I flew with Thompsonfly from Coventry to Venice in April 2004. I booked over the internet which was simple and trouble free. You do not receive tickets or any confirmation through the post, so it is important to print off the confirmation e-mail, or at least make a note of the reference number.
Without exception all the staff were friendly, cheerful, and helpful, including the car park attendants, the check-in staff at both ends, and the cabin crew.
This is a new passenger service from Coventry Airport catering exclusively for Thomsonfly. When I travelled it had only been operating for two weeks. There were a few teething troubles, but nothing major and I would definitely fly with them again.
If you are leaving your car at the airport, give yourself plenty of time to park the car and get to the terminal. There is a discount
if you book parking in advance, which we did. They said they would send directions, but in fact they only sent a receipt which arrived the day before we flew, so it was too late to do anything about it. The airport is well signposted, but the signposting for the car-park is non-existent until you are almost on top of it. We wasted quite a lot of time driving round before we found the car park. But once there, the transfer to the terminal went smoothly. The shuttle bus runs regularly. One arrived as we were unloading the suitcases, and the driver was happy to wait for us. It is about a 20 minute ride from the car park to the terminal building.
The terminal is a temporary building. There is a cafe and shop, but they are in another building separate from the departure area. Once you have gone through check-in to the other side, you cannot come back out. So if you have time to kill, do what we did - just check your bags in, and then come straight back out until nearer to your departure time, because once you have gone through there are very few facilities.
Having said that, the fact that it is such a small terminal, with only a few flights, meant that there were none of the crowds and hassle of the larger airports. Also, it is great for people who have restricted mobility, because the distances to walk are very short. They also have wheelchairs for people who need them, and offer passenger assistance free of charge, although it would be a good idea to book this in advance.
I am disabled and like to sit at the bulkhead, for the bit of extra space to move my legs. I was surprised to learn that I had to pay extra (£5 each way) as most airlines reserve these seats for disabed passengers and do not charge for this service. My partner and I were allocated row 2 D&E - I queried this and was told that there was no row 1, so these were bulkhead seats. In fact, when we arrived we discovered that there was a Row 1 on our side of the plane (though not on the other side). As it turned out the plane was not full, and we were able to change the seats for bulkhead seats at check-in. Both the check-in staff and the cabin crew were very apologetic for the mix up.
The flight out was on time and uneventful. The plane was clean, the staff very cheerful and helpful. Food was not included in the cost of the flight - but at £68 for a return flight to Venice at Easter, I was quite happy about that - I rarely eat the stuff that passes for food on airlines anyway. We took our own snacks and drinks, but there are food and drinks available for purchase during the flight if you wish.
On the way back there was a two hour delay. This was due to a technical problem with the plane at Coventry and a consequent delay until another plane could be sent out for us. I was feeling unwell at the airport on our return and three separate members of staff enquired if I was alright and if there was anything they could do for me.
There was no information on the screens about the delay, so we did have to keep asking at the desk, but our queries were dealt with politely and efficiently by the check-in staff. Once on board, the pilot apologised straight away for the delay and explained what the problem had been.
In short, a low cost, no frills airline which gave good value and excellent service.
I've re-rated... message for you in your guestbook!
pinseyt 27.04.2004 14:04
Thanks for the review as I was thinking about flying with Thomsonfly but was put off by the fact that it has only started flying from Coventry and all the publicity in the local press about the airport (I think it is used exclusively by Thomsonfly?!) not having planning permission. Sounds like you had a good experience with them though so I might give them a go if I need a cheap break. Linz
AnitaM 27.04.2004 08:40
I've not heard of these but as I'm only an hour away from Coventry they could be worth checking out.
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Advantages: Excellent flight prices and good customer service, wide range of european destinations, good leg room Disadvantages: Poor terminal facilities, discriminatory?
sue.51 01.08.2004 (01.08.2004)
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Review of Thompsonfly
Advantages: Excellent flight prices and good customer service, wide range of european destinations, good leg room Disadvantages: Poor terminal facilities, discriminatory?
sue.51 01.08.2004 (01.08.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Thompsonfly
Apr 26th, 2004
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