The highs and lows of travelling by air
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We take more than 56 million flights abroad every year and whether it's scheduled, budget or charter more than 250 companies now fly us in and out of the British airports every day.
This summer it seems that airlines, airports and air travel in general just couldn't keep out of the spotlight. Since January 2008, 13 airlines using UK airports have gone bust, affecting hundreds of British holidaymakers - though nowhere near as many as those caught up in the collapse of XL and Zoom. Both companies were seen as the first casualties of the credit crunch.
Air Transport Intelligence editor Kieran Daly says: "Air travel was almost a rich man's, certainly a well-off person's, kind of activity. But as the years went by, the airlines found that harder and harder to deliver in a cost effective way, and this has led to these kinds of tensions."
The complaints we get about airlines usually fall into three main categories; cancellations, delays and problems with luggage. It's not surprising we get the travelling jitters, when one in five of all flights is held up and when 28,000 bags disappear on the opening day of Terminal Five in March 2008 - including my own.
We've never had so much choice when it comes to flying. So what does all this mean for passengers now? And how can we protect ourselves from what some might consider to be bad service?
For Jason Greatley, what should have been a relaxing weekend in Rome in September 2008 to celebrate his birthday ended with a nightmare journey home.
Jason was scheduled to return to Gatwick on easyJet. He told Watchdog: "We arrived, checked our bags, and made our way to the departure lounge at around 7pm, at which point we were informed that the flight had been cancelled." With no easyJet representatives at the airport to assist Jason or fellow passengers, they spent the night in the airport in the hope of getting on the next available flight. However, the only flight Jason was told about was a standby flight four days later. Instead, Jason paid for a new flight with a different carrier to East Midlands Airport and commuted back to Gatwick to pick up his car. What should have been a straight forward allez-retour, ended up being a very long journey. Under EU rules, airlines should provide food and hotel accommodation under these circumstances but Jason says none of this was provided.
EasyJet said the flight "was cancelled due to thunderstorms over Rome". It says that with regards to Jason Greatley's situation it "instructed handling staff to provide assistance to passengers - including hotel accommodation, food and drink vouchers - and a transfer onto the next available flight. Unfortunately, easyJet understands that this assistance was not provided and incorrect information was given to customers."
Following our investigation, Jason Greatley was fully reimbursed for his expenses - but there are plenty of other airlines who get it wrong too - and make a multitude of mistakes.
Claire and Alec McNair got married in August 2008. They bought a wedding package holiday with First Choice, flying on the company's own charter airline. When they arrived in Paphos, Cyprus, they were left waiting in the baggage reclaim area for an hour before they finally got their luggage. Claire then discovered that her wedding dress had dirty marks on the back. She said: "I was just heartbroken when I saw it. It was just totally damaged." Claire couldn't get the dress cleaned and her big day was ruined.
In response, First Choice has offered Claire McNair a payment equal to the full amount she paid for her wedding package, the costs of the wedding car hire and a replacement suitcase as a gesture of goodwill. In its statement First Choice says: "It is highly regrettable that the suitcase containing Claire McNair's wedding dress was damaged en route to Paphos. Like most airlines, we work with contracted handling agents and our Baggage Claims department are currently liaising with them to ascertain exactly how this occurred... We would like to apologise to the couple for any inconvenience caused."
Sometimes the airline can cause bother before you even leave the house. Dr Lorna Torrens was heading to Bordeaux to run a marathon in September 2008. Dr Torrens says she received a letter days before flying, stating that her flight was scheduled to leave later than she anticipated. This meant she would miss her connecting flight back to Edinburgh, so she asked for a refund. According to Dr Torrens, Bmibaby wouldn't give her a refund because it was its policy "only to make refunds if schedules have been disrupted by more than five hours". Her flight had been changed by four hours, 55 minutes.
Bmibaby claims that Dr Torrens was sent an email on 25 July 2008 to notify her of the changes to her itinerary, but she says she didn't receive it. Bmibaby says that "regrettably, from time to time it is necessary to make amendments to Bmibaby's flight schedule". It says it's not unique in this respect, however, when it does happen it will "do its utmost to offer customers an alternative flight on Bmibaby, or if this is unsuitable, a full refund". It says it's "not Bmibaby's intention to inconvenience customers". In addition, Bmibaby says that "all flights booked are for point to point Bmibaby services only" and that it's "unable to offer any guarantee to a passenger making their own separate onward connection booking either on a Bmibaby flight or on a flight with another airline". Bmibaby has since offered a full refund for the cost of the flight to Bordeaux as a goodwill gesture.
So whatever happened to the glamour of travel? Industry expert Kieran Daly says that there's been a falling out on both sides: "The customer is typically unhappy and the airlines are unhappy - and no one's ever been able to put that back together again into some sort of functioning relationship."
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I know everyone moans about Ryanair, but I would have to say they have been fantastic for our family. My parents live in France, it's cheaper and easier for us to fly with Ryanair to France than it is to get to London on the train. We have always got amazing deals and fly up to 8/9 times a year.
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I frequently fly with BMI regional and have found their service from Edinburgh to both Brussels and Manchester is second to none! I find it very comforting that not only do i tend to see the same cabin crew on this flight who are ALWAYS polite and courtious. You will never catch me booking with any other companies for my short haul business trips! All hail BMI!!!
