THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  10 August 2009 by James Smith (UK)

Tenerife to Glasgow. We are a middle-aged-couple with an 84 year old parent and we had enjoyed a great flight out, but our return trip was horrendous. Our allocated seats (all 3 together) were in front of the mid-cabin toilets and the seats couldn't recline, though those in front of us did. I am the tallest of the three of us at 5' 4" and none of us are height/weight/disproportionate so for 4.5 hours we were sitting diagonally across our seats trying to create sufficient legroom. The cabin crew agreed that that arrangement was totally unfair, and that they make reports after every sector about complaints similar to this one but nothing changes - and that it was replicated in the adjacent seats across from us, and also at the rear of the plane where there were rear-cabin toilets. Thomas Cook directors really should be obliged to take a trip on any of those 12 seats to experience the pain and discomfort they are foisting onto fare-paying passengers like us. The crazy thing is, we have booked for Manchester to Cuba for January 2010 but have optimistically paid for TC Premium upgrades both ways. Please let it be worth it for the 10 hour journey each way.

THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  10 August 2009 by Ann Long (UK)

Manchester-Toronto return, Boeing 757. Check in speedy and we arrived an hour early on the outward journey and 45 minutes early on the return. The seats and leg room are excellent, the food was good, crew friendly and attentive, extra drinks could be requested at any time.

THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  31 July 2009 by Carol Adamson (UK)

Premium Class Gatwick to Cuba - very disappointed in the Premium class service. We were the first to check in (know this as they had to phone to get the checkout opened) and were told that we were lucky as they only had 2 seats together left, I find this strange as we had been told both by our travel agents and customer services that you cannot book specific seats in Premium, but we were being told by the check in operator that they had all been pre booked. This to my mind is a problem, if you fly economy you can book specific seats but when you pay more for premium you can't - this just does not seem right. We did in the end get seats in the first row so were happy with that. The pitch is the same as economy but the seats are a bit wider, however we did not receive the personal care kit that is mentioned in the brochure and the food was no better than economy - on the return flight we did not get the newspapers that we were expecting and there was no drink on boarding. Also the cabin crew on the return flight were less attentive and seemed to want to just get everyone fed, and off to sleep. We are going to Kenya in February and were intending booking premium for this but now we are not really sure if it is worth the extra expense, although the higher luggage allowance is useful. Overall we were a bit disappointed.

THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  31 July 2009 by C Harvey (UK)

Newcastle to Dalaman. I was surprised how friendly and helpful the staff were and the flight was not half as bad as I imagined. I am a much larger lady and cringed at the thought of not being able to fit in the seat. I did not have tons of room but it was ok and certainly nothing to complain about. My husband is 6/3 and he rated the comfort as a 8/10. We did not pay for extra leg room and sat in economy on a 757-200. I wanted to give some reassurance that not everyone has a bad experience. I have booked with Thomas Cook again.

THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  27 July 2009 by J O Leary (UK)

Montego bay to Gatwick July 20th. Pre booked and paid for seats on journey out were not on system and again not on system on this flight. This is second year in row this has happened. However check in staff managed to sit my wife and myself together after heated exchanges. Seats broken on both journeys, this one in upright position for nine and a half hours facing a tv screen that did not work. Cabin crew polite and friendly but rushed everything through in record time so they could dim lights and sit down and chat. Entertainment tv was same as coming out so not worth swapping seats to view our one working screen. Cabin temp was hot most of journey and food poor. Drink prices expensive. Worst flight ever and will never use Thomas Cook Airlines again.

THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  24 July 2009 by Sandra Staas (USA)

I wish I had discovered this site back in February of this year. I booked and paid for Thomas Cook flights from Glasgow to Cyprus, return. Received an email confirming this reservation. I also received documents in the mail confirming this reservation. I then procured accommodation in Cyprus. I reside in the United States and duly made transatlantic reservations centred around the dates of the Cyprus trip. Quite looking forward I was to my trip to Glasgow to see family and friends, and my trip to Cyprus. Well, I tried logging onto my itinerary on the Thomas Cook website and was dismayed to discover that they did not recognize the booking number! I called Thomas Cook, and after several attempts, actually finally spoke to someone. She put me on hold and eventually got back to me. She informed me in such a bright and cheery way that they had cancelled my reservations! When I asked why she told me it was because I am not a resident of the United Kingdom! I told her it didn't bother them that I wasn't a resident when it came to taking the money out of my credit card. I did get a refund, by the way. However, Thomas Cook's way of doing business is not professional at all. They should state upfront that you have to be a resident of the UK. They knew where I reside for, as I've already stated, they sent me confirmation of the flights by mail. Not only that, the only way I found out that they had cancelled my reservations is because I called them. My whole trip was ruined in the end. I've emailed them to complain, but never receive any response.

THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  22 July 2009 by D Brooks (UK)

Gatwick to Vancouver and had booked extra leg room seats. On boarding the plane we found we had been allocated standard seats. I complained immediately to the cabin staff who said that due to a change of plane we had been allocated the incorrect seats. There was nothing they could do or wanted to do. We had a very uncomfortable flight. the experience was awful. On our return flight we paid for premium seats but found these to be inferior to other premium service we had experienced on other airlines. Minimal choice of films, tiny seat back screens which were dirty; as were the trays. We shall not be flying with Thomas Cook again and we are awaiting a refund of monies paid for the extra leg room.

THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  19 July 2009 by R Firmin (UK)

Premium class to Sanford return. The seats in Premium Class were comfortable with good legroom. The entertainment (not AVOD) was more than sufficient with up to date films and tv programmes. The crew were excellent, friendly and attentive. The food was good and there was a frequent drinks service (you could request more if you needed it). I would certainly fly with TCA again, but would pay the extra for premium class rather than travel economy. Judging by the space available in the other cabin, it would be worth it.

THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  16 July 2009 by J Collins (UK)

We haven't even been yet and I would not go with them again. Flight to Cuba and they have altered the time and replaced it with a short haul aircraft - so no seat back TV and 29" seat pitch - for 11 hours! They will change us to another week - if we pay, but strangely the week before and after are all changed to a short haul aircraft in terms of facilities. Also, cannot cancel and get the money back - as it is 'not their fault they've had to change the aircraft'. Strangely I don't think that it is mine either and with two people over 6' I'm not looking forward to it.

THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  16 July 2009 by A Leighton (UK)

Gatwick-Holguin return. Paid £200 extra for girlfriend and myself to fly Premier class and found Thomas Cook service less than mediocre! The extra space seats we paid for seemed cramped, problems watching the entertainment going out and a choice of three films coming back - two of which were from the outbound trip, as there was now problems with the movies on this trip as well. The staff did seem quite helpful although this didn't make up for uncomfortable seats, poor entertainment.

THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  15 July 2009 by M Lim (Canada)

London Gatwick to Toronto - the flight was to have taken off from Gatwick at 12-30pm London time. When we got to the airport at 9-00am we were told that there was a 3-hour delay on the flight. When all was said and done, we finally took off at around 6-00pm London time, a total delay of 5.5 hours. Our package was arranged through Travelocity who had my e-mail contact address, yet there was no attempt to send me an e-mail to advise of the initial delay. Once on board, we were "served" by the most unfriendly and arrogant crew. Many of the passengers were complaining and the flight manager was openly defensive - in fact almost aggressive - with them. A330 cabin overhead lights did not work, many of the seats were broken, as were many of the individual seat back screens. The crew obviously did not care about how passengers felt. Despite the 5.5hr delay, even a can of Pepsi was not complimentary; they wanted 90p for it! A small cup of coffee was GBP2. One thing is certain - we will never again fly Thomas Cook Airline.

THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  15 July 2009 by Keith Walters (Canada)

Unfortunately Air Transat bumped me to Thomas Cook Airline, so all I can deal with is booking through Air Transat which went fine. We were 3 hours late leaving Toronto to Manchester UK, (if held over in Pearson be sure to use the Executive Lounge offered at $30, free bar and meals, comfortable chairs and big screen TV's). I had asked for the best available seat, I was early checking in and got stuck at the seat that would not recline (the flight attendant moved me right back and I had fully 3 seats to myself - perhaps it was the check in sense of humour to give me the worst seat. Luggage arrived in one piece! Coming back, the check in staff were positively rude and in no way compromising with excess baggage ($20 per kilo overweight) others were checking in with less baggage but this woman was all about "zero tolerance". So though my review is more a knock of Thomas Cook, you too could be shared with this airline by Air Transat - and should know what to expect.

THOS COOK AIRLINES review :  15 July 2009 by F Craig (UK)

Manchester to Las Vegas return in economy cabin, A330 on both flights. Legroom excellent for a charter airline although seats could have been a bit wider. Cabin service fine but the drinks and snacks are a rip off, best to take snacks with you. The food is the only big issue I have with Thomas Cook long haul service. It's just not up to the quality you would get on BA or bmi. Inflight entertainment satisfactory, okay movie selection and the camera view function from the plane was good. Paid extra to have 20kg of luggage per person, something which most other airlines automatically give you - why not Thomas Cook? I would have preferred to fly from Glasgow as I stay in Scotland but the price from Manchester was cheaper. Overall I was pleasantly surprised with the Thomas Cook service and would consider flying long haul with them again as they offer good value for money.