FLYBE customer review :  10 September 2009 by M Bubb   (Guernsey)

Re J Stephens comment below. There has been a dedicated exit for Channel Islands at Gatwick for as long as I can remember. I have been flying through Gatwick from the Channel Islands for at least 30 years!

FLYBE customer review :  10 September 2009 by G Greenwood   (UK)

I needed to get to Belfast from Cardiff for a Saturday workshop - no way of getting there just for the day so I travelled out on Friday & back Sunday. First problem was that plane which should have left Cardiff at around lunchtime was taken out of service & we waited around 4 hours for replacement. A real pain, but given food vouchers & kept reasonably well informed. Plane when it arrived was fine and was pleasantly surprised by leg room. Once we finally got going, the flight was fine - trolley service for drinks etc. which I didn't want. I agree that prices should reflect all costs up front though, and everything costing extra seems unreasonable. Total cost wasn't too bad for me (paid for anyway) but overall a mixed experience.

FLYBE customer review :  9 September 2009 by J Stephens   (UK)

I was amazed on our return to Gatwick that we were asked to hand over our boarding cards to get through Passport control - on our return from Jersey! This is the first time this has happened and if we had been told by either check-in staff or the cabin crew we would not have left them on the aircraft (we were one of many to do this). It took us twice as long to get through as we had to re-join the queue to have a form stamped and then return to the Jersey exit. The warning - don't throw away your boarding card's even though you aren't boarding anything!

FLYBE customer review :  4 September 2009 by Brian Hill   (UK)

SOU-AMS-SOU. On outbound leg, Dash-8 had a problem but we were transferred to another aircraft and left only 55 minutes late; on return leg, flight canceled, again plane had a problem but an Embraer 195 was substituted on later flight to carry both set of passengers. Such a short flight, there is really no need for catering but crew quickly got a hot drink for my wife when she had a tickly cough. Just a shame, flybe use Servisair in AMS - what a load of rubbish.

FLYBE customer review :  2 September 2009 by Peter Grey   (UK)

Absolute disgrace! Cancelled flight after waiting four hours in the airport and no help or information given at all. They don't even have the grace to offer a refund on the alternative flight arrangements.

FLYBE customer review :  30 August 2009 by Neil Bailey   (UK)

Exeter-Malaga-Exeter at a ridiculously high fare of £296 return including taxes - about £100 more than flying on a 'full price' airline like BA from Heathrow. What was absolutely infuriating was that at Exeter Airport I was informed that we would all have to pay to check in our (1 each) small bags - adding another £39 to the already high fare. Managed to get on the web whilst in Malaga and paid return baggage fees in advance €12 per bag as opposed to £13. If they were genuinely a budget airline then I suppose the £13 is acceptable but charging premium fares without premium service is not acceptable. FlyBE charged £1.60 for a can of lukewarm Cola drink! No more business from me.

FLYBE customer review :  30 August 2009 by C Pope   (UK)

SOU-LBA return and use Flybe for the summer SOU-NCE service. The ease of flying via Southampton offsets the additional costs incurred for baggage, seat reservations etc, before you finally reach the end of the online booking process. Embraer 195 aircraft new and comfortable and crew good in my experience. Recent Leeds trip on time both ways and last trip from France only delayed slightly due to storms at Nice. Why can't Flybe offer just one flight to Nice per week in the winter months?

FLYBE customer review :  17 August 2009 by S Marsh   (UK)

Just going to book a flight from Leeds to Newquay for 2 adults. Brilliant price of £32 for both return - with the "taxes and charges" £205 total. When are these companies going to be brought to heel for their ridiculous claims and advertising of low cost flights. How can I be paying £89 taxes and charges for a £2 flight. Come on, the flight isn't £2 and we all know it so stop advertising it as this and just put in the full real price.

FLYBE customer review :  11 August 2009 by J Hansford   (Jersey)

Jersey to Manchester. Why do flybe advertise their winter timetable so early and then change the time of their flights? This should not be allowed as now this has caused me considerable disruption to my travel plans and re booking of hire cars. This has also meant that I would of had to take off extra time from work.

