THOS COOK AIRLINES customer review :  13 October 2009 by T Knowlton (UK)

Gatwick - Puerto Plata. Decided to pay extra for Premium seats when we booked holiday and weren't disappointed. Flight outward was on time and return about an hour early. Plenty of legroom and extra wide seats with blankets and pillows if you wished to sleep. Free earphones and pamper pack. Seat back tvs, although films can only be watched on a loop and not paused. Friendly, helpful cabin crew. Hot meal and snack on each journey with free drinks.

THOS COOK AIRLINES customer review :  8 October 2009 by B Reardon (UK)

Paid £124 for extra legroom seats 9 months before travel and at check in the member of staff asked us if we had any disabilities - which led us to believe we had been allocated emergency exit seats. We weren't and spoke to the Cabin Crew Manager who admitted TCX mistake but there was nothing they could do even though some of the seats were sold that morning. He assured me it would be rectified - when we checked in for our return flight, no extra leg room seats were allocated. I have written to complain and now over 2 weeks later have not even received an acknowledgement. I emailed 3 days ago to chase and still not received a response. Poor customer service and even when they make a mistake they are unable to rectify quickly or efficiently, they just make it again!

THOS COOK AIRLINES customer review :  8 October 2009 by N Clayton (UK)

Gatwick to Rhodes return on 757/200 in economy. I have never experienced on a more uncomfortable, cramped seat on any other airline. My wife (who is only 5ft 3ins) sat with her knees jammed against the seat in front. Fortunately for us the passengers in front did not recline their seats - otherwise we would have been flattened. It was almost impossible to shift your body about to get comfortable. Cabin was hot and claustrophobic. Food OK but nothing to write home about. No complaints about cabin crew. Flight much the same on the return journey.

THOS COOK AIRLINES customer review :  5 October 2009 by T Lake (UK)

Gatwick to Vancouver return in September. 18A/B out and 30 A/B inward. Flights on time, service good but despite a decent pitch the width of the seat is quite tight, especially for a 10 hour flight. The exit seats (row 30) were very convenient to get out of your seat but with the tray and TV in the armrests the width feels even tighter. Food was acceptable but the inflight entertainment for a 10 hour flight is disgraceful - glad I had the Walkman to view a decent film or two. That said it is good value for the £400 each we paid. I would not look forward to flying again in this restricted width and would look at Premium.

THOS COOK AIRLINES customer review :  1 October 2009 by J Banks (UK)

LGW to Heraklion return. Going out was fine and check in staff and crew were quite friendly. On return, my husband and I had the aisle seats in front of the toilets that don't recline and were sat across from one another. This would not have been so bad but as every one queued for the toilet and the cabin crew had to keep going in and out of that space for stuff we couldn't speak to each other and we people kept knocking onto us to get by. It was a very uncomfortable flight. Check in staff at Heraklion sullen and almost rude - I couldn't believe they could hold on to their jobs! Having read previous reviews on this site I can only conclude that Thomas Cook do not read them or don't care.

THOS COOK AIRLINES customer review :  1 October 2009 by Trevor Lake (UK)

LGW to YVR (Vancouver) . Seats 18A/B out and 30A/B (exit) return. The legroom is pretty good but width of the seat is a bit too tight for a 10 hour journey. The exit seats (with table and TV Screen in the arms) feel even tighter in the width although it is nice to easily get out of your seat. For the price paid (just over £400 return each) it is good value for money, food was acceptable, service pretty good and time keeping on our flights was excellent. Would I travel with them again - certainly not out of choice but if on a budget then I probably would.

THOS COOK AIRLINES customer review :  1 October 2009 by S Gillen (Australia)

London Gatwick to Santorini. Theleg room (A320) was standard domestic economy size, which is fine for a 4 hour flight. Pre-purchased meal good and service was excellent. Check-in staff friendly, and didn't weigh our hand luggage. Their website restricts hand luggage to one bag only, however people were boarding with up to three bags!

THOS COOK AIRLINES customer review :  29 September 2009 by Phil Moon (UK)

Gawick to Toronto. Flew out on Thomas Cook, back with Air Transat. Family of four, quite pleased overall. Seats were not bad for room, food not too bad - more than you get with Air Transat. It's the cheapest flight we could get - I've had worse with major airlines.

