I recently booked a flight with Scot Airways, flew with Air France on a City Jet plane, confused, not half as much as me!!
I wanted to fly to London City airport & remembered seeing an ad for Scot Airways who fly Dundee to London City airport on a regular basis. None of the budget airlines appear to use London City airport & no flights go there from the usual large Scottish airports such as Glasgow, Edinburgh & Aberdeen. I went to Google & punched in 'Scot Airways' & it took me to the Air France website. Obviously they are all the same company but it was a little confusing at first.
Booking through the Air France website was pretty straightforward, you decide
which dates you want to fly & they provide a list of times for around three days at a time. You simply choose which time or price that suits you & click on it, the price they quote is the final price. They do numerous flights per day, the cheaper flights are at awkward times but there are substantial savings to be made.
There are no hidden charges for being first on the plane (like Easy Jet), using a credit card (like Easy jet, Flybe & Ryan Air), checking in luggage (like Easy Jet, Flybe & Ryan Air), booking a seat (Flybe) or for breaking wind in the toilets (OK, but it won't be long before they do!!). What's more you don't get a patronising web site reminding you to arrive on time as they won't wait (Easy Jet) or write your name on your luggage tag as we won't search for it should the airline (Ryan Air) lose it.
The whole booking process is very simple & straightforward & you print off your confirmation which includes a booking reference number. I got two confirmations, one in English & one in French!!
Within 30 hours of your flight you can also check in & choose your seat all free of charge. It doesn't matter that you have luggage with you as you can still check in online. You can also make changes to your flight without being charged. Easy Jet charge you £15.00 per name per booking & the joke is that you do the all the work!!!
They also don't demand you check in at ridiculous time before your flight, my departure times was 13.20 & the politely ask for you to check in at least 15 minutes before.
I arrived at Dundee airport one hour before my flight was due & my first shock of the journey……….no charge for parking!! As you enter the building there are only two check-in desks, all you do is dump your luggage & they accept your booking confirmation & issue the boarding card, simple & quick. After going through a well organised security area I sat in the small departure lounge until the flight was ready to board. There was only one plane on the entire runway & it didn't take long to fill the 30 seats on it. Despite double booking my seat which they quickly resolved, I sat down on a comfy leather seat separate from all the others, The seating arrangements on one of these small prop planes is one row on the nearside & two rows on the offside.
We left on time & were presented with snacks free of charge from very pleasant Air France staff once we were airborne. The flight was smooth & arrived bang on time. Within minutes the baggage was ready to collect & I was ready to find my way round the capital.
Coming back was slightly different, I had no access to a computer before I left London so I couldn't check in & choose my seats. When I arrived at London city airport they prefer you to check in via the machines in the airport entrance which prints off your confirmation. There was Air France staff at hand should you get stuck. You then dump your luggage at the normal check-in type desk & you're free to do your own thing until your flight is ready.
Once again the return flight left on time, whilst airborne snacks were free, the flight was smooth & we arrived on time. What more could I ask? The baggage is sent down a roller chute in Dundee and as there isn't a lot of baggage for the 13 passengers on that flight, it only took minutes to collect my bag & drive out the airport.
Air France do have a reputation for losing baggage but travelling between two small airports reduced that risk. I have to say that these days I hate flying due to security restrictions, waiting times, cancelled flights, delayed flights & greedy operators that want you to pay for everything extra. This Air France flight put the pleasure back into flying & on this route I would highly recommend them.
Only one negative point, their in flight magazine was rubbish, it is printed in English & French but it left a lot to be desired, I reckon reading the 'Monthly Pigeon Racers' magazines would have been more interesting!
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I loved my one time of flying into City Airport! And ScotAirways were dishing out delicious tablet all tied up in a tartan ribbon, tasty!! :-) Caroline xx
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Sep 25th, 2008
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