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We visited the US in 2006 on our honeymoon. We travelled with US Airways. We were delayed leaving Manchester, late arriving in Philadelphia and due to security and baggage reclamation taking over an hour, we missed our connecting flight by 10 minutes. We were
"delivered" to our next departure gate and left there for 4 1/2 hours. When we returned home, I contacted US Airways, we were offered vouchers worth $200 each (£94 at the time). They had a time lapse of October 2007. No monetary option was offered. Please never, never travel with US Airways. They are rubbish!
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I would like to thank easyjet for making my very first flight pleasurable as the staff at Luton airport saw me right through the whole proceedure until I queued for the plane
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I frequently fly with easyjet for one reason only which is they are the cheapest. On customer service they are appauling, which seems to have become the norm. Had a similar experience as 1 of those on the program where we were left waiting 3 hours without any communication or information, though the flight did eventually depart. I did write to easyjet who refused to give any form of compensation. Would happily fly with another airliner, if any actually offered any better customer service.
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KLM - fantastic, good priced - will change flight without further cost
British Airways - too expensive, will not change tickets without incurring costs - never go off on time
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Which ever way you look at it Ryan air is probably the best value for money of any of the low cost airlines.
Like everything in life you get what you pay for, if you want to feel that you arwe getting free breakfast and tea and coffee then travel on an airline that is costing you at least £100.00 more than the same ryan air flight.
Ryan air have no hidden costs if you look at the web site you are charged for putting a bag inn the hold, checking in etc etc I do not see that they have any hidden charges.
Of cource if i had a choice i would fly BA or Virgin, but you cannot ignore the costs of these flights.
service is value for money when you compare the costs to other airlines, for example i flew to Dublin from Bristol the other week and it cost me approx £50.00, I purchased a train ticket including underground Swindon to Paddington return and this was £103.00.and you get no service or even a seat with this now that is not value for money. at that price it is cheaper to drive my gas guzzler than letting the train take the strain.
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The best airline we have travelled with so far has to be Singapore airlines. They were fantastic. The staff could not be faulted in anyway, they seemed to be proud to represent their country something definitely lacking with the sullen staff of BA. The food was excellent, lots of choice and tasty too.
And even better if you book direct you get the flights much cheaper than going through Virgin and it's the same flight, plane and everything. Something to note there we think.
[Personal details removed by Moderator]
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Having just watched your program i would like to say that as a member of cabin crew with British Airways , we as crew are 100% there for each and every one of our customers, to provide them with a totally genuine seamless flying experience ,we will do our upmost to make there time with us as pleasurable and enjoyable as possible. ju
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I was booked to fly on Ryanair's 1525 flight from Gothenburg to Stansted on 8 December 2008, as was my friend (on a separate booking). Fortunately I logged in to my Ryanair booking last night and noticed they had moved me to the 1000am flight - had it not been for me doing this I would have arrived at Gothenburg to find a non-existent flight and no doubt been charged to buy a seat on the later evening flight. Ryanair didn't let us know - either me or my friend - of this change by email, phone or letter.
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The best airline we have travelled with is Emirates. We had a delay this June when flying from Mauritius to Dubai and we were well compensated for our delay. I cannot recommend this company enough.
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The best airline ive ever travelled on and would go back any day is Virgin - nothing was too much trouble the flight was comfy the food great and a choice, staff wonderful and what ever you needed you got.
Worst and would choose to avoid is monarch, no monarch flight ive ever been on has been on time, once i had mouldy food on my tray some times staff have been rude. The worst experience however was a monarch 11 hour flight on honeymoon, the plane was cramped and uncomfy, the food was poor and no choice, everything i had to pay for including £2.50 for water!!. The flight was so late getting in we couldnt catch our connecting seaplane and lost our 1st night and we were over 23 hours late returning
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My concern is the space between seats on aircraft. I have just come back from Cyprus, flying with First Choice Airways and had I had a 'normal' seat, there would be no way I could have been able to sit in it for four hours. One passenger was 6ft 5in tall. Once we had taken of he had to stand for the whole flight. Fortunately I paid extra for extra leg room, but these were in very short supply. Why can't airlines have less seats? Speaking with other passengers, they all agreed that they would be prepared to pay more for a more reasonable amount of leg room. No wonder people suffer with DVT!!!
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Hi , i travelled with first choice and Thompson to cyprus on the 10/09/08 - 17/09/08 and experienced no real problems other than the flight home on thompson was delayed slightly but still landed back home on time in manchester and can really say i had an enjoyable holiday and would travel with them again , in fact im already planning my next trip to cyprus . By the way keep up the good work with information about all problems with holidays and other goods and services .
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You seemed to be asking for the 'best of' and 'worst of' airlines. So here goes as far as transatlantic travel goes.
Firstly, unless there was no alternative, I will only fly with an airline I believe will put safety and maintenance above all other considerations. So, I'd put Virgin and American in this category (and many others including BA of course). Why mention just Virgin and American then? Because American service from online checkin (or not as the case may be) onwards is so consistently dire I would never fly with them, even if they were £100 cheaper transatlantic. And I'd choose Virgin anyday over all others. Excellent new checkin at Heathrow, faultless online checkin, friendly ground staff and cabin staff. Currently, Virgin is THE choice for transatlantic flights.