FLYBE customer review :  10 August 2009 by M Preston   (UK)

SOU-PGF. No complaints about the flight except that cabin temp was too low (18'). I asked the FA to increase it, as the temperature at destination was 34' and such an extreme difference is unhealthy. Several people seated near me said they were cold too. About 15 minutes later it was as cold and I asked the same FA if she had turned it up. She said she had and I was sure she hadn't (when I looked at the panel in the galley later I saw that she hadn't, it was still 18'). She also told me not to shout at her - I wasn't but it was an extremely noisy aircraft (DH Q400 turboprop) and I was right by the engines and had to raise my voice somewhat, but was not shouting or rude to her. I went back to the galley and my path was blocked by the other FA who told me that I had made her colleague cry and I had to return to my seat, she was not prepared to listen to me nor let me express my opinion. Very poorly handled. She told me this was one of their best FA's - I shudder to think what the worst must be like if this girl cannot handle a reasonable complaint, I wonder what she would do if somebody was rude or shouted at her or she was under stress in an emergency situation. This leaves a very poor impression of an airline I have normally been satisfied with.

FLYBE customer review :  10 August 2009 by Donna Sanderson   (UK)

The website is extremely frustrating and there are so many poorly explained add-on costs, I thought I was going mad! I would much rather know the correct cost upfront - is that so much to ask for - what does FlyBe have to be so ashamed of with respect to its prices that it can't just reveal them straight away to potential customers? Never again.

FLYBE review :  9 August 2009 by C Gordon   (UK)

I wanted to book 2 return seats to Frankfurt from Norwich in September - we would have to change flights in Amsterdam but it would save driving down the M11 to Stansted. The return price with Flybe is £100.00 for the 2 of us - then with all the extras eg tax etc it leapt to £300! How do Flybe justify adding another £200 just so we can fly from Norwich - they are having a laugh aren't they?

FLYBE review :  30 July 2009 : by Y Palfrey   (UK)

I have been trying all day to book a simple flight to Newquay on the internet, stalling at the booking seats stage. I then tried two very expensive phone calls to the "helpline"; when I finally got through after 20 mins a time, I was passed on each time to different internet booking numbers, neither of which were operational! More hassle than it's worth and not a good sign for a calm and safe flight.

FLYBE review :  30 July 2009 : by Mary Birch   (UK)

Having travelled with flybe last October and been happy with the trip (although the flight definitely was not value for money) I had few qualms about making a trip to Alicante this summer. However, on the return flight there were problems with the aircraft which the pilot announced as passengers boarded - not very reassuring as regards flight safety! We sat on the tarmac for the next 2+hours whilst we kept being told by the pilot that we should be leaving within the next 15-20 minutes. At around 9.30 we were decanted back to the terminal and told that engineers were working on the plane. I think there was one or two announcements after that but then everything went quiet on the intercom and we became the passengers that time forgot, although still being led to believe that we would be leaving for our destination. (despite the fact that at Aberdeen airport the flight was shown as cancelled and as we later found out that some on the runways in Aberdeen were being tarmacced overnight!). At 1am (5 hours after the flight was due to take off) we were told to go to Gate 1. Now I knew through some friends who had tracked down someone at the airport information desk that proceeding to Gate 1 was not to get on a flight as some passengers might have thought but actually to collect our baggage and be directed to a coach and then transferred to a hotel where we spent the night and then went through the whole thing the next morning. Gleaning information about what was happening, when we would be picked up the next day etc. was a little like Chinese Whispers - if you happened to be on the coach when a member of the ground crew popped her head in to tell you you'd be picked up at 9am all well and good because you certainly wouldn't have found out any other way as the coach driver clearly was not aware of the arrangement nor were the hotel staff (why should they as they were not flybe employees). Next morning there was apparently breakfast laid on but many people didn't know about this and boarded the plane at around 1pm having had nothing to eat since the evening before - further exacerbated by the crew announcing there was no hot food on board because of 'hygiene' reasons! There were many families with children travelling on the flight as well as people in wheelchairs and the crew (who had been sleeping in their beds whilst the passengers re-enacted The Terminal the previous night) hadn't the courtesy to change the script when we boarded, simply apologizing for any 'inconvenience'. Yes passenger safety is important and no-one wants to fly in a plane that is faulty (although why passengers were even allowed to board it when this was a know fact is baffling). My major complaints are the lack of communication from the airline and the total lack of accountability to the passengers from whom flybe is more than happy to take money.

FLYBE review :  30 July 2009 : by Duncan Johnson   (UK)

I regularly fly Man-Milan with Flybe and it does what I need. I don't have luggage and I don't need to reserve a seat or need any food. However, to avoid the extortionate card payment fees, I got an Electron card. Trouble is Flybe refuse to accept that it is an Electron card even though its printed across the front of it. So the website won't accept it, and then I have to go through the trauma of phoning up the call centre to book instead.