AIR TRANSAT review :  17 July 2009 : by A Smitherton   (Canada)

Tickets were booked months in advance, paid for advance seat selection, and arrived at the airport hours ahead of the flight, and what happened? Just as we're about to board we're told the plane is full and we'll have to fly out, from a different city, over 36 hours later! They never asked for volunteers to be bumped, just stopped the last 10 people or so and kicked us off. Head office called, and no help at all. Terrible experience, and we will never fly this airline again. Yes it might be a bit less expensive, but if something goes wrong, it really goes wrong, and errors like this sure take a lot out of a week long vacation!

AIR TRANSAT review :  14 July 2009 : by A Klugerman   (Canada)

My wife and I travelled recently to France (Paris going, Nice returning) via Air Transat Club Class and although I would rate it worth the money, that would be only because of the economics of the fare and not because of the quality of service. Going we had seats in the first row - not enough room for us to stretch out and we are not tall people. Despite the offer of a choice there really was no choice, as we were the last to be asked. The cabin staff were quite unfriendly. My wife described the service not much unlike that of Air Canada. On the return trip, we asked specifically the flight director if we could be assured of a choice seeing that we had none going and although she accomodated us, it was with quite a bit of reluctance on her part and admonishment of ourselves and our travel agent as well that we should have known. The trip was also marked by the single mother in the row in front of us with the nanny and 3 children under 8. Neither the nanny nor the mother really made much effort to settle the children from running all over the cabin. Neither did the Air Transat staff. In general, I would fly Air Transat again, only because of their cheap fares but not because of their service, or lack their of.

AIR TRANSAT review :  2 July 2009 : by W Daniel   (Canada)

Halifax to Gatwick return. The flight to Gatwick left on time, but not before much confusion was caused over the double-booking of many seats on the plane. Apparently the staff had erroneously assigned the same seats to multiple passengers. That was eventually sorted out. The return flight, however, was a different story. We departed Gatwick pretty much on time, but then I noticed that (according to the monitors) the plane had levelled off at 25,000 feet (instead of the usual 34,000). About 45 minutes into the flight, the pilot came on the speaker and said that, due to a "main instrument malfunction", we had to turn around and return to Gatwick! So we turned and flew 45 minutes the other way, and landed. Then we sat on the runway for 2.5 hours while the engineers fixed the plane (they didn't let us off). So, we ended up sitting on the plane for 4 extra hours (almost 11 in total), and they wouldn't even give us any refreshments in the meantime. It was terrible - not to mention nerve-wracking, as we were wondering if the plane would 'malfunction' again over the ocean or not.

AIR TRANSAT review :  1 June 2009 : by Marjorie Copeland  (Canada)

Went to Jamaica in May 2009, our flight home was cancelled and had to return a day early. We received no explanation as to why the flight was cancelled, were told we would be compensated have not heard anything. we received a note under our door at the hotel with less than 24 hours noticed. Called the Transit rep 3 times before anyone called us back. They told us to be on the flight or we would be on our own very rude. Have emailed them and still no response. Very disappointing!

AIR TRANSAT review :  25 May 2009 : by James LeBlanc  (Canada)

YYZ-LGW. The second time this year, and almost as bad. I flew out with only hand luggage, but on the return flight (codeshare with Thomas Cook), my hand luggage was now too heavy to bring onboard. Second time flying with Air Transat, second time I had baggage issues on the return only. And while checking in on the return everybody in front of me at Gatwick was having some sort of baggage issue as well, clothes strewn over counters and floors. IFE terrible, Air Transat staff unremarkable. Thomas Cook return flight was cleaner and staff were more attentive than Air Transat. You get what you pay for, but I think I'll save a few dollars and go BA next time.

AIR TRANSAT review :  22 May 2009 : by S Roberts  (Canada)

Toronto to Manchester. Should have been Air Transat but airline switched planes and companies without notifying customer (ended up on Thomas Cook). Paid for Club Class which allows for extra baggage weight, food upgrade, etc but had to pay a second time since the weight was for economy class. Also got charged for a coffee. Pre-booked seat obviously not given due to the switch. Cannot rate anymore since it wasn't Air Transat, just expect a company to contact a customer if a switch like that is made, it's just very poor customer service! Won't recommend Club Class.

AIR TRANSAT review :  16 May 2009 : by S Mcgall  (UK)

LGW-YYZ on A310. Flight on time, cabin crew were very helpful and smiling, seats were comfortable enough (4K) - both ways extra legroom seats. Food was fine, service was good,could do with an extra toilet though! (there are only 2 in economy). Return flight was equally as good - would fly Air Transat again especially for the money you save compared to other carriers!

AIR TRANSAT review :  11 May 2009 : by M Janis-Green  (Canada)

Toronto-Gatwick return. Seat 26A (paid extra) was great, lots of legroom & width. Food ok, staff friendly and polite - offering drinks, water etc. Could use more washrooms.

