First Choice > Reviews > First Choice - not mine!

Author's product rating:   

Food Quality	Satisfactory
Customer Service	Friendly and attentive
Punctuality	Poor
Space	Uncomfortable
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	cheap prices
Disadvantages:	unpredictable timing

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Having just returned back from a 2week holiday in Goa booked with First Choice, I thought I would tell you about my mixed feelings towards them.
This has been the second holiday we have booked with First Choice but the first time we have used FC airlines.

Our flight was scheduled Gatwick to Goa direct flight leaving on Saturday 4.30pm. We arrived very early hoping to check in our luggage and then enjoy some relaxed stress free hours roaming in duty free and having lunch. We arrived at Gatwick by 11am and once we found where we had to check in we were astonished at the mile long (slight over exageration) queue. Thinking we were going to be spending a few hours standing in the line luckily it was fast moving and we were at check -in within 40mins.

Once at check-in we booked in our luggage and requested window seats. We hoped that as we had arrived early, we would be able to select our seats.
At this point I was thinking about all the different ways First Choice were trying to make money out of us being a chartered flight. For an upgrade to premium class it was £89 per person. It doesn't seem that expensive but when there is 4of you travelling and you start converting all your extra's into Rupees, it does seem a lot so we decided against upgrading.

We were then told we had to pay an extra £35 for an extra 3" of legroom. It certainly does add up but again we declined.

At this point we were told there was an hour delay on the flight which didn't seem that bad. An extra hour roaming duty free or even catching up on sleep seemed fine.

We noticed our flight number up on the screen which stated 'please wait' and we constantly glanced at it in case of any change. Slowly all the flights before ours showed up the gate numbers and then were wiped of the screen once the flight had left.
At about 4.30 we were still waiting and 'please wait' remained on the screen next to our flight number. Hmmmm.....didn't seem promosing as normally you are notified of which gate number you had to go to in order to board the plane.
Impatience was growing on us so me and a friend we were travelling with went to have some look at the shops (again). I spotted the information desk and noticed a few people there so we went over to find out an update. The lady behind the desk asked if we were enquiring about the Goa flight and then went on to saying it had been delayed until........wait for it.................8.30pm.
I was not happy as you can imagine. How else would we have known about this delay if we hadn't gone to the information desk and there was no change on the screen.

She asked us to bring the boarding card over to her and claim for some vouchers. We were entitled to £5 per head to be used for refreshments. Has anyone ever seen the prices of a cup of tea at London airports before. £5 was not going to get us very far and in my opinion it was an unfair compensation.

The lady then said they had announced it on the tanoy about the delay but again no matter how much you listened out for it, her voice was not heard.

At about 7.30 (the time we were meant to make a move to the gate) there was a change on the screen next to our flight. By this time there were only 2more flights to depart that evening including ours.
It wrote 'more information at 8.30'.
Again, we went to the information desk, very cranky by this point of just waiting around not knowing what was going on. There were about 30 people surrounding the desk very angry and questioning those sitting behind. The latest news was there was some technical difficulites and our plane had gone in for service. There also was another flight scheduled to arrive so whichever plane was ready first would be the one we board and they would have news at 8.30pm.

What interesting information we found out was that the same flight that left last week scheduled for the same time also had technical difficulties and finally departed at 11pm. It was too much of a coincidence. But the thought of sitting at the airport until 11pm ......well its not very appealing.

By 8.45pm we were told our plane was ready and were told our gate number. By this point we were the only people left in the airport as the last flight. We were so eager to get on that plane but tired of just waiting around. We were lucky that we didn't have to stay overnight otherwise that really wouldn't be a good start to our holiday.
By the time we boarded a plane after a further 45minutes wait at the boarding gate, and another 15-20minutes on the plane, we finally departed Gatwick airport at 11pm.

The service on the plane I must admit was exceptional. We had no problems. An hour into the flight we were served drinks and snacks which all were at additional costs.

The food was ....well not the best but when you are hungry, you can't complain. For our evening meal we had a country chicken which consisted of a small grilled chicken breast, some mash potato and some boiled veggies with gravy. A fresh bread roll, orange juice, cheese and crackers, and some kind of chocolate mousse for dessert.

In the morning we were served a cold breakfast which was quite disappointing. A chocolate croissant and a Nutrigrain bar served with the usual tea or coffee.

The return flight was much nicer. It was a morning flight on time which was a big relief. The breakfast served was warm and a big difference to the one before. We had a rashen of bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, some hash browns, tea or coffee and some orange juice. Even the lunch served was delicious. A simple baguette with tomato and cheese and a packet of choc chip cookies. It may not be a liking to some people but was to our liking.

However, I was sitting next to another lady who mentioned her and her friend had paid an extra £20 each to sit next to each other but her friend ended up sitting in front of her. They were very annoyed saying FC were conning people out of money. Luckily in both flights we didnt pay any extras and we still sitting next to each other.

The other payment they ask for is an additional £5 each to be able to watch 3new movies and be able to stop, pause and play at any time you please. Another con in my opinion as there is still plenty to watch on the tv screens including tv programmes, recent movies, games, radio and shopping.

So overall, the flight to Goa was very disappointing. Now I totally understand the service and price difference between a chartered flight like FC compared to a flight like Emirates or BA. But when you are tired and just want to get to your destination stress free, it is the last thing on your mind. I guess it was just our luck!