thomas cook airlines

by **samgaz** on Wed Mar 26, 2008 22:33 pm

looking to go to crete in september and want to go for 10 days, the only company i can find that can accommodate is thomas cook for the flights. i have read some reports about how cramped the seats are and their change of times for flights. is it worth booking with them. my husband is 6ft 7 and a big guy and am thinking that the way they are cramming customers into their airplanes that the flight would be unbearable for him. we have travelled with a few airlines and have had no trouble but dont want to look like a sardine with thomas cook.

thanks

sam

by **carole2000** on Thu Mar 27, 2008 12:52 pm

Hi, we have flown twice with TC recently - Hurghada and Fuerteventura and yes their seats are probably the worst of any airline I've flown with! My husband is 6'2" and could only sit on an aisle seat as he could not physically fit into the window or middle! I'm 5'6" and was so cramped and either had to sit with my legs apart or to one side as I couldn't sit normally! I even took the magazines out of the seatpocket to give me an extra tiny bit of space! These flights were both on their 757. They are also very tight on baggage allowance and very strict weighing all luggage and hand luggage. We had an allownace of 15kg each and 5kg hand. They would not accept one hand luggage item with 7kg in it - we had to split it into 2 (even though we put it back in one bag later!) Personally, we're going to avoid them in future and if we do have to fly with them will have to pay extra for extra leg room seats. However the only problem there is that if there are no extra leg room seats available. Then you will have to play sardines!! Are Easyjet not starting a sceduled flight to Crete this summer? Good luck!

by **HW John** on Thu Mar 27, 2008 13:46 pm

If your worried then pay extra and get an emergency exit seat if available. If not then its either a case of go with it..or look at another destination.
Airlines do cram people in to make money on short routes which is common knowledge.

TCX are more generous than any of the charters. Heres how it maps out on short haul.

Thomas Cook - 30''
MyTravel (Then was) - 30''
Monarch - 29''
Thomsonfly- 29''
First Choice - 28''

So technically you will benefit from more room but as its only an inch, you probably wont notice it.

by **carole2000** on Fri Mar 28, 2008 15:22 pm

John, I think your info. on seat pitches is out of date as many have reconfigured due to customer pressure such as Thomsonfly and Monarch. Also, it is ok to say that you can get an exit seat but not everyone is able to sit there due to the criteria.
In the past 2 years I have flown with MYT, Excel, First Choice, Monarch, BA, B.Midland, Easyjet, Virgin, Air Canada, Ryanair, Thomsonfly and T.Cook and TC were by far the most cramped!

by **HW John** on Fri Mar 28, 2008 16:25 pm

Which are being reconfig'd as none of the 757's/Airbus that operate short haul have been in the maintenance shed this winter for it? Only the 767's with premium and the 757 canadian affair aircraft have (and still are) which i think you are getting confused with. Thats due to take effect as of May 1st.

First choice/Thomsonfly and TCX arent budging with their seat pitches on short haul so the latest announcement was as apparently its not profitable to lose 2 rows of seats to maybe gain 1-2'' in the long run and dont find it very necessary for short hops to spain when they are more concerned about making money on the route so the more people they can cram in to get the aircraft to its capacity then they sure will and do.

People moan about the legroom but you dont get owt for nowt. Different styles of seating make it seem more larger, like thomsonfly's recaro seating having the magazine pocket at the top of the seat. As an airline CEO once told me 'They will believe what they want to believe, and this seating makes them think that they are getting more when its costing us nothing'.
Very wise words which are so true, and people believe it. It may look smaller as they count the seat pitch from the back of the base of the seat to the seat infront (after the magazine pocket). Sometimes its done differently with different airlines who do it front of the headrest to the one infront. Is it all falling into place now? ;-)

People who leave bad reviews will travel with TCX again, or are probably regular travellers with them. If you use a charter then you should never have high hopes as all businesses are in it to make money. When i go on holiday all i expect is a seat on a plane that will get me where im going. Nothing more, nothing less, no gripes and no moans. If i want legroom i know to fly a full service airline or take an emergency exit seat. If i cant do either, its either put up or shut up

A long flight is a different kettle of fish and the charters are backing down to this and making it a more pleasant experience which is what people need on 7+hr flights.
Long haul id choose a full service airline anyday and upgrade myself, but if i had to choose a charter to get me there then First Choice's Star Class Premier would be the one.

by **turkey babe** on Fri Mar 28, 2008 18:05 pm

I flew to Turkey in Feb with Thomas Cook and It was the most cramped flight ever. I'm only5'5 and my other half about 5'8 so not the tallest ppl and we found there wasn't a lot of room. (and only a 4hour flight )

I've also flown with many airlines and always find thomas cook the most cramped!! I only book them if they're the only ones with flights available or if they A LOT cheaper lol

by **samgaz** on Wed Apr 02, 2008 23:03 pm

Thanks for your comments. I have flown with many airlines before and we have found them ok for my husbands size. But if a normal person like me 5ft 6 would have trouble with the seats then what chance does my husband have. Have looked again and can go with eurocypria bit more expensive and for 14 days instead of 10 days maybe a little more comfort than thomas cook. Does anyone know wether TC is actually listening to their customers.

by **HW John** on Thu Apr 03, 2008 08:15 am

Why dont you take it upon yourself to send a letter and find out?

by **Jetter** on Thu Apr 03, 2008 08:21 am

T.C are the worst for customer relations. I f you have a problem, try getting in touch with them, it involves long waits on the telephone,with little joy resulting! Their planes are cramped and old,on the way back from Fueteventura there was a hole in the seat and as there was an empty seat further up the plane they swopped them, but how would it have been if the plane was full!!! Our holiday to Crete was changed from good flights from E/M to night flights, then from E/M to Manchester again night flights, we were never asked which airport would be our next choice, and Birmingham would be it , but when we looked the Birmingham flights was a decent time, so I suppose they thought they could still get bookings on that ,so stuck us ,who had already paid our deposit on the bad one. When we eventually got throught to them (took all day ) and lots of stress, they eventually agreed we could cancel and get our deposit back!
Take a look at Thomas cook take over on the forum. good luck!

Thomas Cook takeover of My Travel and Panorama

by **pj30notts** on Tue Apr 15, 2008 15:53 pm

Yes . Thomas Cook Airlines's do cram people in to the cabin, but this can only be expected from a charter airline.

If the aircraft is a 757 try getting to check in early and ask for row 12A / 12F as these seats do not have a seat in front of them and you ge the extra leg room free.

But be prepared to give this seat up if it is needed for someone with a medical condition that checks in after you.

If it one of the smaller aircraft, it makes no difference as the exit seats only have a couple more inches legroom ( not worth talking about ) as these lead to the overwing emergency exits.

If not happy, I suggest trying a Schedule Airline, but it costs more...