BigAl wrote:

now my problem is the missus does not want to fly with TC

For what reason if you don't mind me asking? A previous bad experience? They only offer the same inflight facilities as the other charter airlines. I fly with them twice a year and while they aren't perfect, they offer a decent enough service in my opinion.

Darren

now my problem is the missus does not want to fly with TC

I also travel with Thomas Cook roughly twice a year and have no problems with them, this year is also the same.

David

She had a problem a couple of years ago with them, I wont go into details but the cabin crew was very rude and unhelpful when one of them spilled a drink all over her, luckily it was a cold drink, but since then she refuses to travel with them.
As I say I cant win these days lol.

Big Al

It is strange that some people in a service industry do not understand just how much damage one bit of poor customer service can do.

Especially with the internet.

Papa

You are right papa, of course she complained to Thomas cook when she got home, but never had a reply, she never even got an apology or any help from the cabin crew, the stewardess just sniggered and continued her work, a few other passengers also commented and complained to the cabin crew but again it fell on deaf ears.
Such an incident can cause problems later on.
It's a pity i rather fancied sampling TC but it will have to be Monarch instead, pity Thomson are too expensive we had great flights with them last October.

Big Al

BigAl,

While I appreciate past experience and it has put your wife off (who could blame her), but that was just one incident on one day. TCX employ a large number of cabin crew and I must say I've never experienced poor customer care from any of them. I know a couple personally and they do go through a selection and training process based on around customer care. I'm not trying to defend anyone as it sounds as though you get poor service on that particular flight, but maybe if she gave them a second chance, you might find it was just an isolated incident? If the price of the holiday is right and it's what you're looking for, it seems silly spending more than you need to. I can appreciate not wanting to give money to Thomas Cook based on that experience, but I can assure you it's just a off-off and not the norm.

Darren

Cheers Darren, she knows this was a one off and I am working on it as I type, but to keep my wife happy I will probably have to pay the extra £20 each to Monarch, I think if the stewardess had apologized or helped it would have been different and then the no replies to her complaints when she got home didn't help. I was not with her when it happened I was working so I could not help.
Fingers crossed she will see it our way and fly with TC, they do get a great reputation.

Alan

BigAl

Sorry,

I now have to disagree with you.You simply cannot let her or yourself fly Monarch.They are the Ryanair of the charter companies only worse.Tell her to gve TCX another chance.

Darren is right anyone can have a bad day.My point was that how one bit of poor customer service can impact on a companies reputation.

Monarch may be the best case in point.Do yourself a favour and get on over to skytrax and read some of the reviews.

I would rather walk.

Papa

Looks like I have persuaded her, we will fly TCX 14 June, MAN - PMI. I showed her all you guys wrote, I think that finally persuaded her and seeing the bad reviews of Monarch on Skytrax (thanks Papa).
She has no option now its all booked and paid for.

Cheers guys
Big Al

Nice on bigAl

Papa

BigAl,

That's great stuff If you have another bad experience, just blame us! I'm sure you won't though and will have a great time

Darren

Hi long time since I posted but here goes. We have booked flights man/san outbound flight no tcx473k A330 return flight no tcx44l A330. Now I think I have read so much I have myself confused. What type of aircraft and will it be a thomas cook or my travel, what are the disabled/medical seats like as they have reserved 2 for our children who are disabled, my husband and myself, where on the plane are they. Do they have IFT? Many thanks.

loll,

Welcome back
You'll find lots of aircraft information on our What Aircraft? guide (see link below). Your flights are operated by an Airbus A330-200 as you know. Thomas cook and My Travel merged in 2008, along with their aircraft fleets. Apart from the location of the toilets, they are pretty much identical so you don't need to worry yourself about which one you'll be on. They all have the same seat pitch and seat back IFE on long haul flights. The medical seats are the same as standard seats (premium), it's just they are located close to toilets for easy access.

Darren

Charter airline check-in goes online

Passengers using a new Thomas Cook Airlines online check-in service face fees if they want to select their seats.

The ‘Seats Together/Your Seat Your Choice' starts at £12 per person return.

A priority seat selection up to 98 days before travel starts at £6 per passenger, per flight.

Extra leg room seats are available starting at £23.50.

The carrier claims to be the first charter airline in the UK to launch an internet check-in service.

Holidymakers are being given the option in addition traditional airport check-in.

Online check-in is currently available for flights from Gatwick, Stansted, Leeds/Bradford, Bristol, Belfast and Newcastle.

The service is due to be extended to the other UK airports in the near future, the company said.

Passengers log on to http://www.thomascookairlines.co.uk/yourflight.asp to select their seats, check-in and print boarding passes up to seven days before the flight departs.

On the day of their flight, they take their luggage to a designated bag drop before heading to passport control.

The airline's customer services director Joanna Wild said: "We're always looking at ways that we can give our holidaymakers more control over their booking and this innovation gives people the freedom to chose where they sit as well as making the airport experience a quick and easy one.

"We're really proud that we're the first to offer this to charter passengers and look forward to rolling it out to our full flying programme soon."

With permission from Travelmole

Hi

I am new to this site . Can anyone advise me. I fly thomascook on saturday to Tenerife however I have noticed the size of my hand trolley bag is larger than the dimensions listed on flythomascooks site - does anyone know if they enforce the sizing?

Many thanks

Ali

arotheram,

Welcome onboard
Thomas Cook are probably the strictest of the charter airlines in my experience when it comes to the weight of luggage and dimensions of hand luggage. It'll get checked at check-in. If it looks visually too big, you'll be asked to place it in one of the measuring baskets. If it won't fit, it'll have to go in to the hold or be refused travel. If it's pretty close to the stated dimensions and the bag is squashable, you'll probably get away with it but if it's rigid, chances are you'll have a problem. The reason there are size / weight limits is because there's limited space in overhead lockers onboard aircraft. They can only take a specified weight and if there were no size limit, there'd be nowhere to store all the bags. Seating areas and isles need to be kept clear in case of evacuation.

Darren

Grateful for your candid reply.. I will buy a rucksack with wheels. These generally come in smaller sizes so should be able to get one to fit the dimensions - i feel a trip to the Trafford centre coming on... Cheers

Ali

Hi there, just wondering if someone can give me some info on the seats in row 37 on the Airbus A330. It is the first one of the rows of 2-3-2 at the back of the plane and I understand that they have the tv in the arm rest and not on the seat back in front. Can someone confirm this and does this mean the middle arm rest will not be adjustable? We have already booked our seats online and the plan was to have two seats together and sprawl as need be and now worried that we might be slightly restricted.

Lastly, if this is the case, I also understand that rows 38 onwards do have seat back tv's, is this correct and do you know if I can change my seats by calling customer service?

Many thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Andy

andyacb,

Welcome onbaord
That's correct, row 37 is the first row where the aircraft goes from 3-3-3 to 2-3-2 due to the fuselage starting to narrow. You'll find further aircraft information including a seating plan on our What Aircraft? guide (see below). The seats in the centre of the cabin are regular seats, as are those behind row 37. As far as I know, the outer pairs on row 37 are also regular seats with seat back screens. The seat back screen where there is no seat has a blank insert and the centre arm rest is rectractable. These seats also have slightly more legroom as they are set at an agle, especially the seats by the windows (emphasising slightly). If you give Thomas Cook Airlines a call, im sure you'll be able to change your seats. There may be an additional charge however. I quite like the pairs at the rear if you're travelling as a couple, saves having to keep asking the 3rd person to let you past!

Darren