Thomas Cook Airlines Customer Reviews and Passenger Trip Reports

Flew back from Preveza (Greece) to Gatwick on Sun 10th June. Plane full of families with children. During the flight it was announced we would be flying to Manchester with no explanation given. I don't think the flight crew knew why. We were told we would be met by a Thomas Cook representative and a coach would be waiting to take us to Gatwick. Someone eventually found out that due technical difficulties with another plane they needed our plane in Manchester. I don't think that is acceptable. It was chaos with no apology or proper explanation. I ended up hiring a car to take the children home - otherwise they would have had to endure another 4 hour coach journey then 3 hours in the car. My husband got a train to London - on to Gatwick to pick up our car. The inflight entertainment - main film also did not work.

Check-in at Manchester airport was horrendous, the queue at least an hour in length. Seat pitch outbound was tight but acceptable. Staff service was ok. The highlight of the flight was the meal - delicious, despite there not being a child's meal my son enjoyed his beef stew. Return flight from Bodrum to Manchester was worse, 40 minutes before landing the captain announced we were being diverted to West Midlands because of an 'operational emergency'. The seat pitch was awful, there was a black box under the seat in front of me, giving me even less space. My partner is 6ft 4ins and he could barely fit into the seat. Again the food was good. Staff were efficient and friendly - the smiles quickly disappeared when the captain announced the flight diversion.

Flew from Tenerife to London Gatwick on 8th June 2012. Took nearly an hour to check-in and then the handling agent pointed to a letter sellotaped to the check-in desk saying that due to "operational difficulties" our flight was delayed 7 hours 15 minutes. Meanwhile another handling agent was offering to charge us 10 Euros to fast-track check-in - presumably so they could make even more out of us while we waited in the departure lounge? No one gave us any more information. We were given vouchers for 10 Euros each. When we boarded the plane, the pilot told us that the airline had experienced difficulties the previous day due to adverse weather conditions and that our delay was a consequence of their catch-up. I still can't understand why this explanation wasn't available to us at check-in - nor why it couldn't have been given to us at some point during the day. Appalling customer service.

We left Preveza on Sunday June 10th and were half way to Gatwick when it was announced that we were diverting to Manchester for operational reasons. We were told that the T.Cook duty manager would explain all on our arrival. In baggage hall, 2 Cook staff members were present once I had our bags ready. They could / would not give any answers as to why we had been diverted and what options there were other than to wait for some coaches for the 230 mile transfer which they laughingly suggested would take 3.5 to 4 hours. With the general chaotic situation - no organisation, many small children, not much chance of getting home before the middle of the night before a busy work day, we took things in our own hands and hired a car - we still had to get to LGW to pick up our car.

Recently went to Majorca. The flight there was not too bad, the seats were not the comfiest and hardly any leg room. Coming home was a disaster, the company could not organise a simple check-in which they clearly deal with daily, our flight was boarding and we were still in the queue to check-in luggage, we were called to priority boarding and told that 2500 people were all checking in at same time. It's a simple solution - don't open all desks to everyone, have separate desks for each flight. As a result we were rushed through without weighing our luggage properly and had to run through airport as the flight was boarding, normally that would be good not waiting around in an airport but we did not get a chance to get any breakfast before the flight.

We flew to Hurghada - what a nightmare from the start. The plane was packed to the brim. My husbands seat was broken but they were no spear seats so he had to have a seat that was digging into his back the whole journey. The smell from their cooked food was over powering. Was the longest 5.5 hours. On our return flight home, we were late for check-in. My husband and myself could not sit together, when we complained “we were told well you should have booked your seats” We agreed to pay extra for a seat next to each other, only then to be told all seats had now gone. I will not be booking again with Thomas Cook.

We flew Manchester to Antalya. The flight being due to take off at 13.10 but we actually left the ground at 14.35 with no explanation or apology either before or during the flight. The journey was extremely uncomfortable, with virtually no leg room and little opportunity to stretch legs as the whole of the flight was taken up with cabin crew going up and down the aisles trying to sell food, drinks and duty free. The flight was also very noisy as many people were drinking and getting quite loud, but this was probably due to the fact that there was no onboard entertainment and everyone was bored. All in all this was a bad experience and the return was no better. The aircraft was an A 321 and our friends who flew the day before were on an A330 and had a much better flight with ample legroom and comfy leather seats.

Flew to Antalya, Turkey with Thomas Cook Airlines and felt compelled to feedback on our extremely positive experience! We were greeted onboard by a cheerful, people focussed crew, the cabin was pristine and our seats were leather and comfortable. Leg room was acceptable (I'm 6' tall) and we settled back with an excellent drinks service whilst watching a film. The meal served was delicious and exceed our expectations (created by James Martin Celebrity Chef). They also had decorated their trolleys and played the National Anthem to celebrate the Jubilee Weekend!

SKG-MAN. Boarding was smooth and despite being a full load the crew were extremely friendly and professional and a good commentary from the cockpit. There was not an issue with seat pitch and the seats were quite comfortable. Pre-ordered the meal when booking and I was not expecting much but the meal was excellent and a part of a new range of meals created by celebrity chef James Martin. The off putting part of the flight was the hard sell of Duty Free Items, Bingo and the endless market banter. That aside it was a pleasant experience and I would use them again.

We returned from a holiday in Turkey. Online check-in prior to the flight was very expensive. The food was not very child friendly and served very late into the flight, after snacks had been sold. The arm rest was not movable, which meant that my little girl could not sleep comfortably.

London Gatwick to Preveza on 13 May 2012. The staff attitude at check-in was appalling and very unfriendly - not the best start to a holiday. B757 was old and tatty with a tiny amount of leg room. I am not tall, but 3 hours was enough. It was dreadful! The staff and food were ok and we did arrive on time. The return flight to London on 27 May 2012 on a new Thomas Cook Scandinavia A330 was a totally different experience with plenty of space. It was like being on a different airline!

Manchester-Larnaca. Staff very friendly, plane clean, food very nice going both ways. The only thing is there is not a lot of legroom and they should start putting films onboard as a 5 hours flight is too long without entertainment. Check-in at both airports were good would choose Thomas Cook over Thompson any day.

Manchester to Lanzarote, outbound flight on 757 which was rather cramped, with no entertainment onboard. Return flight on 767 which has had a refit in the cabin, seats much improved with much better space and the seats do not recline, meaning no seat can be lowered into your face. Entertainment onboard 767 was a film and 9 radio stations. Food both ways was very good and justifies the price of the meal.

Very cramped flight and hell to actually get booked but the flying experience overall was excellent, surprisingly. Despite bad reviews, we found the crews friendly, the food absolutely excellent, beats BA, and punctual both ways. We went to Lemnos, a 3.5 hour flight.

My family and I travelled from Vancouver to the Dominican Republic. The flight was delayed 15 hours due to a mechanical failure while the plane was still in DR. While not the most pleasant experience (as we lost a day of our vacation) it was understandable. On the way back, our flight was diverted to Jamaica - a diversion that was planned over a week ahead of time, though nobody informed us. Once there we stayed in the plane on the tarmac for over three hours. All in all the flight home took almost 13 hours, it was a full flight, we were not able to move around. One of the worst airline experiences I have ever had.