September11 From United States of America, joined May 2004, 3623 posts, RR: 23 Reply 11, posted (9 years 2 weeks 4 days 18 hours ago) and read 3105 times:
I don't know for sure if Hooters is a CHARTER airline or not.
Hirnie From Germany, joined May 2004, 582 posts, RR: 1 Reply 12, posted (9 years 2 weeks 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 3095 times:
Until they were integrated into Thomas Cook it was CONDOR. Well they did perform good as well as "Thomas Cook powered by Condor". But they put in new seats and those were uncomfortable...
Hope to see Condor again in its own colors and not as an LCC !!!
Travelagent From Germany, joined Mar 2004, 89 posts, RR: 2 Reply 15, posted (9 years 2 weeks 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 3067 times:
For me it is for sure LTU. They have their base here in Dusseldorf and because I am a kind of "local patriot" I choose them for my charter flights whenever possible.
Born to fly! It's more than a passion - it's a yearning!! At home in DUS(Dusseldorf)!
Jerry1011 From United Kingdom, joined May 2004, 57 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (9 years 2 weeks 2 days ago) and read 3050 times:
Having flown the majority of Western European Charter Carriers including most of the British ones, I would say that the answer to the original question - ie which one's the best - depends entirely upon the crew and not really such things as catering, seat pitch, aircraft flown etc. On this front, they're all much the same (ie cheap and nasty sometimes!).
Any airline whose material product is excellent can be let down by condescending, snooty and arrogant crew members in much the same way as sitting amongst a 29" seat pitch being served a Spartan and indigestible meal after a six hour delay can be redeemed by a crew who act courteously, professionally and in a friendly manner. In other words, a crew that is customer focused and treats its customers as it would wish to be treated is the most important element of any flight in my opinion.
I have always found Air 2000/First Choice Airways quite good on this front. Airtours/My Travel on the other hand have given me some bad experiences as despite providing a state-of-the-art aircraft and OK food, they've been badly let down by crew members in whose care I quite frankly wouldn't feel comfortable leaving a pet gerbil!
I have noticed that many charter carriers seem to lack the level of experienced (OK, so I mean old crew here) staff which can be found amongst scheduled carriers - particularly US carriers and good old BA. As a consequence, manners and etiquette can sometimes be missing. One exception to this which I have found is Monarch in the UK. Terrible seat pitch, poor food when I've used them, but always an OK crew.
Maybe it's just me.... I'm getting old and resentful of my missing youth.... or maybe I just prefer to be treated as a fare paying customer rather than an item sent along to disrupt someone's party in the Galley and to up their commission levels from duty-free and beverage sales.
Worldoftui From Sweden, joined Aug 2007, 0 posts, RR: 0 Reply 19, posted (9 years 1 week 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 3015 times:
Sammyhostie
great you love BY, but delays more often than not are not the fault of the airline!
I get very annoyed but still smile when delays bcos LGW ATC / Slots/late pax etc... all get blamed on us and our airline.
True Sammyhostie. A valid point. But the way that the airline is run also has an impact on punctuality too. As I understand it, Britannia is one of the few charter airlines to have stand-by aircraft even due the peak months.
But punctuality is not the main reason that they are my preferred airline. I was really referring to the overall travel experience with them. Check-in, IFE, Service and Food/bev service. Have found them superior to the competition.
Although this year, not happy to hear they have joined the rest and started charging for headsets
CKT523 From United Kingdom, joined May 2004, 161 posts, RR: 0 Reply 22, posted (8 years 12 months 20 hours ago) and read 2931 times:
In my experience, the best ever charter carrier was Caledonian, I always flew them every year to ALC and they were faultless. Spotless a/c, including the L-1011, spotless crew and excellent service with great food. As soon as BA sold them to Inspirations, the service went bad, the a/c went ropey and they retired the 757 in favour of the A320, and I went off them.
In terms of the WORST charter flight, it has to MON. I flew them on A300-600R G-MAJS from LGW to ALC and it was awful. Seats were uncomfortable, cabin smelt funny, food was terrible and the crew weren't very nice either. The seats were the old grey/blue ones with horizontal lines and a rubber headrest cover, and we were right at the back of the bus where the seats went 2-3-2.Very cramped.wouldn't like to do anything longer than 2 hours on one unless they have been drastically overhauled.
LHRman From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2004, 398 posts, RR: 6 Reply 24, posted (8 years 12 months 5 hours ago) and read 2930 times:
Well, I've tried many charter airlines, including the greats Monarch, Brittania, Sabre????. But my absolute favourite is.................................
I flew them to Skiathos and they simply had everything, friendly staff, communicative pilots and very nice seats! (BTW: im not sure if communicative is a word so please don't have a go about it)! I will fly them hopefully to Innsbruck when I go and when I return to Skiathos. But I am trying out TCX in the summer so you will find out who are better when I do my trip report!
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