Monarch Airlines > Reviews > FLY MONARCH

Author's product rating:   

Food Quality	Excellent
Customer Service	Friendly and attentive
Punctuality	Good
Space	Comfortable
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	excellent service, staff, food
Disadvantages:	hard to get out of seats when everybody's food trays are down

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Well, my holiday to Zakynthos (Zante) has given me plenty to write about over the next few days! After telling you about my holiday as a whole, it's time to give the airline that got me there and brought me back, the Simmer treatment... And since they insisted on bringing me back, my review may not be too good! ;o)

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CHECKING IN & BOARDING

Where the excitement and anticipation begins for anybody about to jet off on their holidays!! Since my family has developed a policy of getting to the airport extremely early, we were treated to an brilliantly short check-in queue at Manchester Airport. But, I sincerely doubt that this lasted for very long.

Monarch insist on having numerous desks, all labelled as check-in for 'All Monarch Flights'. I'd imagine that as the day goes on, this could get extremely inconvenient, especially for anybody who suffers from traffic delays, and arrives at the airport having to queue behind people not scheduled to set off for another two hours!! But, as I say, this wasn't any problem for me, because we got there so early and there were only two other people in front of us.

Monarch make sure that boarding their planes is very quick and efficient. To ensure that there are not crowds of people pushing each other out of the way for a seat, they board by seat number. Boarding starts with two opposite ends of the plane to avoid 'congestion' on the plane!! Other seat numbers are called when the others are seated.

Checking in and boarding was a little more hectic at Zakynthos Airport, but this is no real fault of Monarch. To be perfectly honest, Zakynthos Airport is about the size of a chicken shed, so we expected it to be disorganised. The pathetic number of check-in desks caused huge queues, but you can't fault the staff at the check-in desks, who made sure that the process was quick and painless, resulting in the queues moving surprisingly quickly.

I got the impression that Monarch wanted us out of the small and cramped airport as quickly as possible, and everybody boarded at the same time. Different parties' arrivals onto the plane was staggered slightly due to the different buses which were taking us to the plane, but there were still queues to board.

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COMFORT

Our plane for both journies was a Boeing 757, and it can't be faulted for comfort. The seats were absolutely fine.

Leg room isn't usually a problem for me, but my Dad informs me that his trip was a lot more comfortable than last year, when we flied with Air 2000 for our holiday to Kos. So, there was apparently enough leg room for him!

One problem that I encountered was that, every little movement from behind, whether it be moving the tray down, or getting out the in-flight magazine, resulted in my own chair being jerked. I admit that there is probably little that can be done about this ~ but it did start to get annoying after a while. (Especially when the family behind me were changing seats and going to the toilet every five minutes!!)

Another problem was that, once the meals are served and the trays are down, it's hard to get through to the aisle to go to the toilet. I think that this could be slightly dangerous in case of an emergency, if people cannot get out of their seats because their trays are down. Hopefully this problem will be rectified in the future, and more room will be given for this reason.

But, overall, I found my flights generally comfortable and enjoyable.

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THE STAFF

I've heard some bad reviews on the friendliness and general attitudes of the staff on Monarch Airlines. I'm sorry - but I have to disagree!

I can't say a thing wrong about the staff! For both flights, they were extremely pleasant and helpful. They welcomed us with smiles as we boarded the plane, and maintained this as the flight continued.

The captain kept us informed throughout both flights and made those of us who have a fear of flying feel safe!!

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THE FOOD

Why is it that so many look down on airline food? I know I probably haven't travelled as much as some of you, so I might have missed out on some 'bad experiences', but I have no problem with them (unlike Princess Micheal!!!)

Our outward flight was a morning one, so we were served with a delicious full English breakfast. Or so I've heard - I slept through half the flight and missed my meal! My Mum and Dad tell me it was very nice though - sausages, beans and hash browns were served, as well as a small sandwich, orange juice or tea/coffee.

Luckily, on my flight home, I managed to stay awake for the duration, so I can tell you more about the second lot of food!

Our meal was a three course one... or as close as you can get to that on a plane. In one tray was a small salad for a starter, and a roast dinner for the main course! There was a small amount of chicken (I was miffed about everybody else getting more than me!), small cubed bits of potato, as well as peas and carrots.

The airline also serves vegetarian meals if you inform them in advance - the veggies on board were called and given their own special meals.

The meals are served in small plastic trays - be careful as they're hot at first.

The staff went around the plane and offered cheapo orange juice to the children, which tasted disgusting, and then went around to give more to the adults who preferred orange to tea/coffee. Another nice part was when the staff went around again to give us top ups!!

Meals are served about an hour after take-off.

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IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

My favourite part of the whole flight! The flight was long enough to show a movie, but instead they gave us a group of sitcoms/comedy to pass the time during both flights.

You can rent headphones for £1 - I thought that this was pretty reasonable. On a previous flight with Air 2000, we had to pay £3 to buy a set, or pay £1 for an adaptor to use our own! I don't think there is any way to use your own with Monarch, but £1 isn't bad for renting a pair is it?

The TV shows which we were given included My Family, The Simpsons, Porridge, One Foot In the Grave and An Audience With Kylie Minogue!!

There were also a selection of radio channels on offer - ranging from rock, pop and dance. They're played on a loop - and so eventually, you'll just hear the same songs over and over again. You can change the channels using a controller in your arm rest.

The flight is too cheap to expect TV screens in the seat infront, but they are attached to the ceiling at various points along the flight.

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SAFETY

On the way a safety video was played on all of the TV screens, while the staff demonstrated the safety procedures at various points along the plane. On the way back, the safety wasn't really given much attention! No video was shown, and a single staff member at the front of the plane showed us what to do (I couldn't even see her!!).

The threat of DVT has been noticed, and a short video is played in which various exercises are described. Unfortunately there is no picture, and only sound. You can only hear how to stop the threat by paying £1 for a headset...

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GENERAL FACILITIES

It's not something which I usually pay much attention to - but there must have been about four or five toilets on board, and all were operational. They were pretty standard - not very big. Obviously they got less pleasant as the flight went on, but it was so short that the staff didn't really bother to clean them.

I heard the staff going into a frenzy when they heard about somebody smoking in the toilets, and reminded us that this wasn't allowed several times! I'm not sure if they found out who was doing it, but I did hear the staff discussing fines!!

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OTHER STUFF

Both flights were very punctual - we only had one delay of 20 minutes on the way back.

One last point which I thought I would bring up. I suffer from my ears hurting (a lot!) as soon as the plane starts to descend. I felt that it would have been nice for the captain to inform us all five minutes before that we would soon be going down, so those who do suffer could have a sweet or some chewing gum ready! Once I realised we were going down, it was too late!

Also - smoking is not allowed on any of Monarch's flights, and don't try smoking in the toilets, they discuss fines!!

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THE END

Monarch is quite a decent airline. I don't have much experience with flying with many other airlines, but I think that the staff were friendly enough, the food was nice, and the facilities were good! All good enough to let me have a pleasant flight to Zakynthos, and a pleasant flight back!

~Daniel