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Two years ago we had an awful experience with Lufthansa. delay, canceled flights and then lost luggage. We were stuck in Caracas for three days and promised two flights only to cue and then be told we were not on the flight again. When we returned to the UK with no luggage we obviously spoke to Lufthansa they did not want to know and the only compensation we got was for luggage through our insurance. Their food was awful, service terrible and customer service pathetic. I vowed to warn people off them when I had the chance and doing so now. On a positive Singapore airlines have always been amazing when ever I have used them for long haul and try to use them whenever possible. Polite, efficient, very competitive prices, amazing customer service and great food. I couldn't recommend them more.
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Easy Jet are useless. In August 2006 four of us were left stranded at Geneva airport.Easy jet offered us a flight but we would have had to stay in Geneva for an extra four days. It was only due to the help of Air France and Swiss Air that we were able to get home 12+ hours later. We had to pay another £1000 pounds flying via Zurich to London. Most of this was later claimed back from the insurance company. Easy Jet were not at all helpful and shrugged off responsibility.Since then we haven`t dealt with Easy jet.
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Incensed!!BMI Baby charged me 150 Euros to fly from Alicante back to East Mids cos i had "excess luggage". 4 of us,20kg allowance each, 55kg between us but cos it was in only 2 cases wehad no option but to pay, as alot of others did!! Terms & Conditions "20kg pp irrespective to the number of bags and can pool together" !!?? Cant get a reply from BMI, would LOVE your help Watchdog!!
[Note from Watchdog team: Thank you for your comment. Bmibaby says baggage pooling was introduced on 12 September 2008 - which was after your flight. Passengers travelling together on the same booking can now pool their baggage weight allowance to the equivalent of 20kg per person.
Best regards, Mariam Abu-Hejleh, web team]
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Good! I can only hope that more companies go bust and that there are more and more delays and cancellations with flights. Then at last people may stop taking so many holidays abroad for their own selfish pleasure which has a huge negative impact on the environment. Some people obviously don't care about the environment - the climate change and the poisons being omitted from these huge machines - but are shocked and annoyed at having to spend a night in a departure lounge or losing luggage - minor inconveniences relatively speaking. People get your priorities right!!
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We flew to Sharm el Sheikh in Sept with AMC airlines. The holiday had been booked through Thomas Cook. When booked we were flying with TC airlines, then it was changed to Koralblue airlines, after aprox 3-4 letters changing the time of the flight we had a letter stating that we were now going to be flying with AMC airlines which was another budget Egyptian airline. We then had another further 2-3 letters with changes to the flight times.
The flight was awful. It was a cramped flight, the attendents didn't speak very good English, there was no entertainment - only a picture on the tele screens of the plane as we went over different countries, no alcohol,no duty free, no hot food - only 2 sandwiches, 1 cheese and 1 meat, they brought a trolly up and down twice with pop (orange, cola, fruit juices & water) but it was free !!! all this on a 5+ hour flight and the airline staff closed the curtains at the front and back of the plane and just sat behind them, they even closed the front toilets so no-one would disturb them. The worst thing was the return flight was the same and we were sat near the back of the plane and you could hear the airline staff on their mobile phones. It had been stated that someone saw them when we flew out but we weren't aware of it.
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American Airlines are our worst experience so far.
After years of flying Virgin Atlantic with not just no problems but always great service, we flew American Airlines to California.
We have 4 kids now but just 3 at the time! We always make sure we get the extra space. On this occasion one child was under 2 so you don't actually get a seat. That's fine and not the problem. The problem was that it gets cold on aircraft on long haul flights through the night. My wife and all the kids were cold. Unfortunately I was at the end of the row and asleep when my wife asked for an extra blanket for her as she had given hers to the baby. The female flight attentant had been less than amicable already but her answer was incredulous. She said my wife could not have a blanket as only one blanket per seat is allowed and we have had all our blankets. The baby, not with his own seat, did not qualify for a blanket of his own! Sure, we could have brought one, had we thought for a second that at the very least a flight attendant wouldn't see if there was a spare one somewhere. I could not believe it when I found out. Virgin and other airlines bend over backwards to please customers .. it's called customer service. American Airlines clearly don't endorse such fanciful treatment of customers. I am sure some people out there without kids will be delighted to hear that for the sake of a blanket we will never fly American Airlines again. Over the next 20 years I'd say that blanket cost American Airlines £40,000 given the size of our family, not to mention the loss of business from our friends and extended family. AA get a ZZ.
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have flown recently with wizz air overall good but like all cheap flights we have used.inflight food not good and dear for what it was
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XL was affliated with travelcity who were always advertising in national newspapers holidays to florida, which looked like great deals until you called and was told insurance not included and would be up to £500 extra!!
I'm glad that companies like this have gone bust and hope it sends a message to other companies to be honest with your potential customers because cheaters never prosper!!!!
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I take over 80 flights a year on business.
I prefer to use Turkish Airlines, Quantas and Cathy Pacific whenever possible.
I refuse to use BA BMI Easyjet or Ryanair.
The service levels on UK based airlines are the poorest in the world and our airports a sad relection of what we have become as a nation.
