Monarch Airlines

...had spoke to people at Monarch before we left the UK and they had informed us that we were allowed an extra 5kg luggage allowance. He rolled is eyes and said "there is what you have been told, and there is what is printed on your ticket".

We had been staying at an AI hotel and hadn't eaten out through the holiday because the food at the hotel was fine but we had planned to treat ourselves on our last night to go and have ...
...whether that is Cosmos or Monarch at fault.

We eventually boarded and despite having paid for seats together were sat across an aisle. Now it is in the small print that 'seats together' can be classed as across and aisle or in front and behind of each other. This isn't exclusive to Monarch most airlines say this so I can't particularly complain in that sense but it still isn't what you would ideally want on such a long flight. Okay ... more

BACKGROUND

In Jan 2006 we booked a holiday with Thomas Cook, due to some work being carried out on the beach where we were staying they advised us to cancel our holiday with a full refund and book something else. Top marks for Thomas Cook. However, this happened three weeks before we were due to fly out. The travel agent gave us a choice of three places we could change our holiday to and we chose to go to Playacar in Mexico. The holiday was with Cosmos and the flights were with Monarch.

BEFORE WE WENT

The time that we were due to fly out was just after the hang luggage restrictions had been put in place. We had been told that we were allowed to take 5kg extra hold luggage due to the hand luggage restrictions. My boyfriend is never one to chance anything and made me phone up the airline and the airport the night before flying to double check if this was accurate information. We were told that yes, due to the restrictions, we were allowed 5kg extra hand luggage.
We packed our cases, mine weighing in at 24kg and my boyfriends and 23kg and went to the airport. Check in was quick, there was no queue and they took our bags no problem at the weight they were at.

OUTBAND FLIGHT

Due to the fact we had little choice of what holidays we could take once we swapped we had to accept a flight that flew from Manchester and then did a pick up of passengers at Gatwick before flying out to Mexico. We were told this would not add any flight time onto the journey, which I found a little hard to believe logically when we were told but figured it wouldn't make a huge difference.

We had paid for seats together and sure enough when we got on the plane we were sat together.

The plane itself was worse than any plane either of us had ever been on for even any shorthaul flights. I suppose I expected the plane to of at least been of a standard of the ones that I had flown on short haul before. The whole look of the plane was best described as 'shabby'. The seat pitch seemed smaller than any I'd previously been on before. I am only short so I do not mind so much about leg room but width wise they were really tiny (and I am only a size 8!).

On a longhaul flight I would hope for but not expect seat back tellys. They did not have these so what would have been second best would have been what I had experienced on every other short haul flight I have ever been on - a flip down telly every few rows on each aisle. I'm sure this is what anyone would expect? I actually couldn't believe my eyes when the tvs came down and I saw what they were. They were just on the middle aisle (so for people sat on either side of the plane like us it was a struggle to see them) and they were like a portable television that you might have in a bedroom. I've never seen anything like it on a plane! When the plane was taking off or hit turbulence they were shaking so badly that I honestly thought they could come off and hit someone!

The seat formation was 3-3-3 and when we boarded at Manchester no one sat next to me and my boyfriend so we were able to use the three seats on the way down to Gatwick.

The flight from Manchester to Gatwick was fairly quick although it did circle around Gatwick about 12 time which at the time we found very confusing but now we believe it may have had something to do with needing to use up the fuel before landing. Once we landed on the runway at Gatwick, we remained there, on the plane for four hours. I understand this was during the security restrictions so there may have been delays actually at Gatwick airport for getting all the passengers through security. However, since they knew this in advance you would think they would have allowed for this. After four hours the Gatwick passengers boarded and we still hadn't left the UK.

We then played the guess who's going to come and sit next to us game, dreading who we would get stuck with. The best news of the whole flight came at this point because no one sat next to us which meant we had all three seats for the whole flight! Excellent! This meant that despite the small seat pitch we were able to put up the arm rests and get comfy across the three seats.

Then there was just a problem of actually taking off and leaving the country. After waiting for what seemed like forever for a space on the runway. We were then told our plane's 'reverser' had broke and we would have to pull back in. After they did whatever it was they did, we finally took off.

Now came the really bemusing bit. We took off and flew back over Manchester before departing the UK! Now that to us was just really bemusing. Especially knowing all the problems at Gatwick you would have thought that if they need to fly back over Manchester it would have made more sense to board the people at Gatwick and then do a Manchester pick up.

Anyway, regardless to all this we were still in good spirits - we were on our way to Mexico after all - and after over half a day of travelling we finally departed the UK!

The flight in itself on the way there was ok. As I said the plane was not nice but we had three seats each others company and despite the fact that the flight ended up being 15 hours long, it did not feel like a long time.

The meal was disgusting. Okay, I know that plane meals are never going to be great but they really were almost uneatable. Rock hard, maybe even RAW potatoes in the potato salad that made up our main meal along with some crackers. Yum. Then we were given a 'snack' which was a croissant with sweaty rubbery cheese and tomato. Honestly, the worst plane food I've ever had. Worse than hospital food lol!

So we landed in Mexico, our luggage (eventually) came out, last as always! And we went about enjoying our holiday :D

BEFORE WE WERE DUE TO COME HOME

The day before we were due to fly home our Cosmos Rep (now there's another [negative] review in itself!) came to visit us at our hotel (for once!) and told us about the flight time home/what time we'd be picked up from the hotel etc.