THOS COOK AIRLINES customer review :  28 September 2009 by B Abbott (UK)

Newcastle to Paphos return on B757. Booked in only to be recalled 30 minutes later as we were allocated some other persons seats. Then had to return to check - in as we had not been allocated seats as requested. Seat room inadequate for a 4.5 hour flight, the meal (which was £7.70 each) was poor. There was no peace at all on the flight due to the continuous efforts of the flight attendants to sell drinks etc. The flight was on time but uncomfortable and inconvenient with a poor meal. The return flight was worse, the flight attendants made three visits selling drinks before any effort was made to supply a meals (again £7.50 each) the flight alone was over £360 each. Flight continuously interrupted by a desire by cabin crew to extract money from the passengers. What is this new desire to sell scratch cards on behalf of charity (how much goes to the charity) and then followed by cash collections. This is only the second time I have flown with Thomas Cook and will be the last. The meals are an insult, legroom and overall comfort is the worst I have ever been subjected to and the continual disturbance by the cabin crew is totally unacceptable.

THOS COOK AIRLINES customer review :  26 September 2009 by C Robinson (UK)

Family of seven flying from Newcastle to Arecife allocated four separate seating locations. Not content with discriminating against travellers who opt out of their meal sales Thomas Cook Airlines will randomly distribute people who may be travelling together unless of course all cough up an excess in the form of booking fee.

THOS COOK AIRLINES customer review :  22 September 2009 by C Wickers (UK)

Varadero to Manchester. Spent 90 mins in a queue to check in. Then boarded flight to be told entertainment not working so no tv or radio on 8 hour flight. Then overhead reading lights did not work for half the flight. But not to worry, we were compensated with 1 free drink for all of our inconvenience. Then on an overnight flight with family on board the cabin crew felt it necessary to spend 90 mins selling duty free (until 2.30am) talking loudly and passing things from one another over the heads of passengers across the aisles. Consequently the lights went out for a total of 1 hour for us to get some sleep. At one point I removed my eye mask and ear plugs to see why I still couldn't rest, to find 7 cabin crew members talking loudly across the aisles within a 2 metre radius. Not sure what the difference between budget and charter airlines is anymore since they both charge extortionate amounts for drinks and snacks.

THOS COOK AIRLINES customer review :  19 September 2009 by G Kurn (UK)

Gatwick - Hurghada. A two and a half hour delay on the outward journey and a forty minute delay on the return all down to trouble on earlier flights. This seems to be the norm for this airline. The legroom is very poor for a flight of over five hours. We paid extra for meals, which were handed out freely to everyone on the return. I will give them 2 out of 10 for getting us back on the ground.

THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  17 September 2009 by G Dawson (UK)

It would appear Thomas Cook Airlines have a nasty habit of substituting long haul aircraft with short haul ones at the last minute ie. once they have your money. I am travelling to Holguin from Manchester later this month and have been informed that my return flight will not be on a long but a short haul aircraft. They give the reason as being due to scheduled servicing. As I only booked the holiday 10 weeks prior to departure I am sure they new these details at that time and should have informed me then which would have given me the opportunity to book different dates. Funny how they inform you of the changes eight weeks prior to departure which means you've paid in full, cannot get a refund or change your date of travel without incurring extra cost or get compensation because they say it is not a significant change to the holiday.

THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  17 September 2009 by L Lamb (UK)

Thomas Cook Airlines Glasgow to Toronto and back. No premium cabin on flights from Glasgow, but seats roomy. Booked in advance and had seats near the front of plane, but D,E and F is the side with more of a view of the toilet and the galley. Lights not dimmed early enough on overnight flight. PA system occasionally making horrendous whine. Food poor on outward leg, better on return. Long queue at check-in in Toronto.

THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  15 September 2009 by P Dawson (UK)

Glasgow to Fuertaventura. Paid £24 extra for seats together, and whilst we were allocated seats across the aisle from each other, our main problem was we were put in row 30, in front of the toilets. If you end up in either row 30 or 40, be prepared for a long excruciating flight as the seats don't recline and the legroom is even more restricted than the normal seats. Will never fly Thomas Cook again, were told we couldn't change our seat allocation as we hadn't bought a meal! Stewardess was sympathetic and said they had complaints on every flight and encouraged us to complain to Thomas Cook.