Monarch Airlines > Reviews (81)

Come Fly With Monarch

I have just came back from another holiday in Florida which i must say was absolutely amazing. The holiday was purchased through Cosmos which is joint with Monarch Airlines who operate flights for people who book their holiday through Cosmos. I had a 9/10 hour flight to Florida in which i flew in economy class in a Airbus A330. I felt that the service was absolutely outstanding and i would definitely fly with them again despite a few set backs to the travel which i will touch on later.

Booking The Flight

As i was going on a full package holiday to Walt Disney World i purchased my flight alongside the holiday with cosmos. The website is very easy to navigate and has the same structure as the actual Monarch website as they are joint companies. To book the flight i rang the hotline as i always feel that giving details over the phone are more reliable than entering them on the internet. I rang the hotline and the people answering the phones were very helpful and kind. They offered a range of options and we were not kept on hold for long at all which is fantastic.

I did go through to the place where you can book the flights online and it was very simple to get to and the options were clear, and the places to type were also very clear. The pricing was very simple and there were no additional charges or set backs which i was very pleased about. The holiday confirmation came through within a couple of days, along with e-tickets for the Disney parks. I was very pleased with the process of booking the flight and felt it couldn't have been any easier.

The Plane Itself

Unfortunately ever since i have flown with Monarch i have only used one type of aircraft in their fleet. This is the A330 and is used mainly for long haul flights the company undertakes. The planes front seating area is situated behind the pilots flight deck and is the premium area. To be seated in this area you have to pay a high cost which is over £100 and to be very honest you get your food first and a personal TV screen on the back of the seat in front of you and i didn't feel the need to pay for either of those items. There is a curtain seperating the premium passengers and the economy passengers which are situated from that boundary through to the back of the plane.

The plane is in a 3-3-3 seating format until the very back of the plane when it becomes 2-3-2 for the 11 remaining rows. The seats are a navy blue colour and yellow head rests complete the seats. There are four toilets in the economy section and a further two in the premium section to house the 50 or so passengers. At the back of the plane is a small section for the cabin crew to relax and prepare the trolleys for the people on-board the aircraft.

Plane Food...I Usually Hate It!

When i travel on aircraft i take my own food on-board due to the usual dislike to the food which they offer. However i was unpredictably surprised at the food which was on offer during this long-haul flight.

There were two meals which we were offered on both the outbound and inbound flight, both being the same meals.

We had a continental breakfast which consisted of a muller yoghurt, and a blueberry muffin. There was also tea, coffee and water offered as a drink along with a carton of orange juice in the box.

The second lunch/dinner meal was a chicken breast in a tomato like sauce with cubed potatoes and vegetables. It came with a bread bun, butter, crackers, cheese, a carton of orange juice, chocolate cake and a small chocolate piece much like an after eight chocolate. Once again tea, coffee and water where offer immediately.
In between the meals there was a trolley service offered which held chocolate, crisps, and sandwich snacks along with a large range of drinks. On the long haul flights the meals are included in the price which is fantastic. All of the food offered came out at a hot temperature. Despite my usual hate for plane food i was surprised at my love for the Monarch food offerings.

Seating

On the plane you had the option to seat premium or seat economy. Due to the price difference we decided to stay economy. At the premium seats you have a 33" gap between the seats, seat back TV's and receive your meals and duty free first. All of the actual seats are the same. They are a navy blue colour with quite a comfortable material, the seats can be lounged back slightly although i decided on not doing that for the comfort of the passengers seated behind. The head rest is slight raised which sometimes made it difficult to put my head back, but luckily i took a cushion for the back of my head and would certainly recommend doing that if your going long-haul.
The economy seats are exactly the same as the premium seats but have a different colour on the head rest. The seats have 31" in between for leg room which was perfect for me as i'm only 5ft6"!

If you are flying economy with Monarch you have no seat back tv's and have a drop down one which was situated directly above my head unfortunately. The next one was six rows in front, luckily i had taken my ipad and had no interest in the entertainment on offer so no worries for me there.

The trays which are lower for eating where quite poor if im honest, they were very slanted which meant when putting drinks on them they slid a bit but luckily the air hostess was able to change the situation on that. I paid a very cheap price for the flights and due to this i was not surprised at the no TV situation unlike competing airlines. Other than that slight issue i found that the seat was fantastic for the duration of the flight.

Staff

First of all i would like to express how lovely all of the Monarch staff were throughtout the holiday. There were some Monarch staff at check in when we arrived at the airport. They checked us in, and joined in conversations with us. They even asked us which seats we would prefer out of what was left which was really thoughtful, they also made an extra effort to keep all familie together which was really family minded.

They were really kind and helpful throughout the flight. At the start they welcomed us on the plane and pointed us towards the seats which we were going to be sitting in.

I was quite nervous on the plane and they came upa dn spoke to me for a bit which made me feel more comfortable. They performed the safety video fantastic and spoke to passengers throughtout the take off which made us all feel more comfortable. Once cruising they came round and offered drinks. They were really kind and talkative to anyone and even spoke to the kids about their favourite Disney characters.

