say that any of the charter companies I worked for would have done so publically. I seem to recall Lindy Lou was the only one giving updates a few months ago when delays were being experienced by everyone.
Crew do sometimes have bad days, they are human. No excuses for it but somedays I was great and other days I was Victor Meldrew. Once I was having more Victor days than great days I decided it was time to leave it to others.
Tray tables are always a pain in the backside and break. A new more reliable design would help across the industry.
Most airlines do what they can to keep up the internal appearance but they (charter companies) do work them hard before they spend the money on upgrades. I would imagine even deep cleans are fairly few and far between these days to save money.
Just to give you an idea if you weren’t aware. Aircraft won’t get a complete wash on the outside when they get dirty. Normally they get a couple of belly washes to get the worst off underneath before they get a full wash.
I always liked faux leather covers as you could take them off and clean them on board if necessary. No wet seats for the next flight if someone had been sick in it on the previous sector!
I’d be interested to hear from anyone in the low cost sector about how they keep their aircraft looking reasonable most of the time.

Thomas Cook’s ex myt have some old IFE systems installed around 1998. Wouldn’t’ surprise me if they do not work.

its the north south divide!! MAN get all the duff aircraft
in 2002 we were on an Airtours holiday to Florida from MAN and the brochure stated a new A330 with seat back tv etc, but in reality we got an A330 they had chartered from Premier, with no seat back tv, and in our section of the plane the sound system was broken, so all you got was silent movies
same plane same fault both directions

Airtours and Premier were, and still are, one and the same, they’re just Thomas Cook/Thomas Cook Scandinavia now. The difference was (Probably still is?) that the Airtours machines were used on long-hauls to the likes to Florida and Barbados, with the Premier aircraft operating the “bucket and spade” flights from Scandinavia to Spain and Portugal. I believe all Thomas Cook aircraft across the fleet use the same IFE now?

its the north south divide!! MAN get all the duff aircraft
in 2002 we were on an Airtours holiday to Florida from MAN and the brochure stated a new A330 with seat back tv etc, but in reality we got an A330 they had chartered from Premier, with no seat back tv, and in our section of the plane the sound system was broken, so all you got was silent movies
same plane same fault both directions

I was intrigued by Lindylous comments and may I make an observation with regards to baggage allowances, I will be flying with Thomson airways next May having booked a package through Thomsons.
My point is that the holiday which we have booked is one of their platinum locations with platinum benefits, according to my electronic invoice our baggage allowance is 23Kg per person – so which is it??

Regards

Joe:)

I think you do get 23kgs if you upgrade to premier class not just through a platinum holiday, you better mail Thomson and see what they say, be warned if you are 1gram over they bite hard. We were with p&o so we automatically got 23kgs, god help if it was the standard 20 we could have got another cruise for the price they charge. With regards to th 757 you are going on OOBA if it is that one as it may change, ex FCA so same as all the other 757s in there fleet, but wasn’t this one of the last 757s of the Boeing line so maybe have the updates interior. i.e new style baggage bins and ceiling panels.

What are Thomson planning on using from Manchester to Dalaman in summer. They have 1 sunday evening service and 2 monday day time services.
Do the 757’s ex fca still have turquose interiors.

me again, any one know what thomsons B757 G-OOBA is like? not sure if we have flown on it before.

I was intrigued by Lindylous comments and may I make an observation with regards to baggage allowances, I will be flying with Thomson airways next May having booked a package through Thomsons.
My point is that the holiday which we have booked is one of their platinum locations with platinum benefits, according to my electronic invoice our baggage allowance is 23Kg per person – so which is it??

Regards

Joe:)

G-PJLO (after one of the FC Group Directors) was imported from Taipei (ex-EVA) approx 5-6 years ago and was given a large (and v. expensive) overhaul and new FCA interior complete with long” seat pitch and new IFE systems.

Every IFE control box (in that system) is good for only 9 seats (so when one goes out all 9 seats suffered) and can be a pain to fix if away from base.

“Shoddy” is not a very objective description – but I’m still disappointed that it hasn’t worn well in your estimation. However seats do break and again, can be a pain if times don’t allow fixes.(believe me when I say that seats are “revenue” items that do get the quickest attention!)

As for the baggage hall and CC appearance and attitudes – also disappointed as they were all great when I worked with them at MAN.

IMO the recession does put a lot of strain on travel industries and that pressure can be hard to hide in appearance and attitude.