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Easy jet cancelled a flight from Madrid to Gatwick. We were given little or no information, had to wait several hours and then fight in a disorderly queue to try to get alternative flights. We managed to get flights for late in the night the following day, into Luton airport, at an unsociable hour and hours away from home. We discovered, by accident, that a bus was taking people to a hotel for the night and took it. At no stage were we offered refreshments or help. All meals had to be paid for and we got receipts from the hotel and the airport next day. These were then rejected by Easy jet because they wanted a total breakdown of the food etc!!! We could not obtain this detail once we were back in England!! We remain out of pocket and have given up on trying to get any expenses paid. The claim from the airport cafe was 13 euros for 2 people and even that was refused; I do not think that we were trying to get something for nothing. The hotel meals were also modest and we made no claim for transport back to the airport next day. Also we made no claim for food all day in Madrid as we met friends and they looked after us. Our honest claim has never been met and no account was taken for the exorbitant cost of getting from Luton back to Gatwick to collect our car. We are out of pocket by about £150.00. We will never fly easy jet again, their loss as we travel to Sapin several times a year.
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I got stuck when my flight from Franhfurt Hann to Stanstead with Ryan Air was delayed. We were told 1 hour, then another hour, then a 3rd hour. This caused me to miss my connection. On questioning the staff at the airport we were told that they had been expecting a 2+ hour delay since before we checked in. There were no staff we could find who represented the company and if I had known I would have simply re-arranged my flight. We were told that we were entitled to compensation after the delay, but according to the leaflet I got at stanstead the airline had a duty to act at the point they expected a delay! They have not even replied to my complaints. Life's too short, I'll never fly with ryan air again.
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Airlines no longer seem to put passengers first but do put shareholders first. They also try any trick to put the bame on something else when they mess up.
it was therefore a refreshing change when we flew with First choice to Sanford Florida in march 2008. We had booked enhanced seating which we found included use of a lounge at Sanford before our return journey.
we availed ourself of the early check in off airport and spent a nice final day and went straight to the lounge. It had the usual free tea and coffee as well as snacks. Free films in two theatres. Free video Games and free internet access to name just a few things.
we boarded the plane and after a while with the comings and goings of engineers we guessed there might be a problem. however the plane pushed back some 15 minutes lat and stopped on the apron with no engines going. the pilot came on and said we could not take off with an alarm showing and we had to go back to the stand and unload while a new part was found and an air worthiness certificate obtained.
w eof course went straight back to the lounge but normal passengers had to stay in the departure lounge which seemed to close at 9 pm. The lounge however stayed open until midnight when we boarded the plane again and took off almost 7 hours late.
We were kept informed of the progress mainly due to the lounge staff who also wanted to go home and this was also relayed to the economy passengers with no access to the lounge.
I guess we fared better than the economy passengers but we were kept informed and got appologies from the pilot for the delay. We were also able to phone home to inform anyone meeting us to watch teletext or gatwick flight arrivals for updates.
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As a frequent flier with Ryanair I have had little or no problems, any have been dealt with promptly eg Suitcase damaged refund given to replace and apology. No frills means No frills. I travel 6 or more times a year usually to Southern Ireland and other countries Flying for about £5. Free check-in on line. Its easier and cheaper than travelling to London. My parents live in Ireland and I can see them cheaper and easier than seeing them in the UK often just spending a long day with them. At Christmas its cheaper for me to deliver my presents in person than it would be to post. Keep up the good work Ryanair and here's to many more cheap trips. I have used BMIBaby for a special family occasion and they resheduled my flight so much so that I had to rebook and use Ryanair. Although I did eventually receive a refund.
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My wife and I had a very similar experience to that of Jason Greatley except we we flying Ryanair on a retrun flight from Gothenburg City airport at the end of September. Ryanair is only cheap if you have no 'extras' (like luggage, paying by credit card, checking in at the airport etc., etc.) We checked in and went through to the departure gate. The flight was scheduled to depart at 22.10. About 23.00 there was an announcement which said the flight had been cancelled and we had to collect our bags and go to check-in to reorganise flights. We queued for nearly 2 hours to sort out another flight, hopefully for the Friday, and proposed to stay in the airport overnight. However Ryanair don't use Gothenburg's main airport but an ex military airport which has no facilities for handling problems with fog, which is why our in-coming flight was diverted to the main airport. Rather than organise transport to take the flight from the main airport Ryanair just left us in the lurch and I assume the plane we should have boarded went back empty to UK. There were just four girls handling the rebooking/refunding of about 150 or more passengers - they weren't Ryanair staff but simply airport employees. By the time we got to the desk it was nearly 1.00 am and we were told the earliest flight available was on Monday. However we later found out that we could be put on standby for flights on the Saturday. Then started the horrific part of the story!
