Stevenc4874,

Welcome onboard
BHX-CUN-BHX (TOM830/1) are operated by former First Choice Boeing 767-300/ER. You'll find extensive aircraft information on our What Aircraft? guide (link below).

Darren

Hi, I might be having a senior moment but I can't find details of what the price of the premium upgrade is on Thomson flights to Cuba, or even that this is definitely available on the Gatwick - Holguin flights. Is there anybody who has done this recently and knows how much it is? All I can find on the Thomson site is that it starts from £149.

My main reason for asking is that I'm travelling to Santiago de Cuba in March and know that I'll be needing the maximum possible baggage allowance in order to take things out there for friends with me. From what I can work out it will cost an extra £95 for 25kgs of checked in baggage plus the free 5kgs of cabin baggage and another £30 to choose my seat (not that important to me as I'll be travelling on my own) let alone the added cost for an extra legroom seat. However, an allowance of 23kgs checked baggage plus 7kgs of cabin baggage seems to be included in the Premium upgrade so depending on the actual price it could be worth my while to pay not that much more for the upgrade and have not only the increased baggage allowance but also the added comfort.

SM

Flight only? Do a dummy booking and it tells you after you've entered your search criteria and pressed enter. The price comes up under the flights details, next to 'select this flight'. If there's no price, premium is fully booked. March seems to be around £300+ upwards.

Hi Sunaddict, thanks for such a quick reply - looks like premium from Gatwick is fully booked for my dates. It comes up as available for flights both departing the week before and the week after my dates but not the dates I need to travel on. Even at around £300 I'd have probably booked it but looks as if I don't have the choice so no need to even think about whether it will be worth paying the extra!

Doing what you suggested, it surprised me to discover that flights which included the Easter weekend, and are presumably within the schools holidays, were coming up £40 cheaper than for my dates! Perhaps because the flights I need were selling quicker in order to avoid the English school holidays? Who knows, had I booked with Thomson earlier instead of waiting while being given the run around by TC about their flights from Manchester, I might have got both a cheaper flights and been able to book Premium. But there it goes, no point fretting now - better to concentrate on looking forward to my trip.

SM

I think part of it is people trying to avoid Easter, We always avoid school holiday. The other part is that Thomsons don't fly from Manchester, therefore you get some of the normal Manchester holidaymakers as well, so availability soon goes. We had to fly from Gatwick last March, but BA are stopping flying MAN-LGW so will have to scratch my head for future Cuban visits.

hi, can anyone confirm this please.
i am due to fly 13 feb 2013 returning 27 feb , i have booked premium seats,travel agent says to choose seats 90 days before return flight, is this the exact date the seats are available to choose? i am sure in the past i have booked seats 90 days from outbound flight.
if TA is correct it seems a little unfair that those holidaying for one week get the pick of the seats.

jhe,

90 days from the inbound is the official time the seats are released. However, it all depends when the flight is loaded and released. It's sometimes a day or two before 90 days, but more often than not, 90 days. Just keep checking from a few days before your release date.

Darren

thanks for the quick reply darren, a bit disappointing that we cant choose seats the same time as anyone travelling for one week instead of a week after them, will just have to keep our fingers crossed that we manage to get seats next to each other and not in front/behind.
my friend i am travelling with has a phobia of flying and is worried i wont be next to her now!.

just an after thought but do you know if it is possible to book the outbound flight seats as soon as they are released then book the inbound 2 weeks later when they are released?

You can book both outbound and inbound at the same time once your seat plan opens.

Hi Daz,

Am flying to Cuba next April 16th TOM094/095 Gatwick - Holguin which I know will be a Boeing 767. I have found out that some of the Fleet is due to leave this winter:

G-DBLA B763 (26063) to be withdrawn from service this winter
G-OBYD B763 (28042) to be withdrawn from service this winter
G-OOAN B763 (26256) to be withdrawn from service this winter
G-PJLO B763 (26064) to be withdrawn from service this winter

I know the first Boeing 787 is due on line in May but how will they cover the difference in capacity until more of the dreamliners are delivered? Is April still classed as Winter?

Just wanted to know as we have booked premium on these flights and was thinking ahead regarding seating plans.

Thanks in advance.

