Thomson Airways

Flew Birmingham to Sanford. Upgraded to premium but it was not worth the extra money. The seat base was like sitting on a plank of wood no padding and really uncomfortable. If you suffer with lower back problems or sciatica you will probably be in pain after 8 hours. The back of the seat and the head rest were fine just strange that they had not put padding in the seats! There is more than enough leg room though so that was good. The width didn't feel any bigger than normal and the worst thing was the armrests were hard plastic and after an hour I had to pad them both using the blankets they gave us. Not impressed. The entertainment was ok but the system was temperamental and kept stopping the films. Although the cabin crew did apologize not really their fault though. The food however was really nice. I don't know if it was a difference to standard but we enjoyed it. Overall though I wouldn't bother upgrading - waste of money.

Gatwick to Aruba August 2013. Outward flight was good and worth the upgrade price. Staff on outward trip were very good and food entertainment and service very good. The return trip unfortunately takes our rating right down. Food was overheated and dry. Wine served after the meal had been eaten and roll served after the meal. Only one hot drink offered. Staff seemed more bothered about getting duty free goods sold. Rubbish and survey form not collected on our row. Ran out of orange juice at breakfast serving and given plastic cutlery (not usual in premium class). The return trip experience means that we would not travel premium with Thomson again. Probably just as well to just book extra leg room seats in economy class.

Very poor customer communication and information in flight from Sharm el Sheikh to Edinburgh on 5/10/2013. Flight was delayed but no info provided in the terminal. Once on board could sense strange attitude amongst the cabin crew but they waited till the flight was about to leave before letting us know that we were being diverted to Newcastle because of runway work at Edinburgh. No information on why Newcastle not Glasgow which is considerably closer. No information on expected arrival time in Edinburgh taking account of bus journey from Newcastle. No decent opportunity to let people collecting at Edinburgh (taxis family) know of delay which given 02.45 arrival time was very worrying for people. No additional food or drinks provided even though the overall delay was 4 hours. During the flight the cabin crew were very inattentive instead talking with each other almost non-stop and at one point all moving to the forward area to talk. The curtain does not mask noise and for those of us near the front it was impossible to sleep due to the cabin crew being so selfish. The cabin crew kept going on about how they were affected by the outgoing flight being 1 hour late and failed to see the customer perspective since we faced a bus transfer and a 4 hour delay. They are paid to do their job which includes customer service. They made 1 trip through with the drinks trolley then each announcement focused on their offers of scratchcard duty free and then charity collection. One of the worst crews I have ever seen in action.

Just flew back from Antalya on the new Dreamliner. Very impressed with plane loads of room to move around cabin lots of leg room while seated. Good choice of entertainment available. Cabin crew try to sell headsets at £2.50 but headsets for iPad and iPhones work no problem. Overall a very enjoyable flight.

Bristol to Sharm el Sheikh - Sept 2012. Plane left on time - but 5-6 hours without onboard meal or entertainment is not my idea of good service. They have plenty of time to go up the plane selling you drinks and duty free so what's the problem with serving a meal. No storage on back of seat in front of you and very little room for the tray to come down. I shall avoid Thomson short haul in the future.

Gatwick to Sanford out 21st Sep return 3rd October on Dreamliner. From moment of booking holiday to flight just a bad experience. Have flown Thomson before upgrading to premium which was good this time thought we would not bother upgrading because seats were bigger and we had booked extra legroom seats - economy in Dreamliner is not my idea of comfort. We sat in row 10 and that is just behind premium seats. In premier seating they have two toilets for roughly 70 people we were told we could not use toilets just in front of us. Staff are constantly up and down plane with trolley you can not get past I was queuing for toilets with 3 other people when flight attendant said can you use toilet in row 40 so I did and on way back got stuck outside toilets with 3 other people and flight attendant said can you not congregate outside toilets. Food was dreadful going out was chicken rice in mushroom sauce it was disgusting and none of us ate it. Later on we got a mini Milky Way. On way home we had beef cobbler that was not too bad and a Danish pastry with smoothie. Would never do long haul with Thomson again.

Outbound LGW-Zante 20th Sep. Inbound Zante-LGW 1st October. Actually impressed on the two flights and very happy 737-800's both times were in good condition and comfortable in both instances. Cabin crew on both occasions were also friendly and did a good job especially with the young families aboard. Only poor condition of the cabin was actually due to infantile graffiti on backs of seats. However solid flights and would definitely use again.

ACE to LGW TOM4767 29th Sep. Return flight was in principle a repeat of the outward sector but his time we were more exhausted for hanging around hotel foyers most of the day. Check-in quick and efficient flight departed on time excellent flight progress updates from the skipper. A newer version of a 737-800 with irrelevant so called Mood Lighting but oh dear still that "Very Noisy" cabin the flight was a repeat of the outward in terms of none service & active selling by the crew from the trolley. Most people seemed to have become aware of this version of highway robbery so business wasn't so brisk. Thomson Airways are clearly a mover of people with little understanding of passenger wellbeing. Their one salvation is the highly innovative cabin safety video which provided brief amusement in what became another dismal flying experience.

LGW to ACE 22nd Sept Tom4766. Check in was quick and efficient departed on time from there everything went downhill. A full cabin no seat choice offered no food distributed no drinks distributed all required either advance or in flight payment on a nearly a four hour flight. This is as close as I have come to being treated like cattle I was made to feel guilty when I asked asking for a fruit juice or a drink of water. Crew very nonchalant addressing my wife and myself as Guys or me as Mate which I wasn't. Also very intent on emptying their trolley this was stacked with paper cups containing tea and coffee or a pre-packaged food menu which most people left scratch cards & some charity nonsense was thrown into the mix. Boeing 737-800 very noisy cabin in comparison to Airbus single aisles. Skipper provided excellent updates on flight progress and highlighted areas of interest first class. The name Thomson Airways is a contradiction in as much had I been transported on a cattle truck down the M1 for four hours I would likely by law have had better service never again.

LGW-KGS-LGW. Was not looking forward to this trip having read previous reviews! Late take-off due to aircraft late in from Ibiza plus techie with wheel replacement required at Gatwick but very informative pilot who kept us informed regularly at the gate. Clean new aircraft seat configuration tight but I guess that's charter for you. Everything chargeable on the flight but I didn't think (alcoholic) drinks cost unreasonable though a cup of tea on the return flight at GBP2.50 was a little bit steep! I ate at Gatwick on outward bound so cannot comment on food though menu clearly snack driven and probably not good value for money from what I saw. Cabin crew ok. All in all I can't complain about the flights. I was travelling flights only and only had cabin luggage so on that basis I was happy with the flights.