We were told they were going to shut the airport until 5.00am and we could not stay there. If we didn't leave they would call the police (which they did in any case!) There were about 8 or 9 British people left in the airport by this time. We were told all hotels in Gothenburg were fully booked because that week there was an important book-fair. At the airport information desk we had been advised to take a taxi to the central station where there was a warm all night coffee lounge - (any story to get rid of us!) So under the eyes of some rather unfriendly looking police who had arrived we shared a couple of taxis. We got to the central station to find - surprise, surprise -it was closed. I went to a hotel which was all locked up and rang the night bell. The night porter said it was completely full and added that all hotels in the area were also full. I asked if we could sit in the reception area until breakfast time which would have been only about 4 hours since by this time it was almost 2.00am, but no, this wasn't possible 'for security reasons'. He suggested we went round the corner to an all night MacDonalds, so off we went. It was not the most savoury of places with all sorts of dubious looking characters. We then found out that this place closed at 4.00am so we sat for a couple of hours over a cup of coffee with a firm grip on our luggage. Just before they closed we needed the toilet so off we went and found these were disgusting - sickness everywhere, water right across the floor (it may not have been water either!). We went back to the central station which fortunately opened at 4.00am and there we sat for 2 hours until the station coffee shops opened up and we could get some food and drink. We managed to get accomodation for the Friday night with some friends in Gothenburg. On Saturday morning we returned to the airport and fortunately managed to get a standby flight in the morning. I have now submitted a claim on my travel insurance which may or may not pay out for the 30 hour delay. My reading of my travel insurance policy indicates that for such a delay they should pay out up to £120. I asked for a copy of Ryanair's 'Notice of your rights in the event of denied boarding, flight delay or flight cancellation' which is issuedunder European Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004. In short it states 'You are entitled to the rights below except when....we can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances....including but not limited to political instability, safety and security reasons, weather disruption, labour disputes or failure or delay of air traffic control facilities.' Thus any complaint to Ryanair would have been a waste of time and so I simply requested them to confirm in writing that we were delayed so that I might submit a claim against my travel insurance. Never again will I fly by any budget airline. During the past 25 years I have flown by most European national carriers and by several African, American and Asian national carriers which vary greatly in their service, but none sinks to the level of the budget airlines when things go wrong.
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our schedule flight was advanced by 9 hours ten days before departure necessitating overnight stay at the airport. are airlines allowed to fix their minimum alteration time before compensation as bmibaby is quoted as 5 hours and Air Malta quotes 12 hours.
[Note from Watchdog: We have spoken to Air Malta who have asked that you contact them directly. We will forward the details to your email address. Regards, Eddie Botsio, Watchdog web team.]
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I haven't chosen to fly BA long-haul for over 10 years because they remain at least 5 years behind their competitors in terms of service and in-flight entertainment. Then to top that they remain constantly one of the most expensive so I have zero incentive to use them. I had to use them 3 years ago (not my choice) and nothing had changed - it was all tired and second rate, much like our airports compared with places like Dubai and Hong Kong.
Emirates is a favourite even though it's an indirect flight purely because you get a top class service, the planes are often brand new and Dubai airport is quite nice for a quick transit and a bit of shopping.
I recently discovered Air New Zealand for a direct flight to Hong Kong. What a hidden gem. They have a friendly down to earth approach, top in-flight entertainment and the food tasted like home cooking rather than plane food. They were also the cheapest option at the time I booked.
Our national carrier and airports are quite an apt introduction for newcomers to "rip off Britain" - pay top price for second or third class quality.
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The best Airline I travelled on is an Indian Airline called Jet Airways.
Service on board excellent.
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Re: Jason Greatley's flight, as I was on the same flight and endured the same hardships with my partner has easyjet pledged to reimburse other passengers as they did Jason or was this merely a publicity action to appear good on Watchdog.
What should I do?
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i would just like to say thanks to watchdog for all their help in the trouble we went through with first choice airlines and wedding departments when we recently got married in paphos, cyprus, there was a lot more to this than just the damaged suitcase with my weddding dress and crushed tiaras etc ..but watchdog have done us pround and i appreciate all their help ..as yet we havent heard a thing from first choice..but our fingers are crossed we will do soon and that are payment, which they have said they will send will soon be with us.thanks again - claire and alec
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Flew with monach four times this summer, first flight was about 8 hours delayed, flight returning back was about 4 hours delayed.
Then had the first flight of the day flying out to portugal, everything was going well, pilot explained a bit of paper work needed to be finished, then came back on to say we (they) had missed our take off slot, explaing we now had to sit on the tarmac for 4 hours, thankfully to air traffic control they managed to fit us in 'only' an hour later, no thanks to monach.
Flight staff were rude, plane was very cramped on the flight returning from portugal. I wouldn't recommend monach expect delays.
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I travelled back from malaga to manchester on 15th oct on tom 4014,what a nightmare.The flight we travelled out on the week before was over 6hrs late and we were told it was a fault with the plane and then coming back nearly 5 hrs delay we were told by the pilot that there had been another fault with the plane,baring in mind that this was a different plane!I have found out since being home that this same flight has had a 5-6 hr delay both ways for the previous 3 weeks.Very reluctant to travel with thomson again
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I have always had a great experience with Monarch Airlines. They fly to exactly where I need to go and are truly low cost with all the frills of the more expensive airlines. Legroom is fantastic, crew are friendly and the customer service team have never failed to help me with any travel issues. Plus, in this economic climate, it is nice to know you are flying with an airline which is widely known to be safe and financially stable.
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In May this year, my wife and I went to crete for our first holiday abroad as a married couple. My Wife has M.E and needs to use a wheelchair to get about if we are going for more than 100 yards.
When we landed we found that the wheelchair had been 'mislaid' but they promised to get it to us ASAP.
At first they were not going to even offer us one to take to the apartment with us, Then they eventually did, but it was nto suitable, the chair was far too big for my wife and the tyres were flat. We accepted this wheelchair to tide us by until we got our wheelchair back. But despite constantly pesterring the sales rep, it never turned up.
This really spoiled our holiday as it meant that we couldn't really stray very far from the apartment without getting taxis (which we hadn't budgetted for).
Since getting back we have tried repeatedly to get compensation for the lost wheelchair and effectively a lost holiday. But no-one seems botherred.
They have eventually re-imburrsed us for the chair but have not received a penny for spoiling our holiday. I think that this is attrocious and the airline and the package holiday company are appologetic but dont actually care.