When it came to filling out forms they were first to come round with pens and offer help in filling out the form. When they came round with food and drinks they assured we wouldnt burn ourselves and basically made the flight lovely to be on. When landing the ground staff had problems parking our plane perfectly to disembark the passengers and the pilot was happy to talk to us and keep us updated over the speakers what was happening and also sharing a joke with us. He also kept us well informed throughout the flight and explain the turbulence when we had to return to our seats and place our seatbelts on. Overall it thought all of the Monarch staff were fantastic and couldn't have been better.

Safety Is Very Important..

When it comes to flying i do feel that the safety on the aircraft is really important. At the start of the flight the safety video came up on the TV screens, your own if you were a premium passenger or on the drop down screens if you were an economy passenger. The air hostesses stood in the aisle and also performed the safety actions along with showing us how to use lifejackets. The screens also had subtitles to read and someone speaking out the actions. After this the stewards assured that all of us had our seat belts on and everything was shut away in the over head lockers.

When we could get out of our seats they did an annoucement to assure that we were aware that something could fall out of the overhead lockers which i have to say has been the first airline to say so. Something else i also noticed where visible signs on where baby cots, fire extingushers were etc, which i had never saw so visible on other airlines which i thought was very customer friendly. The lifejackets where as always stored under the seats. I thought the aspect of safety on board the aircraft was fantastic.

Catering For The Disabled

I found that the facilities for the disabled persons on board the aircraft were fantastic. The staff were very helpful and aided the disabled with care. As of most airlines they allowed time before the rest of the people boarded the aircraft to board the persons with disabilities. They had staff go to get them, and helped them get to their seat. At the front of the aircraft just after the premium section there is a section specially for these guests, these seats have more space. There are many handles in the toilets which can also help to aid the disabled. When landing the staff ask for the persons needing aid to disembark the aircraft to stay in their seats until the others have left to make it easier to aid them.

Representitives After The Flight

When i landed at Sanford airport i was going to travel in a coach which we ordered along with our holiday from Monarch.

When we arrived at the airport we walked outside and our representitive was ready waiting for us outside. He was very polite and pointed us in the right direction towards the coach and made sure we had a comfortable flight. When we got to the coach the driver was lovely and offered to put our bags in the hold, and told us to sit where we would like. Throughout the journey he was pointing us in the direction of attractions which we might have wanted to visit. He also made sure that the temperature of the coach was fine for us throughout the journey, being in 37oc in a coach would have been bad if the air conditioning wasn't on!

Monarch had arranged the taxi's brilliantly and assured that groups of people were situated on coaches who had hotels in the same area. Sometimes you can be going round for ages dropping of people, but this time we were second off and the others were all going to one hotel which is fantastic. This high standard of service was also continued on the way home when we were collected from the hotel. Personally i don't feel that these people could have done any more to make our stay more welcoming.

Restrictions For Travelling

Personally i have only flew on long haul flights with Monarch so i cannot really comment on the restrictions on the short haul flights. Monarch allows 20KG per person which includes a 5KG hand luggage allowance, basically meaning 15KG per person unless you carry little hand luggage. However our hand luggage was never checked weight wise so im unsure how they can judge that. Monarch have a bag size restriction the sizes of the bags must not exceed 56cm by 45cm by 25cm.

When we checked in at Cardiff Airport in the UK they did ask to see our hand luggage and that was it. On the way back nothing was asked about the hand luggage and they simply scanned it. If you are a big family you can pool together the luggage in which you put in your suitcases but it cannot exceed 32KG which came in quite handy for us and meant that we only took two suitcases which was more suitable to carry. If you do exceed the luggage allowances you have the choice to either remove the items or pay extra. Overall i felt that the restrictions for the luggage were okay and that they were pretty easy to go by for us, although we dont take many things so it will be different for different families.

Overall - Would I Fly With Monarch Again?

Personally i would definitely fly with Monarch again. The only problem people would have is the seats with no TV's on the back and possibley the leg room as competitor airlines offer more space and also seat back TV's. However i thought that the service i received was excellent and the staff were more punctual than other airlines and came round alot more and also communicated with the passengers more. The food quality was excellent and in fact the only in flight meal i have enjoyed in a long time. The price of the flights/holiday was really cheap from Monarch and everybody was astonished at the price we paid.

Booking the flights/holiday was incredibley easy which was fantastic, and the customer service which we received could not have been any better.

The safety aspect on board the aircraft was brilliant, and i also felt that it catered for disabled people wonderfully.

Personally i felt that the service overall was fantastic and i would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a cheap holiday. This service is great for families and the staff are lovely. I cannot express how happy i was with the flight and being usually a nervous flyer i was amazed at the service. I will place the contact details for the sites below in case you would like to book a holiday with this company. I would also like to apologise for the lack of photo's on this review, i didn't take a camera on board the aircraft and therefore cannot provide you with any photos. Thanks for taking the time to read my review, it is much appreciated.

Where Can I Book Online?

If you are interested in booking online please use either one of these websites as they are joint companies, either way you will get the same holiday/price.

www.monarch.co.uk

www.cosmos.co.uk

You can also call Cosmos via this hotline 0871 902 5838 i will advise you that the calls are 10p per minute from landline but if you go into a coop travel store anywhere around the UK they will call the company for free.