Thomsonfly Airlines > Reviews > Flying the Thomson Way!

Author's product rating:   

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

Advantages:	good service from start to finish
Disadvantages:	hidden costs

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

We have recently returned from our holiday in Cyprus, and both ways we travelled with Thomsonfly Airlines which I have to say was a pretty comfortable and painless experience from start to finish. As this was part of a package I can't say how much it would cost to travel with the airline, but our whole holiday for four cost around £1500 for a week.

We travelled on a Boing 767 - 200 which seemed to have capacity for about 240 economy passengers. On both flights the aircraft was full but that didn't stop the good service. The seats are arranged with three either side of the aisle. These are very comfortable leather seats with a reasonable amount of leg room. There are only four toilets on board (one with baby changing facilities) so these were quite stretched over the two four hour flights. Although they started off quite clean, I definitely noticed that one of the loos on the return flight was getting a bit clogged up!

Checking in was very easy at both Luton and Pathos Airports. The check in staff were friendly and efficient and managed to get us all through at a fairly brisk pace. Me, my husband and our two girls got four adjoining seats on both flights - three on one side of the aisle and the other just over the way. This meant that we could easily share the looking after of our girls on the flight and swap our seats fairly easily. Thomson do give the option when you book of securing adjoining seats, but they charge £10 per person for the privilege! I have to say that I thought this was quite an outrageous charge which we did not pay - working on the assumption that no right minded airline would allow a two year old or a four year old to sit on their own on a plane whilst making their parents sit elsewhere! And of course, they didn't! They do also offer a select your seat service where you can study the aircraft in advance and decide where you want to seat. The price of this is added to the adjoining seats charge so would end up costing £22 per person - pretty pricey for a family of four I think! Still I suppose it's useful if you are a nervous traveller and have a particular position you want!

Both flights took round about four hours. Strangely, both flights were about half an hour late taking off, which was a bit annoying, but both made up the time so we landed just about the time expected. All of the cabin crew were very smart but also friendly. They were pretty much on the go all the time first selling drinks, then meals and then finally gifts. I don't know whether it's because I'm getting older, but most of the crew did seem very young!

We did opt to pay for the in-flight meals. These cost £12 per adult and £6 per child and this charge included the meals on both flights which I didn't think was too bad! We had a reasonable cooked breakfast on our way to Cyprus and meatballs and mash on the way back. Both were piping hot! The girls had similar meals but more child friendly and they were delighted to discover the chocolate bars with their meals! In fact I think that the child meals were much better value than the adults as they seemed to contain similar amounts. I definitely enjoyed both my meals and it really breaks up the time on longer journeys.

The plane also had entertainment. There were monitors suspended over the aisles along the aircraft and these were all very visible. This was particularly important when watching the safety video. You could buy headphones to watch the films but also bring your own. I didn't feel that either of the films offered - Rush Hour 3 or The Bourne Ultimatum - were really suitable family viewing though, so we didn't bother. It would have been nice if there had been a really good family film but I don't suppose that would have pleased everyone.

Overall, I felt that flying with Thomsonfly was a good experience despite my one or two minor gripes. The aircrafts were well managed and the flights were smooth - although I'm sure that's somewhat in the lap of the Gods! It feels like a professional safe airline and that's always a good thing when you're flying!