After 6 months of trying we are giving up. We are tired of spending money on premium rate numbers only to be cut off or told to write in, or to speak to someone else.
We even tried to get you involved to try and get a result but my wife didn't get a reply from you.
I am furious at the airline and the holiday company. All they do is blame each other and the airport. Why can't someone take responsibility.
A frustrated Passenger
Ben Wigley
Scotland
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We flew with BA to Oz last year. Plane was delayed in Bangkok for over 24hrs.. we ended up getting another flight (paying ourselves) to get to Oz. They then lost our luggage for four days... where the worldwide customer service team was a complete joke.
We were compensated for our expenses... but we lost two days of our holiday... and then a further three days when we got to Oz waiting for our bags to turn up! Having flown with BA alot through leisure and business... I have lost all confidence in them!
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Maybe I'm lucky but I have never had a problem with Easyjet, Ryanair or Monarch Schedule flights. A special mantion to the "scouse' crew who have flown me home from Faro twice on Monarch. Friendly, funny and nothing too much trouble.
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I would say my favourite airline has to be BA probably because I've had no bad experiences with them.
The worst airline I've been on has to be African Safari, a plane that had seen better days and staff that needed a personality transplant.
First Choice, Thomson and Thomas Cook, OK for a charter on a short haul flight you only get what you pay for. Have flown with both Monarch and Mytravel Longhaul, could do with a larger seat pitch for that length of flight.
I recently have used Easy jet who I have found to be fairly efficient and flights on schedule. Unfortunately in the winter I have to use Globespan to Palma from my local airport,no one else flies there, easyjet only fly from May until October. Globespan used to be a reasonably good airline, however now that seems to have changed. Unreliability in their timetable and since they have started flying to Canada and America their reputation has plummeted. I note that in airline-quality reviews their rating has been suspended due to the volume of complaints. I have flights booked for the future with them as an independent traveller and worry as I will not be covered in the event of the company failing. I would like to know how secure they are finacially especially if you keep reading bad reviews which will certainly put customers off. They are also not as cheap as Easyjet or Ryanair therefore you should expect better service.
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I recently booked two tickets for the same trip with Ryanair. I was charged £16.00 'Debit card fee'. When I queried about it, I was told that it was calculated as £4 per person per journey. I find this totally unacceptable as there is just one transaction involved, so there should be just one processing fee regardless of the number of passengers. I am surprised that this seems legal for Ryanair to do so. I would appreciate your views. Thank you.
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I was astounded to hear several interviewees on your programme saying that American Airlines was their favourite! A transatlantic flight with no seat-back screens? Pay for your drinks? Aircraft tatty, old, shabby with thin seats? How can anyone endorse this airline?
After pushing the call button 6 times and getting no respose on an overnight flight from Chicago, I walked to the Galley for an orange juice - what did I find? A jug of tepid water and a pile of plastic cups and a notice pinned to an adjoining curtain "Quiet Please, Cabin Crew Sleeping" Well, it must be nice to get paid to sleep - certainly few of the passengers,who had paid for the flight, could sleep on the hard, cramped seats!
Finally,I watched in wonder as a flight attendant walked the whole length of her section of the aircraft giving out breakfasts: she never spoke to anyone, never even looked at any passenger - just thrust out the tray towards each seat with no eye contact whatsoever. Unbelievable!
I take about 8 return flights a year with a variety of airlines but, for discomfort, lack of amenities and rudeness of cabin crew A.A is the tops!
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Emirates are superb. Great food, friendly and supremely helpful staff. Good entertainment.
Virgin is also very good.
XL Airways were the worst I had ever flown with - the seat in front was so close that I was claustrophobic and divided my time between standing outside the galley and sitting with my eyes shut. AWFUL.
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Virgin's customer service is faltless, on the aircraft they could not do enough for me,they made me feel like I was the only person on the plane, low cost Easy Jet every time, quick low cost and ontime.
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I spend a lot of time in Turkey and most of the time I fly with Cyprus Turkish Airlines, except during the winter when they fly into Stanstead Airport. I hate this airport with a passion. The main reason I use this airline is that the flight is a daytime departure, the price is usually cheaper than charter flights and the cabin staff are very helpful and cheerful.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
IWe flew to Punta Cana last March with First Choice who we have flown with before and we are still going to fly with them next year as I have always in the past found them good, but last March was someting else. When we arrived at Gatwick we were informed that our plane was poorly but we were getting another one and it was larger!!!! Well when it eventually came it was someting else!!! Air Lutz!!!! not reccommended! When we boarded we were shocked as it was so delapidated, none of the usual radio's or tv's and wires showing!!!! sacarey stuff, but the main thing was we were off on holiday so it could only get better oh no, we were brought our meal that was ok there was no duty free and the stewards really didn't appear to want to be there!! after the meals they begrudgingly collected the empties and then that was it. They settled themselves in the back with blankets and we had to help ourselves which was worrying for some of us as we noted that some people were just collecting bottles of wine and drinking all the time which was a bit of a concern on a 9hour flight!!!! The stewards even asked someone in the so called premier seats if they would give up their seats so the pilot could have a sleep!!!!! I wont repeat what they said. The toilets were awful and one didn't work at all. When we eventually arrived we were in a state of shock and just thankful to have arrived at all and we later learnt that the passengers due to fly back all refused and stayed in the airport all night until they sent another aircraft. A petition went around the passengers but we heard no more!!! You may think we are mad going with first choice again but in the past I have always found their flights excellant so hopefully the next one will be up to their usual standard, if not that will be the last time I fly with them hopefully Air Lutz is well and truly grounded!!!! If not I would advise anyone who sees a tristar bearing the words Air Lutz coming towards them run in the opposite direction
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PALMAIR, the most caring and helpful airline in the world?!
