At all cost I try to avoid flying charter but at the time of booking my holiday to Victoria, (BC, Canada) I preferred to have the extra £200 in my pocket than in an airlines, so one of the the Canadian charter company's Air Transat were offering the best deal and I booked with them.
Apart from saving money the other advantage of flying Air Transat was that I could fly to Vancouver without having to change planes (I'm a strong believer that if you don't change planes you have more chance of getting your luggage at the other end and less chance of being delayed). Although I was going to Victoria it was much cheaper to get a ferry from Vancouver than another flight.
All booked I arrive at Manchester Airport July 6th, at least 3 hours before the flight, as recommended by the airline. The que
I was faced with was unreal but I kept reminding myself that this was a charter airline and this is why you get a cheap ticket, just keep thinking of the money that you have saved.
I managed to keep patient but by the time I had checked in it was time to board and there was still a que behind me. This caused us to be delayed by an hour and the pilot tells us its our fault because we didn’t get on fast enough. The cheeky beggar!
We get on the flight and as expected with a charter plane the seats are jammed together and looking tatty, I'm only 5'4” so I feel for those taller than me. However, I will say that the design was good and the crew looked professional.
The flight goes with no particular good or bad service, it was clear that the staff were French because the speeches in French went on longer and caused much laughter but it was clear the crew did not like the English passengers.
The pilot must have been bored because he pointed out every single landmark he could think of and even steeped the plane so we could have a better look and why not.
One thing that did stand out was that a head crewman came round and thanked everyone by shaking their hand before we left the flight, something I had not seen before. I arrive in Vancouver safe and happy to see friends.
There is a twist to my story I was supposed to return home October 4th but I decided I would bring that forward to September 11th. Being a charter Air Transat could not help me change the flight seat (and I understand this from the booking conditions) so I had no choice but to buy a new ticket from Air Transat.
Well unless you left earth for a day you will know that September 11th was the awful terrorist attack on America. There I was stood with my Air Canada boarding card for my connection to Vancouver (a treat from a friend) when all flights were cancelled.
Air Canada were brilliant they kept rebooking my flight and told me they would continue to do so until they got me out but I was more interested in my long haul flight with Air Transat.
Well to say bad service would be an understatement for three days I would call the airlines and log into the internet. Air Canada would say stay at home because your not going anywhere today and we will rebook you for tomorrow. Air Transat would say we can't advise you weather or not to go to the airport and we can't advise when your flight might be. They kept telling us to check the internet which was never updated with any helpful information.
If you know Victoria you’ll know that if there is no planes you have to take a ferry to Vancouver and its not that cheap if your doing it more than once and its not a short trip. Finally on the Thursday worried that if I didn’t go to Vancouver I would loose out all together I went. Sure enough I arrive at the airport and we are told that sometime today we will be flying.
I start to talk to other passengers and by no means am I in the worst position some people had been at Vancouver airport on the Tuesday and the airline had not even assisted with finding accommodation (at least I had friends to stay with). Then we are told that anyone booked to fly on the Thursday would fly, anyone who’s flight had been cancelled earlier in the week would be on standby and it may take a few days to get everyone out.
At 6 o'clock in the evening they finally offered a refund, this may sound fair but Air Canada had offered this from day one so you could try and make other arrangements. I took the offer and ran and thankfully I did because on the Friday, news reports showed people waiting in the car park because they couldn’t even get in the airport.
You may think well it was a national disaster that couldn’t be avoided but I personally think that an airline should not be judged on what happens when things are OK but what they do when things are not and Air Canada would certainly not be my choice in the future.
**UPDATE**
Well Air Transat seem to have organised themselves better for October 4th, I was checking in within a reasonable time by a very helpful member of staff. On the flight back the French staff still hated us Brit’s but still provided a service that couldn’t be judged harshly.
Air Transat are not my first choice of airline and I wouldn’t recommend them but if I had to fly with them again I wouldn’t let this trip stop me.
Great opinion. I have a friend in Toronto who uses them every time he flies home and he very rarely has problems with them and neither did I went I flew with them last summer but most airlines have problems including British Airways. AI can say at least they are better than some of the other publuc transport systems in this country!
Torontogal 28.01.2003 02:37
there's a standing joke in Canada, we call them Air TransCrap!
craigy_baby_2000 14.10.2001 00:01
Great opinion! With so many of these kind of airlines around, it's always useful to know which to opt for, so thanks :)
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Advantages: Brilliant service, good punctuality,more space than other airlines,knows how to handle situations Disadvantages: flight was too short, BA's current financial situation scaring passengers away
Sep 24th, 2001
(Oct 12th, 2001)
very helpful by (94%):
helpful by (6%):
