Flight Only / Airline and Airports

Discussions relating to flight only, airlines and airports.
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Hi Dazbo

Sure is - i hope that the flight is actually operating! Seems as they don't know what aircraft is being used yet.....

Great Trip Report on your flight to Antigua by the way - BMI Longhaul is brilliant isn't it - saying that, I was upfront and yes, their Business cabin is superb, I much prefer it to BA/Virgin - although Emirates is still my preferred choice.

Flying XL will be somewhat different - not flown them before and am not a Charter fan - but the only other option sceduled wise was flying Iberia via Madrid - and I've had bad experiences with them in the past.

Thanks for the info!
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just booked flights for august through xl.com and they have dropped the baggage allowance from 20kgs to 15kgs and whats more is that they now expect you to pay £7.50 e/w for the extra 5kgs they took off.What a total rip off ,as if the flights werent expensive enough anyway ,its about time someone did something about these airlines ,dont they make enough money off us that they have to sneak in a back door charge that you dont see until the final stage of booking :(
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Several other companies have done this also, Thomas cook told us last year that they were doing this, Aegeanflights still have the 20kg allowance.
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yes our XL tickets have just come through, I booked them ages ago and I can't recall seeing this info then. Not only do we have to pay £15 each if we want the 20kg but the check in time is now 3 hours - totally rediculous. You can up grade this to 2 hours and that will include extra leg room,
the cost for that is - wait for it -- £35 each. In addition you no longer get food and you can buy it for £5 or £6 ish on the plane. This could cost us an extra £60 each!!!!!!! Won't be in a hurry to book with them again.
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JMK wrote:
yes our XL tickets have just come through, I booked them ages ago and I can't recall seeing this info then. Not only do we have to pay £15 each if we want the 20kg but the check in time is now 3 hours - totally rediculous. You can up grade this to 2 hours and that will include extra leg room,
the cost for that is - wait for it -- £35 each. In addition you no longer get food and you can buy it for £5 or £6 ish on the plane. This could cost us an extra £60 each!!!!!!! Won't be in a hurry to book with them again.


I went with them last year XL and there was none of this what a total con
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I fly with them a lot and have always been happy but this is a complete pain. The biggest one being the 3 hour check in. So we have decided to pay the £35 to check in 2 hours before. Luckily I have a house in Turkey so can manage with very little luggage and we'll take sandwiches with us. I can sort of understand the smaller luggage allowance as maybe it will cut down on fuel used but check in 3 hours before take off is such a nuisance.
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Bloomin Thomas Cook started this off last year...i agree its shocking as the flight prices are expensive enough.
Personally i`m only doing a week this year so won`t be paying for the extra allowance because i know i wont need it but when i do 2 weeks then i probably would.
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I really don't know how and why the charter airlines get away with this, they want the best of both worlds. They want their customers to pay for little extra's like they would on low cost airlines but they charge "charter prices" for their flights/holidays. I don't know how people cope with 15-20kg baggage allowance's.

I am going away for 3 days and my suitcase is 19kg and cabin bag 10kg(you don't even want to know what it is when I go away for a week, let alone 2)

It is time colectively their "valued customers" made a stand. 10 years ago I could get a holiday for £99 now the cheapest is about £250-£290 (yes I personally may earn more than 3 times i did 10 years ago, but that is not the general pattern) dor £290 it should at least include a decent hand luggage allowance.

Rant over.
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What on earth are you taking to make your hold and cabin baggage weigh so much for just 3 days away?

I am not known for travelling light but our trolley cases never weigh more than 17 - 18kgs each when full and we only ever take one cabin bag and my handbag on board. We never go away for less than a week. Our cabin bag probably weighs no more than 2 - 3 kgs - we only put the essentials in like valuables and medication and sometimes a change of clothing in case we get delayed.

Pippa
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I usually manage with less than 15kg by buying toiletries etc in resort. As mentioned before my next flight is with XL in a couple of weeks. I wasn't happy with their 3 hour check in ( a new requirement I think) and had been told that if we pay £32 for an upgrade for extra leg room we would also be able to check in 2 hours before take off. So today I phoned them to do that but was told there were no more seats with leg room left. They then told me we wouldn't be able to sit together so were advised to pay £20 extra to pre book seats. OMG what ever next - much higher prices than last year, less luggage, no food, 3 hour check in and unable to sit together. Needless to say I'll be looking else where for my next flight or even better I'll just stay in UK.
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XL are now a disgrace and I'm not the least surprised at the anger, not a way to run a business long term.
They have also ruined Kosmar in my opinion and after booking my last 6 holidays with them to Greece/Greek Islands/Cyprus I've decided enough is enough and tried someone else this year (Libra).
If they fold, they will not be missed.

Robby :wink:
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Now you all have me worried, we fly in just over 3 weeks with XL (haven't received our tickets yet though) and this pre booking of seats has been a huge dilemma of mine for quite sometime, hubby can't justify paying the extra to pre book seats and reckons if we get to the airport early enough we will all be seated together (we are 2 adults, 3 kids) I don't really fancy a 4 hour flight where we are all seperated. JMK, why did they tell you your party cannot be seated together? Surely not everyone who is going to be on your flight has booked seats already? Does anyone know how they organise this as surely they have to keep seats back for the rest of the people they are expecting on the flight esp if they have kids with them? Yes it is a total rip off, we don't want to be forced into a position where we have to pay up just to sit together :(
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You can pre-book group seating online using your booking ref number.
XL - all seats are on a first come first served at check-in, unless pre-booked and then you pay extra for extra legroom or group seating, or they may allocate you for special medical reasons in which case you call the pre-flight number.
Group seating may still be seats in front/behind or across a row. You can't request rows, seats etc.

They started all the additional charges for extra luggage etc fro departures from May 2008 which applies for any old and new bookings. So if you booked ages ago, you still have to stump up for it. Your allowance will be on your flight ticket.

Its all about making low cost flights, cheaper for all the DIY'ers in a flooded airline market I guess?
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Flying from Bristol 2.8.08 flight number XL604 to Rhodes , could you please tell me where this plane would have been before my flight , i know its early into the season and things can change but its been leaving on time and last week was 30 minutes early coming home . I find things about the flight and aircraft very interesting . thanks for any information .

Lynne
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Llindy,

XLA604/5 were operated by: G-XLAK on both 3rd and 10th May. That aircraft operated flight XLA646/7 prior to XLA604/5 which I believe is Bristol-Rhodes-Bristol.

Darren
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Thank you Darren , i enjoy reading everything that you put on here , also love looking at your pic's of aircraft, i dont really enjoy flying , but i wont let it stop me from getting around . For me the worse part is going up and coming back down, the in between is ok .

thanks again
Lynne.
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According to this
http://www.xl.com/Customer_Info/Additional_Short.asp
you do not get a meal if you only have three digit number you need four digits to get fed :que I thought you had to have a V or J and you did not get a meal.
Never again . We have had to pay extra for the luggage they said was included now no meal which we were assured was included. Don't suppose we are missing much but it's the principle that they can do what they like once they get your money.
Margaret
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Just confirmed it by phone 3 digits eg. XLA000 no meal. They said it was always subject to change and they have just changed it.
:yikes Sick of it.
Marg
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Same happened to us , when originally booked had 20kgs of hold luggage, and inflight meal, then they altered date and time of flight, still have 20kgs of hold luggage but no meal our code is XLA604v
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