Last March my parents went on holiday to Tunisia with the small local airline Palmair. Two days before the end of their holiday they were involved in a horrendous accident, when their car was hit by a vehicle speeding at over twice the limit. Two friends who were with them were killed outright and both my parents were injured – my mother seriously.
[Personal details removed by Moderator] of Palmair obtained my telephone number (as next of kin) from the British Consulate. She contacted me immediately, gave up a free weekend to help with practical arrangements and over the following weeks could not have been more caring and supportive if I had been a close family member. The two Palmair representatives in Tunisia, [Personal details removed by moderator]also telephoned me on the day of the crash.
It was the start of the Easter holidays and aeroplanes to Tunisia seemed to be fully booked, but Jenny managed to find me a space on a BA flight. Ivonne and Susan arranged for me to stay at the hospital with my parents and for someone to meet me at the airport and drive me there. They packed all my parents’ belongings and settled outstanding hotel bills. When my mother’s condition continued to be serious and I needed to extend my stay, they made all the necessary arrangements.
While I was staying at the hospital Jenny was in touch at least once a day, as were one or other of the representatives. On their days off, they made a 60 mile journey to visit my parents!
I returned to the UK before my parents and all three continued to keep in touch with both my father and myself – Ivonne and Susan to reassure me as to how things were going in Tunisia.
After my parents’ returned to the UK by air ambulance, Jenny continued to contact us at regular intervals to enquire after my mother’s progress. Sadly, despite initially starting to recover, my mother died from her injuries four months after the crash. It has been a terrible time, but the level of love, concern and practical help from Palmair - way beyond any expectation or responsibility of an airline - has meant an immense amount and is a memory I will always treasure.
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FLYING U.S AIRLINES ON AN INTERNAL U.S.A FLIGHT ON 17th SEPTEMBER 2008 FOR A 5 HOUR 20 MINUTE SCHEDULE FLIGHT WE WERE CHARGED $17 FOR EACH CHECKED CASE. ON THE FLIGHT WE OFFERED FOOD WHICH HAD TO BE PURCHASED AT EXORBITANT PRICES. ALL DRINKS HAD TO BE BOUGHT. THE ONLY THING OFFERED FREE WAS A GLASS OF WATER. THERE WERE DROP DOWN SCREENS TO WATCH A FILM WITH THE PURCHASE OF HEAD SETS WHICH WE COULD NOT SEE.
THE ONLY THING THE STEWARDS WERE INTERESTED IN WAS TAKING MONEY.
WE WOULD CERTAINLY AVOID FLYING U.S AIRLINES IN THE FUTURE
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I use Ryanair regularly as they fly to where my parents live so it's handy. However they are a far cry from beeing as chep as they claim.
My questions are:
1) Why did they increase the Debit Card charge from GBP2 to GBP8? This is a 300% increase ...
2) If I book 2 passengers with the same transaction, why do I have to pay twice the Debit Card fee?
3) Why did they increase the charge for the luggage from GBP12 to GBP16? 33% increase
4) Why did they increase the charge for the Airport check in from GBP6 to GBP8?
5) They say they charge for luggage so that people do not bring large luggages or any luggage at all. But with the ban on liquid (cosmetics) and travelling for longer than a week-end we have no choice.
6) The charge for the use of a debit card is exproportionate also considering that there is no other way we can pay for the tickets apart online and using a card. I would be happy to pay cash and avoid this extra pointless costs.
They claim they are a cheap airline, these are the tickets I paid in 2008:
May 2008 - GBP96.69(1 person)
June 2008 - GBP 116.68 (1 person)
the above tickets were bought on 20/04/2008
July 2008 - GBP308.82 for 1 person (GBP239 total fare the rmainder is charges)
December 2008 (bought in October) GBP327circa for 2 people
I think they are ripping us off and nobody is doing anything about it!
Regards
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Surely the issue is not about, simply, airlines - which the rather simplistic BBC questionnaire asks you to deal with - but rather the flying experience. I avoid flying now. Check in is a joke. Security is so variable it is laughable. And all of this is before anyone gets anywhere near an aircraft. I sort of think that things should have a value. Flights have got sooo cheap but taxes have soared. As a result service has plummeted. At the budget end of the market, and I do realise one pays for what one gets, the tax is the majority of the price and there is nothing left for service. Human decency goes out the window when boarding is called and children are more or less trampled as everyone rushes to the gate. The flight "experience" is appalling. The "system" is designed around the profit margins of the airport providers and the airlines. Customers are secondary. Put up prices and treat people like human beings, not cattle...
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My fiancee who is American and I make multiple flights per year to and from the US, we have both made the mistake of flying with US Airways once each and would never do so again, both of us were delayed in Philadelphia due to cancelled flights, neither of us were offered any compensation. In my case it involved an 18 hour delay without even a meal or drink voucher offered. On enquiring among various airport staff I determined that the delays were so frequent that the pilots refer to it as the 'philly factor' On each subsequent attempt to talk to the airline by phone it took 7 phone calls before I managed to get hold of anyone who was even prepared to apologise for the delays, but again they were unable to offer anything by way of compensation.