In terms of IFE and shoddy state of interior it was at the time of G-OOBK being out of service and every 767 has been working flat out with no down time. PJLO is fine now ife working and very clean.

Each customer is entitled to a check-in allowance of up to 20kg baggage and a maximum 5kg for hand baggage (max. dimensions: 55cm x 40cm x 20cm).

…Premier & Premium Upgrade luggage allowance
Each customer is entitled to check-in allowance of 20kg and a maximum 7kg for hand baggage (max. dimensions: 55cm x 40cm x 20cm).
This is only applicable to Premier and Premium upgrade customers.

So if you upgrade, all you are entitled too is an additional 2kgs extra in your hand-luggage…wow, now that’s what I call an upgrade…not!

…the gripe in was the manner how we were all dealt with.

It just felt like Thomson new that here comes the cruise lot, time to milk the baggage. Like I said also last year Thomas cook were very accommodating in that slightly over your allowance was ok.

To be honest, Lindylou’s reply is about as far as an apology that you will get…they just spout the usual “its company policy” tosh and are basically saying “you’ve been on holiday, we’ve got your money, thank you very much, like it or lump it”, and all in the name of “customer service”.

Also, don’t forget that the agent at the airport that tried charging you for the overweight baggage most likely does not work for Thomson themselves, more so for a ground handling agent (i.e Swissport, Servisair, etc?), but that doesnt excuse them from providing a good service!

Lindy, not to sure on why you posted what seems to be a company style t&cs of baggage, we were well aware of what our allowance’s were, the gripe in was the manner how we were all dealt with, to another point which you mentioned is that 5gks per person on board allowance, we weighed our carry on and between us was just under 1kg but we could not deduct this 4gks under to cancel out the 3kgs over on hold baggage.

It just felt like Thomson new that here comes the cruise lot, time to milk the baggage. Like I said also last year Thomas cook were very accommodating in that slightly over your allowance was ok.

Evening all, not quite a trip report hence posted here but a quick insight into my recent Thomson Airways flight:

Date was Dec 4th 2010 and we were flying from Manchester out to Bridgetown Barbados to join P&O MS Ventura for a 15 day cruise round the Caribbean. No choice in airline so to speak but 1x Thomas Cook and the other Thomson, we were on the Thomson flight.

At check in had 3 bags to go in the hold, bags over weight by 3kgs, told to pay £140, had a heated discussion with this pleasant girl at check in, she then snarled at me and told me if I don’t pay then leave the bag here, nice girl!, I was then was told as a special will charge you £70. We were then sent to a stall to pay and other people on our flight were over by 20kgs and were told £340 and then reduced to £70, what a con, mail sent to Thomson regarding this money making scam.

Fligth delayed 4 hours due to??? Well nobody told us why, great start. Finally on-board G-PLJO ex First Choice 767-300 non WL, plane quite roomy but shoddy inside, dirty, broken seats, and seat trays and the food was nasty don’t think one person in our vicinity ate anything, and to cap it off IFE was broke, told to amuse yourself oh and the flight time was 10 hours, boy was this going to be fun. One passenger asked which museum they got the plane from which was quite amusing

Hardly any word from up front, crew were miserable and sorry to say scruffy looking, P&O state complementary drink on the flight “Thomson say not” 2 drinks only. Was a sure relief when the Dunlop’s hit the deck in Bridgetown.
Return same plane same faults, only plus side was 8 hours on the way back to blighty.

All in all Thomson did not impress and a far cry from their origins did the same trip last year but with Thomas cook A330, 100% better airline all round.
Regards

Dear Sir, Im sorry you did not find your experience with us Enjoyable or Helpful Please let me explain a few thing’s for if ever you plan to travel with us Again or for any other member reading this.

Each customer is entitled to a check-in allowance of up to 20kg baggage and a maximum 5kg for hand baggage (max. dimensions: 55cm x 40cm x 20cm).

No single item of baggage may exceed 23kg. Customers who have pre-paid for an additional check-in allowance which places them over the 23kg limit must check in an additional bag.

Baggage allowances can be pooled across a party, but no baggage may exceed 23kg.

Other bags such as handbags, laptop bags or laptop computers must be carried within the single item of cabin baggage. We recommend that video cameras, mobile telephones and other valuable items should be carried as hand luggage.

An additional 5kg per person can be purchased at the time of booking for an extra charge of £10 for short/mid haul and £20 for long haul. This must be booked for the whole party travelling.

