MONARCH AIRLINES   Passenger Reviews and Customer Trip Reports

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MONARCH AIRLINES customer review :  19 March 2010 by C Adams   (UK)

Gatwick to Grenada/Tobago. Delayed for 24hrs going out and delayed 24 hrs returning, our first and last experience of Monarch we booked premium thinking it would be a reasonable service. Monarch Airlines idea of customer service is a joke, no one to inform you what’s going on during the delays, our seats double booked, nobody is interested. We wrote to Monarch and are still waiting on a reply, not holding our breath. Best advice I can give is avoid them vote with your feet, go else where.

MONARCH AIRLINES customer review :  16 March 2010 by A Maynard   (UK)

MAN-Las Palmas-MAN on A321. Checked in online, but there was no baggage drop desk open at Manchester, so had to queue anyway to check bag in (what's the point of on line check in?). As the standard seats are so cramped (28"?) at over 6' tall I'm almost forced to shell out £25 each way for extra leg room seats, which were okay and reasonably comfy. Pre paid for hot meals that were pretty ropey - served in a rolled up bit of cardboard, and not worth it. Headsets flogged on the way out, but on the 4 hr flight only 2 half hour comedy programmes were shown. No IFE shown at all on the return. Only one drinks service provided, but at their prices, can't say I'm bothered. The flights were on time, crew pleasant enough. Would not say they were cheap or low cost, but reliable outfit. Just be careful with the "extras".

MONARCH AIRLINES customer review :  15 March 2010 by John Nelson   (UK)

Manchester to Faro return. Both flights extremely good with efficient and happy crews. Pre- paid meals were of good quality for airline food, especially the outbound breakfast. Only criticism is that meals are no longer served on trays - to go back to this would give them a plus over some others and would probably sell more meals in advance. We paid for extra legroom seats which were better than expected. Aircraft very clean.

MONARCH AIRLINES customer review :  7 March 2010 by Liam Johnson   (Germany)

Manchester-Luxor. The seats are so narrow -nobody looked comfortable since they had to lean one way or the other to avoid jamming shoulders with the person next to them. On the way back, we sat in the rear middle row and couldn't even raise the arm rests. I could stomach this for a 2 hour European flight, but 6 hours is way too much. The breakfast on the way out was OK, but the "Bangers and Mash" on the way back was the worst thing I have tasted since school days. Cheapest reconstituted mash and cheapest possible pork sausages, although the gravy was passable. Living outside the UK, I have to travel a fair bit. This is the worst airline I have ever used, by a long shot.

MONARCH AIRLINES customer review :  26 February 2010 by J Goodfellow   (UK)

Gatwick-Maldives. Managed rating of 1 because we only had I hour delay on both flights, which was good compared to a lot of reviews. We travelled on an A330 which was a nightmare. Cramped tight seats, no leg room. No wonder the staff mentioned DVT before we took off to cover themselves. Could not walk across the plane from side to side (no room). Could not walk normally down the aisle, had to walk sideways (no room). Some staff grumpy. Would just about manage a 4 hour flight on this plane but not long distance. Never ever again.

MONARCH AIRLINES customer review :  23 February 2010 by Chris Roe   (UK)

Manchester to Las Palmas in Row 1 so no one in front of us. After reading comments about seat width, I was concerned about comfort, especially as I'm not skinny. However, the seats were perfectly comfortable, flights were on time, the crew were helpful and the level of inflight service was good. My only criticism is that the pre-paid hot meal was not very nice and I don't like the fact that it no longer comes on a tray.

MONARCH AIRLINES customer review :  22 February 2010 by E Timms   (UK)

Birmingham to Malaga return. Fast bag drop very good. Extra leg room seats comfortable and I was pleased to see that they said passengers could only move into them if they paid the extra. Aircraft clean and bright. Cabin crew friendly, good information from flight deck. Flights on time, but long wait as usual at Birmingham for baggage.

MONARCH AIRLINES customer review :  18 February 2010 by C Walling   (UK)

Manchester-Arrecife. Flight due to arrive in Lanzarote at 1215hrs, but diverted to Fuerteventura due to problem with wing-flaps. After Emergency Landing, passengers were disembarked and waited 2hrs in Terminal Building while repairs were carried out. No information given as to likely length of delay. Re-boarded only to be told there would be further delay because the aircraft had not been re-fuelled (surely this should have been done while pax. were waiting?). Took off for Arrecife, but aircraft had to return to Fuerteventura when it was discovered that there was a recurring problem with the wing flaps. Second Emergency Landing and several distressed/anxious passengers. After a further wait, told to leave aircraft and collect baggage, but no information regarding what would happen thereafter. Baggage did not appear for 35mins even though there were no other flights arriving. Eventually learned (by word of mouth) that we were going to be transferred by ferry from Fuerteventura to Lanzarote. After 1 hr Coach journey, arrived at Ferry Terminal only to see Ferry pulling away - had to wait 45mins until slower and older vessel arrived. Crossing took 30mins whereas the more spacious one we missed would have taken only 12mins. Eventually got to destination 9hrs late and the only positive from all this is that they got us down safely. Having said that, the lack of information was appalling and nobody offered passengers so much as a drink of water during the entire ordeal. Cabin crew seemed more interested in getting passengers off their hands as they were running 'out of hours' and no doubt had a nice comfortable Hotel to get to. Although we had a reasonable return journey, I would not recommend Monarch to fly with and would certainly not rate their customer care of passengers in what were very trying circumstances.

MONARCH AIRLINES customer review :  14 February 2010 by T Lockwood   (UK )

Manchester-Sharm el Sheik return. It was the worst flight we have been on. The seats were the narrowest I have sat in. The leg room was ridiculous and I am only 5ft2". The poor guy next to me was literally wedged in. We paid for the in flight meal as this usually gets you a seat nearer the front. Only to find that everyone on the flight was given a meal, booked or not. When it arrived it was revolting. On the way out the plane was freezing cold. We will never book a holiday using Monarch again. The only plus was the staff who were efficient and helpful.

MONARCH AIRLINES customer review :  12 February 2010 by M Glinski   (Switzerland)

Basel-Mombasa. Outbound delayed 1.5hr, return 21hrs. Legroom not as bad as expected, but seats much narrower then average. Meal served a full 3 hours into the flight, after all the sales of drinks and duty free. Second meal (breakfast) came only 2 hours after. Quality of food was OK, but complimentary drinks insufficient (one cup of tea or coffee with the meal). Exchange rates for currencies were downright robbery. A Swiss couple only had a 50 CHF note and wanted a single can of Pepsi. Monarch calculated the exchange rate (CHF/EUR) at 0.5 (official at that time was 0.66) and gave back the change in EUR. In result, that calculated as 15 CHF (or 10 EUR) for an airplane sized can of drink. Half of the passengers were Swiss customers paying in CHF, so this could have been arranged much better (but obviously it was not the intention). Airplane clean and modern, but pretty much everything else was below standard you'd expect on a long haul flight. Price was low, but all things considered, probably still too much for what was offered.

MONARCH AIRLINES customer review :  9 February 2010 by J Newbury   (UK)

First time with Monarch and pleasantly surprised. Extra legroom seat on outbound flight was at front of block of seats by door - on return in front cabin, wider seats, plenty of room to next seat row - better than BA European Club Class. Very good value at £35 each way - highly recommended. Meal of sausage and mash average, but edible and hot. Both aircraft (A300s) were in good order internally, everything appeared to work. Cabin crew were efficient and pleasant.