He then added that he is well aware of the 'con' that all us English people are pulling saying we were allowed an extra 5kg luggage allowance and that it won't wash here so expect to pay £70 at the airport. We said to him that we had spoke to people at Monarch before we left the UK and they had informed us that we were allowed an extra 5kg luggage allowance. He rolled is eyes and said "there is what you have been told, and there is what is printed on your ticket".

We had been staying at an AI hotel and hadn't eaten out through the holiday because the food at the hotel was fine but we had planned to treat ourselves on our last night to go and have a meal out and we had saved the last of our money for this.

Due to the luggage allowance farce we instead spent the last night of our holiday in our hotel room trying to decide which of our belonging we would have to leave behind for us to be able to afford to even leave the country. These items included my hair dryer, books, all toiletries, shoes, towels, magazines etc. The actual price of the amount of stuff we left behind I dread to think. We filled an absolutely huge bin bag full of our belongings.

Even after all this we did not know how much our cases weighed because obviously we didn't have any scales with us on holiday! Due to this we couldn't possibly go out for a meal as we needed to save the money to pay for however much our cases would still be over.

We got to the airport and on top of having to lose a lot of our belongings we also got charged £35. As this was happening to every single person in the line (due to it being the airline at fault not us the passengers) the queue was very long and slow moving. Another thing they would only accept cash which meant each passenger that didn't have cash on them (not expecting to have to pay for something they were told they wouldn't have) had to go to the cash point, queue up then come back which meant the queue went even slower. It also made me believe even more that the whole thing was a con. However I can't really say if the con was from Monarch, Cosmos or Cancun airport itself. I've read one report of someone who's luggage came on under the allowance and then a member of staff put his foot on the weighing machine to make it go over and despite them clearly seeing him doing it they would not budge and insisted they owed them money and being in a foreign country and needing to be allowed to go home people are forced to pay.

What I will say is this problem did not happen in Cancun airport for me when flying with First Choice or for others I have known flying with other people than Monarch.

The flight was delayed several hours which they knew before they even picked us up from the hotel but for some reason decided to take us early anyway and leave us sat in the food court for hours. Again it's hard to tell whether that is Cosmos or Monarch at fault.

We eventually boarded and despite having paid for seats together were sat across an aisle. Now it is in the small print that 'seats together' can be classed as across and aisle or in front and behind of each other. This isn't exclusive to Monarch most airlines say this so I can't particularly complain in that sense but it still isn't what you would ideally want on such a long flight. Okay we could talk to each other across the aisle but it's not like we could lean against each other to get comfy/sleep. I had been able to bring one book on board with me which I read during the flight, my boyfriend however had nothing to keep him occupied. However I do feel I came off worse on the way back. I was sat on the aisle seat of the middle aisle. Next to me I had a woman very keen to see if she could use every inch of the arm rest and then some, the person in front (as always happens with me) reclined. I never recline, for two reasons - I don't feel there is any need to and secondly I think it is inconsiderate of other people. However due to having complete lack of space I would have considered reclining except I looked behind me and the woman behind was a very large lady and it would have been awful for her if I had so I didn't. She repaid my kindness by taking off her socks and rotating her feet about an inch away from my face throughout the flight. Nice. Also the good spirits are well gone since you are heading home and not on your way to holiday.

BACK HOME

We contacted Monarch about the luggage allowance kindly asking for a refund of our £35 despite the fact that this £35 would not replace our belongings we had to leave, nor our last night of our holiday being ruined. They were the rudest, most arrogant company I have ever dealt with and to this day the issue has never been solved. I eventually received a reply from them which completely denied they were at fault whatsoever and refused a refund. I contacted them again, still being polite but listing the exact events and asking them how they could claim they are not responsible when it is their company that is telling people about the increased weight allowance. I have never heard back off them regarding this matter.

VERDICT

Okay, so this review includes all aspects of the flights, and some points may have been unavoidable and beyond the airlines control - ie. Delays etc. However how they dealt with these problems didn't seem logical. Also there are certain aspects, where it is difficult for me to determine whether it is solely them at fault or other companies such as Cosmos and Cancun Airport.

However, even if we are to ignore the points where they may or may not have been at fault I would still highly warn people about the quality of this company. The planes are the worst I have ever been on; horrendous seat pitch, the worst meal I've ever had and a poor excuse of in flight entertainment. Add this to customer service where rather than the customer, the company is always right - even when they are clearly wrong!

Would I fly with Monarch again? I could say almost definitely no. I would not fly long haul with Monarch again whatsoever. If there was a fantastic deal flying short haul that was hundreds of pounds cheaper than elsewhere then I probably would but I would go into it knowing to expect the worst flight.

I have flown with many companies and this is the only flight company I have ever had any need to complain about.
I don't like writing negative reviews, I feel like I'm just going on and on moaning but it is necessary for people to be aware of what this airline really is like before spending so much money flying with them. If at all possible, use a different company.

OTHER INFO

I would just like to add I saw the premium cabin and it is of far worse quality than economy on a First Choice flight so before shelling out hundreds extra to uprgrade to this you may want to price up booking through First Choice and going economy class instead. This would definately be an option to persue if you were booking via Cosmos/Monarch as Cosmos were a completely useless company to be on holiday with too and if you need your rep you won't find one whereas First Choice were flawless from flight to rep to everything. 

...less