AIR TRANSAT review :  11 May 2009 : by Max Johnson  (Canada)

Paris - Toronto on an A310, and impressed. Check-in efficient and friendly. While the cabin was nowhere close to an international business class standard, seats were comfortable, and I had plenty of room. The meal was fine, wines pleasant and the service was efficient and friendly. I would not use them eastbound as I like the lie-flat beds offered by the mainline carriers. Economy did look all too cramped.

AIR TRANSAT review :  10 May 2009 : by James LeBlanc  (Canada)

YYZ-LGW. Outbound flight fine, slightly late on arrival. Inbound was another story. Reaching Gatwick I was unaware that the flight was making a stop in Newcastle, adding 3½ hours to the flight time, and no time to notify friend picking me up from Pearson. No e-mail, no attempt to notify passengers of the change. Also, baggage allowance on the outbound was 23kg, but changed on the return to 20kg. Had to pay for the excess 3kg I came with. Wasn't much but the principle of it was worrysome. Also, inflight staff was rude and argumentative. On top of all of that, the food, the cleanliness, and comfort, all rubbish.

AIR TRANSAT review :  5 May 2009 : by P Lalonde  (Canada)

A transatlantic flight between Montreal, Canada and Malaga, Spain. Seats were uncomfortable, very narrow for an average person. They opened the duty-free service in the middle of the night, waking up all passengers. The food was poor. Flight attendants looked tired and I haven't see a single smile on their faces (I understand it's a night flight but they should still at least try a little). Flight had a stop in Barcelona even though it was advertised as direct flight

AIR TRANSAT review :  1 May 2009 : by Carole Chibok  (Canada)

For years I refused to fly with Air Transat because of the seats. I was really surprised on my trip to Cuba. I was sitting in row 26 A (the two seaters) as the same row you have 3 seats in the middle and I think I would have been a little tight.

AIR TRANSAT review :  18 April 2009 : by John Cranston  (Canada)

Service in the air with Air Transat ranges from OK to good but their reservation service is terrible. The initial reservation system works reasonably well but it seems almost impossible to change a reservation. They do permit changes, for a fee, but it is impossible to speak to someone about making a change. Instead one must leave a telephone message or send an email. They do not respond to either system in my experience. If there is any chance you might have to change your reservation, don't use Air Transat.

AIR TRANSAT review :  18 April 2009 : by Claude Bolduc  (Canada)

Montreal-Punta Cana - Very tight seating. Mostly disappointed with surcharge for baggage on the way back from Punta Cana. All Punta Cana airport personnel very unfriendly and impatient. Baggage was weighed as a whole (4 people) in an intimidating way. We were asked to put 2 bags at a time in any order so we ended up with surcharge because one bag not belonging to one of us was weighed in with the wrong bags. Paid in fear of causing problems by insisting on re- weighing.

AIR TRANSAT review :  15 April 2009 : by C Bailey  (UK)

Excellent - booked Air Transat for last minute business needs. Flights were excellent, comfortable seats, food and service fine. The only difference to scheduled airlines was the lack of individual TVs however the films shown on the aisle were a good selection. From my experience I would rate Air Transat above American Airlines on comfort and service, on a par with most European carriers and slightly lower than British Airways on the entertainment. Very good value for money.

AIR TRANSAT review :  26 March 2009 : by Kari Carich  (Canada)

Just completed holiday to the Mayan Riviera, the holiday itself was good, the beginning and end of the trip were horrific. We pre-booked extra legroom seats because my son is 6'6" and needed the space (I already knew about the seats from previous trips with this company). We were put in seats 4E and 4F (bulkhead) which would have been acceptable, but there is a place for a bassinet in front of the middle seat and the mother of the child sits to the side, I was trapped behind a baby and I had to pay for it! The bassinet extends a good 6" into the isle seats as well and impinges on easy movement. The baby was good, but that's not the point. I paid for extra space and I didn't get it!

AIR TRANSAT review :  16 March 2009 : by M Harte  (Canada)

I spend 2 months verifying flight time to ensure that we would get a direct flight from Montreal to Holguin, Cuba as we had to make arrangements to be dropped off and picked up at a half decent time. We finally had the perfect flight time that could accommodate all. I called 24 hour prior to our departure and all was on schedule. When I confirmed the next morning, I was notified that the flight was being re-route to Cancun prior to Cuba and this was extending our travelling time by almost 4 hours. You can image the we had an extremely long day going to Cuba and again coming home. This shortened our trip by a 1.5 days - turning our 7 day all inclusive trip down to 5.5 days. Air Transat provided very little information, only to be told that 50 passenger going to Cancun required drop off and pick. These passengers had a longer stay at their destination as they were dropped off first and picked up last. Never mind inconveniencing all of 350 other passengers.