Monarch Airlines

I just wanted to ask other forum members whether they've had any hassle with Monarch. Two of our flights to Gatwick are now going to take off much later than originally advertised, so we've had to book into a hotel owing to missing the last train. On both flights, our original booked seats have been changed. It' s also very expensive to book seats with extra leg room (around EUR27 I believe). I' ll certainly think twice before flying with them again.

Not had trouble with Monarch apart from change of aircraft, which delayed us by 45 mins and we had free drinks/food on board.
I had a lot of trouble with Thomas Cook.

I think with Monarch they have had some plane failures so may be short of planes or Journeys. They have also become more expensive.
Thomson are a fortune for hold luggage to Tenerife.

I flew with them a few years ago and didn't have any problems. They had good customer service and gave the kids a bag of goodies to keep them quiet on the flight .
Airlines can ( as far as I know) change departure times for up to 12 hours either way. Any more than that and they are obliged to offer you a full refund. Trouble is, if you take the refund and book e.g the following day, the chances are is that the new price will be considerably more than what you originally paid

Have you not got a car Dronnyman?

I'm getting worried reading this as I recently booked Thomas Cook to fly to the UK and Monarch to fly back I hope we don´t get delayed as a week is plenty of time for me to be away from my girls.

We come with Jet 2 and return with Monarch, better times innit, We only have trouble with Jet 2, Lying bassa's

Thomas cook tell Porkies about delays and reasons why. Monarch as I said flown 30 odd times with them, no issues except they are getting pricey at certain times.

I booked them the day Easyjet flights were released and they came out half the price, at good times and thats all I ever go on. Can I get to the airport at a reasonable time and how cheap can I get it.

So when you going

May, for my daughters 40th birthday but she doesn´t know it's a surprise.

nice,

I have booked a Thomas Cook flight that arrives in UK at 2.45am. Now if that buggers on time I'll eat my hat. There is actually a reason I booked it but we wont go into that........

I have used Monarch 8 to 10 times per year since they started their 'ZB' service from Manchester to Tenerife in 2002, i have been delayed twice out of 126 flights. When Monarch started the ZBs the service was excellent, newspapers, drinks, food, films etc etc... slowly the service eroded into what can now only be described as 'Budget Class', until the school holidays start when they become 'Dick Turpin Airways' also they have very tight seats unless you get extra leg-room, and flight prices that look initialy low (during school term time) increase to twice what is advertised on the bottom line, the worst 'hyke' being £40-00 for a suitcase. That said i still rate them as the best of a bad bunch Thomson and Thomas Cook being the worst ,since the Germans took ownership of them they treat the 'britts' like cattle, i once did a Majorca flight with them on a 767, they crammed 320 bods on seats that were the same size as my grandsons noddy car, i also flew on a German based 767 from the same company and instead of the 320seat three four three configuration it held 260 bods in a very comfortable Two Two Two configuration.

Perfectspecimen wrote:Have you not got a car Dronnyman?

Sure, I' ve got a car! Can you tell me where I can safely park it for six weeks near Gatwick Airport without breaking the bank?

Gatwick is dear for flights. Stanstead I think PS is talking of ad he will advise.
Thomson and Thomas cook are very crammed and we have noticed the air quality is very poor on both.

Dronnyman wrote:

Perfectspecimen wrote:Have you not got a car Dronnyman?

Sure, I' ve got a car! Can you tell me where I can safely park it for six weeks near Gatwick Airport without breaking the bank?

Haha, no. If I use Gatwick which is rare I park in the street in Crawley and get the bus that runs every 20 mins 24/7. About £1.60 and a mile and a half. Last time I parked next to a brand new Range Rover with a number plate that was worth even more. No wonder the tight wads got so much money.

I usually use Luton or East Midlands, Stansted is always a tenner more. 9 times out of 10 its Ryanair too. Cheap, on time and no faffing. I live about the same distance from all three. Norwich used to be my favourite but only one flight a week now which costs about 3 times as much. You can park about 400m from there in the street. No yellow lines.......

Or a Seaplane from the Broads.

Perfectspecimen wrote:

Dronnyman wrote:

Perfectspecimen wrote:Have you not got a car Dronnyman?

Sure, I' ve got a car! Can you tell me where I can safely park it for six weeks near Gatwick Airport without breaking the bank?

Haha, no. If I use Gatwick which is rare I park in the street in Crawley and get the bus that runs every 20 mins 24/7. About £1.60 and a mile and a half. Last time I parked next to a brand new Range Rover with a number plate that was worth even more. No wonder the tight wads got so much money.

mmm..not sure I want to leave my car in the street for six weeks. No, I´ll stick with the train and use an airline with better reliability e.g. SqeeziJet. Despte all the negative crits, they´ve neve let me down.

Good job too, no parachutes.

Easyjet is fine but you need to book well well in advance.......At my age you may not make it,,,,,,,,

The Monarch flight Tenerife/Gatwick last Friday was the worst in all my life. The seat pitch was given as 28/29", but the heaviest guy on the plane was sitiing in front of me, which reduced it by another inch or so. I had to sit diagonally all the way! I recommend anybody with long legs to cough up the GBP30 to reserve a seat with more leg room. Even the flight attendants had to admit that the plane was the worst in the Monarch fleet. The new Premier Inn at GTW North Terminal is excellent value - GBP46 for the room only - very quiet.

Monarch and Thomson are to co-star in next Wednesday´s edition of "Watchdog" (BBC1) for refusing to pay compensation for flight delays. No surprises there then.

I am using both of these on my next UK flight and refuse to pay the extra money to pre-book a seat which means I can´t check in on-line even though I only have hand baggage so have to get to the airport early.

Think it is a rip off charging after you have already paid for your ticket just so you can sit together.

Gypsy wrote:I am using both of these on my next UK flight and refuse to pay the extra money to pre-book a seat which means I can´t check in on-line even though I only have hand baggage so have to get to the airport early.

Think it is a rip off charging after you have already paid for your ticket just so you can sit together.

They´re all at it, Gypsy. As I mentioned in an earlier post, even BA want GBP10 for booking a standard seat. Still, it´s the bottom line that counts in the end.