In comparison, I also had a flight delay with delta which resulted in an overnight stay in Cincinnati, Delta were in chapter 11 bankruptcy at the time but ensured I was given the in flight courtesy pack and a voucher for an overnight stay in a 4 star hotel 15 minutes from the airport which was serviced by a shuttle bus, Also 2 meal vouchers. The most significant difference though was the way we were treated at the airport, Delta staff were immediately on hand, the courtesy packs which included a T-Shirt, laundry detergent, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, soap, etc were immediately offered, as were the hotel vouchers along with an apology for the delay, and free re-routing to an alternate airport to make it possible for my fiancee to meet me and still be able to go to work.
In the numerous flights we have taken over the years we have both experienced overnight delays, in all cases Delta have bent over backwards to help, and US Airways only showered us with indifference.
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can you please explain why travel companies and airlines are able to increase the prices of holidays when kids are off? This only encourages people to take their kids out of school during term time. Surely they should not be allowed to do this and trading standards should be involved and the government.
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I have to say, in regards to First Choice, I've found they've been excellent on every occassion. Their customer service is fantastic, and the staff always seem to genuinely care. I have to say, this is reflected in the incident with the couple who were getting married in Cyprus. I know the dress was ruined, but First choice really excelled themselves in trying to make up for it, and as we all know, the baggage handling is not down to the tour operator, so they did a great job helping the couple feel like something was done. I'll continue to fly with First choice, and would encourage anyone else to do the same!
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your survey didn't include our main reason for flying Ryanair; we fly with them because they have more flights from Scotland DIRECT to where we usually want to go abroad rather than have to go through London etc which increases the cost, the travel time taken and the grater risk of lost luggage. Personally I'd rather pay slightly more and get proper service and a decent baggage allowanance included.
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Firstly I'd like to start off by saying I've been to amsterdam several times over the last 24 months and I've always flown with KLM Cityhopper, the online check-in service they offer through their website works a treat cutting down the time I need to spend at the airport to a minimum, the staff are always polite and wearing a smile and best of all you get a snack or sandwich and drink included within the price :-) TOP MARKS!!!!
On the other hand I would never travel with BMI ever again after the problems I encounter with BMI and one of their partners trying to get back from Las Vegas last August. After a small delay in our flight taking off we were told our connection would be close but we should make it, I asked what would happen if I missed my connection in chicago to manchester and I was advised that we would be put up in a hotel for the night ready for the next connection the following day. This was NOT the case, on arrival in Chicago we were told we had a four hour wait for a flight to London and would then have to wait a further four hours for a connection to Manchester! Eventually on arrival in Manchester our bags were missing, a few days later my bag arrived with my next door neighbour without any prior warning and after telling my friend that she would have her case delivered to her a few days later, my next door neighbour received it. Even if BMI was half the price of any other airline I would still go for the other airline.
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We travelled with BMI & Kenya Airlines on a through ticket to Nairobi via LHR from Manchester, on arrival at man the BMI flight had been cancelled, we missed our Kenya flight all BMI staff were very unhelpful and rude we eventually travelled the following day, on the return leg BMI lost our luggage we would never fly with them again, this also happened to some friends of ours on the same route.
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We flew Iberia on 27 Sept to Gran Canaria. On arrival we discovered our bags were not on the flight with us. Iberia told us our bags would be delivered to our hotel in the morning. Morning arrived, bags did not. Phoned Iberia, our bags were in a van heading for our hotel, would be there in an hour. Hour passes, no bags, phoned Iberia again. Bags definately on van, be there in an hour, hour passes, no bags. Told them we would go to airport and fetch our bags, then Iberia tells us that our bags have not even arrived on the island! They would be arriving mid afternoon, bags at hotel for 7.00PM. 7.00PM arrives, no bags. Phoned Iberia, bags on van heading for hotel. Midnight, still no sign of bags. Next morning, we phoned Iberia and told them we were coming to airport to fetch them, we were told they would put them on van. We told them NO! Just as well, others that had arrived with us did not receive their luggage until that night. Complained to Iberia, and asked for our taxi fare to the airport back. Have heard absolutely nothing from them. the customer service we have received from them has been non existent. Would not fly with them again if you paid us to do so.
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I recently returned from a holiday in Brazil and decided to fly with [company removed]as they were the cheapest airline.
Whilst I was checking in for my returning flight at Galeão I was given the wrong flight information by the woman on the desk meaning that I ended up flying to Madrid instead of Barcelona. After the stress of finding a connecting flight from Madrid to Barcelona I finally arrived in London Heathrow to find that my luggage hadn’t arrived with me. I waited for 45 minutes at the baggage carousel and eventually had to go to the baggage enquiries desk, queuing behind four other people who’s luggage also hadn’t arrived. I was told that my baggage would be arriving on the next flight from Barcelona at 7pm. I decided not to wait, as I had to get my coach (which I ended up missing due the luggage delay and then had to spend £74 on a train ticket).
It’s now a week later and they still don’t know where my luggage is. I had several hundreds of pounds worth in my case including Christmas presents and clothing. I’ve spent a lot of time waiting on the phone and if Google searches for ‘[company removed] and ‘lost luggage’ are anything to go by, I doubt I will ever see my suitcase ever again. I will never fly with them again, and I recommend anyone that does to take cheap clothes with them and carry their valuables in their hang luggage.
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