Premier & Premium Upgrade luggage allowance
Each customer is entitled to check-in allowance of 20kg and a maximum 7kg for hand baggage (max. dimensions: 55cm x 40cm x 20cm).
This is only applicable to Premier and Premium upgrade customers.

Infants

Infants under the age of 2 now have an individual luggage allowance of 10kg. Folding pushchairs and wheelchairs do not count as part of your baggage allowance, however you will not be charged to carry them when travelling on our in-house airline. Some flights shown are not operated by our in-house airline. The maximum weight for checked baggage on these flights may be limited to 15kg with no additional allowance for infants. The weight allowed for all flights will be shown on your tickets.

I wish you success with your Reply from P&O Cruises. Again if you would Like to discuss this Matter further then please Don’t Hesitate to Contact us or Pop into your Local First Choice / Thomson Airways Travel Agents. 0871 231 4691(Calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras)

Happy New Year From Thomson Airways
Lynda

Ouch! Not a good experience at all by the sounds of things, but to be brutally honest I am not surprised that you had a bad experience. In my opinion, standards at First Choice have gone downhill rapidly since the merger with Thomson took place.

Next time, I’d recommend traveling with a scheduled carrier…i.e. BA or VS, but these flights will usually be from LGW rather than MAN, and I would also recommend travelling MAN-LGW the day before just to avoid any potential mis-connection issues, but obviously I understand that cost/time might well be the key factor here, but at least the service should be far better and wont ruin the rest of your holiday!

As for the excess baggage charges…was each bag 3kgs over (total 9kgs overweight!), or were you just 3kgs over the total permitted weight allowance…either way, £140 is a shockingly high price to have to pay, but sadly this is an ancillary revenue that all airlines have chosen to exploit to the max. The airline I represent at work, albeit a scheduled carrier, charge $50/£32 for pax to carry between 23-32kgs in one bag, or the same amount to check-in a 2nd bag of 23kgs…weird or what?!

Also, as a quick pointer for the future, always check to make sure the scales say 0kgs before putting any cases on there, and insist on this if they are not as it can often be the case that the scales have been incorrected set…I know that Gatwick has been in trouble on several occasions for having scales that were not accurate!

Cloud 9 , was just the 3kgs overweight for all bags, scandalous isn’t it. Had no choice with which carrier, P&O sort this out which includes transfers from airport to port. We were easy picking for Thomson, a good way to recoup charges back possibly due to P&O nailing them down on flight costs, vicious circle but as per always it’s us customers that take the bullet.
Tis a shame about Thomson they have really let things slip, oh forgot to mention on the return our “free complementary drinks” had run out they didn’t have time to restock at Barbados, I did ask that surly my £75 charge for baggage should get me a few drinks, the stare from the FA said it all, I kept stum.

I have written to P&O regarding all this so see what they come back with.

Regards

Andy

Ouch! Not a good experience at all by the sounds of things, but to be brutally honest I am not surprised that you had a bad experience. In my opinion, standards at First Choice have gone downhill rapidly since the merger with Thomson took place.

Next time, I’d recommend travelling with a scheduled carrier…i.e. BA or VS, but these flights will usually be from LGW rather than MAN, and I would also recommend travelling MAN-LGW the day before just to avoid any potential mis-connection issues, but obviously I understand that cost/time might well be the key factor here, but at least the service should be far better and wont ruin the rest of your holiday!

As for the excess baggage charges…was each bag 3kgs over (total 9kgs overweight!), or were you just 3kgs over the total permitted weight allowance…either way, £140 is a shockingly high price to have to pay, but sadly this is an ancillary revenue that all airlines have chosen to exploit to the max. The airline I represent at work, albeit a scheduled carrier, charge $50/£32 for pax to carry between 23-32kgs in one bag, or the same amount to check-in a 2nd bag of 23kgs…weird or what?!

Also, as a quick pointer for the future, always check to make sure the scales say 0kgs before putting any cases on there, and insist on this if they are not as it can often be the case that the scales have been incorrected set…I know that Gatwick has been in trouble on several occasions for having scales that were not accurate!

Now In My Honest Opinion Ive Never had a bad flight with Thomson/First Choice So This Review Really Shocked Me :O I Flew To And From Orlando With Them In August Aboard G-OBYJ Roomy Compared To Virgin Economy It Was A Little Dated Inside But Very Clean And The Food Was Very Pleasant For A Charter…Just My Experiance…Sorry To Hear About Your Bad Experiance. Also very pleasant crew even though they were one member short so they were rushed off their feet. And regular updates from upfront 🙂

Regards

Lewis 🙂