Gav

jhe wrote:

thanks for the quick reply darren, a bit disappointing that we cant choose seats the same time as anyone travelling for one week instead of a week after them, will just have to keep our fingers crossed that we manage to get seats next to each other and not in front/behind.
my friend i am travelling with has a phobia of flying and is worried i wont be next to her now!.

just an after thought but do you know if it is possible to book the outbound flight seats as soon as they are released then book the inbound 2 weeks later when they are released?

It depends on who you get on the phone. Sometimes you can book outbound at 90 days prior and ring back and book inbound 90 days prior. Sometimes you have to wait until 90 days prior to your return flight to book either, and it has been known to be able to book both at 90 days prior to the oubound flight. It seems to vary depending you who you actually speak to on the phone.

If you book a Thomson Platinum holiday, you have an increase from 5kg carry on to 7kg. What I can't find in the T&Cs in the back of the brochure, is, can you take a larger bag?

Mobor One wrote:

If you book a Thomson Platinum holiday, you have an increase from 5kg carry on to 7kg. What I can't find in the T&Cs in the back of the brochure, is, can you take a larger bag?

Irrespective of whether you have 5kg or 7kg allowance the size must not exceed 55cm x 40cm x 20cm.

Thank you

gbailey141,

The aircraft aren't due to leave until the end of the winter 12/13 season (end of April 2013). The 787-8's will then be introduced in to the long haul programme commencing May 2013 where 3 787-8's will be online by then, replacing the 3 ex-FCA 763's that are leaving. There won't be any shortfall in capacity. The other 763 is short haul and will be replaced by other aircraft in the fleet. 787's will be used on some short haul routes for crew familiarisation from March 2013. All the details are on our What Aircraft? guide (link below).

Darren

Dazbo HT Mod wrote:

gbailey141,

The aircraft aren't due to leave until the end of the winter 12/13 season (end of April 2013). The 787-8's will then be introduced in to the long haul programme commencing May 2013 where 3 787-8's will be online by then, replacing the 3 ex-FCA 763's that are leaving. There won't be any shortfall in capacity. The other 763 is short haul and will be replaced by other aircraft in the fleet. 787's will be used on some short haul routes for crew familiarisation from March 2013. All the details are on our What Aircraft? guide (link below).

Darren

Thanks for the detailed reponse Darren. Much appreciated.

Sunaddict wrote:

jhe wrote:

thanks for the quick reply darren, a bit disappointing that we cant choose seats the same time as anyone travelling for one week instead of a week after them, will just have to keep our fingers crossed that we manage to get seats next to each other and not in front/behind.
my friend i am travelling with has a phobia of flying and is worried i wont be next to her now!.

just an after thought but do you know if it is possible to book the outbound flight seats as soon as they are released then book the inbound 2 weeks later when they are released?

It depends on who you get on the phone. Sometimes you can book outbound at 90 days prior and ring back and book inbound 90 days prior. Sometimes you have to wait until 90 days prior to your return flight to book either, and it has been known to be able to book both at 90 days prior to the oubound flight. It seems to vary depending you who you actually speak to on the phone.

thanks sun addict. i phoned thomson first thing this morning and got through to a very helpful person, i have booked the outbound seats but the return flight plan has not yet been loaded.
just glad i didnt wait until the 30th november like the travel agent advised.
got the seats together thankfully for my nervous friend.
only thing confusing me is, the person from thomson confirmed the aircraft as a 767- 300 V1, i was told i could choose row 2 FG but not the seats in front as they are medical seats, as i understand it the V1 doesnt have row 1FG.

Hi
Just a quick couple of questions regarding Thomson Airways, I have heard rumours that NCL (Newcastle) will be losing there 757's from Summer 2013 and will be an all 738 base excluding the usual 767 for longhaul is this correct?

Also, if so many of the 767's (e.g the ex-FCA aircraft etc) which usually operate NCL's longhaul summer programme fairly consistently) are leaving the fleet at the end of this winter 12/13 programme, then which aircraft will operate the summer 2013 longhaul programme from newcastle, as NCL as I understand isn't really in Thomson's dreamliner plans for longhaul flights?

Thanks
Jas

Ive read that NCL will be a 3 x 738 base neummer with a possibility of a 4th . The 767's will still be flying out of NCL next summer as there is still enough of them left to cover as the 787's will be in service .Its only a matter of time before the 787's replace the whole long haul programme so they will be flying soon of of Newcastle