TAROM Romanian

OTP-AMS in Economy B737-300. Rude but efficient check in for Sky Team Elite Members. Lounge in OTP really not well equipped. Uneventful flight seat pitch narrow and cramped. Seat pads too soft. Warm edible lunch consisting of chicken and rice. Overall ok flight but if you have any choice of another carrier go for that one.

Good food but nothing else. A 2 hour delay which made us miss our connecting flight. Being with a different airline Tarom did not want to take any responsibility for us missing our connection. We had to wait 24 hours for new seats and pay new tickets in full. Tarom staff was rude and arrogant at both airports whenever we went to them to voice our concerns and complaints. A supervisor did not even want to speak with us. We were stranded in a foreign country with no money left from our vacation and Tarom employees refused to even listen to us.

LHR to OTP return friendly and efficient crew aircraft reasonably modern and clean. After take off served with drinks then a hot meal. Check-in at OTP is chaotic. Which queue is which isn't clear. Sometimes staff are excellent sometimes they are rubbish. Having travelled the route 4 times in a month we were suddenly told that Tarom don't interline baggage so we couldn't check our cases through to final destination. When I protested that we had already done it 3 times in the last month without problem I was told by the Supervisor 'You are telling lies. it is impossible" . They then agreed to do it 'on your own responsibility' and it worked perfectly well. Tarom give first class service in economy in the air and need a bit of polishing at OTP on ground handling.

AMS-OTP-AMS : we got to Bucharest that's the positive. Cramped poor food children running up and down late departure both ways and worn cabin interior. Staff inflight were charming and helpful. Now they need to sort out the ground staff.

LHR to Bucharest to Bacau. B737 clean took the low-calorie meal option and looked better than what other passengers had. Staff polite and efficient. Long wait between flights at Bucharest but flight to Bacau on ATR42-500 left on time and a quick flight. Cabin clean friendly staff. Given a Snickers bar for the flight offered drinks but didn't take any. Was a good service would have no hesitation flying Tarom again.

The meal from Bucharest to London was the worst on any airline we have travelled. There was a similar standard meal outward bound. A Mars bar for breakfast on the domestic flight. A piece of fish (1.5 x1.5 x1.0 inches) with a smear of a red sauce and cold penne. A stale roll with a pat of butter and a strange pink mousse. No wine offered or beer. The only juices available were orange and tomato. Not good on a 3.5 hour flight. The plane was clean and punctual but you are an international schedule airline not a not a cheapo!

OTP-CDG Business Class. I flew them for a second time on this route in C class and I can't really complain. FA's nice but not there when you needed them. There was a choice of meals between fish and beef. The downfall is a very small choice of drinks and only one red and one white wines. No menu either. The best thing are the business class seats. Very wide and comfy.

MAD-OTP economy class. Plane was quite old with worn seats though clean. On check-in I asked for an emergency exit seat - surprisingly on board I found out that I didn't have the emergency exit. IFE restricted to air-show. FA's efficient. Food of average quality.

Romanian domestic flight OTP-Tirgu Mures. The fare was correct but they don't issue e-tickets so we collected are paper ones at OTP: anyway the domestic ticket office is opened from 8am to 12 and from 1500 to 1900 so we waited long time before it opened. ATR-42 was old but clean and we were served some sandwiches and coffee for free. We had to do a scheduled stopover in Sibiu: an airport employee entered the plane and asked who had to get off then a dozen people left the plane and collected their own baggage straight from the luggage van! Then we took off again and when we arrived in Tirgu Mures and landing was very scaring. On the TGM-OTP the flight almost like the previous one with the difference that one of the 2 FAs was clearly drunk. The TGM airport moreover is not very modern and the airport workers took our luggage in the departure hall and loaded it on the plane manually. Fortunately the flights were very short and we didn't suffer too much for the small legroom

My first time with Tarom: OTP-SOF route and a positive experience. Flight operated by ATR42-500 very small plane but comfortable for such a short hop. A snack was after 20 minutes from departure. My final rate is 3 stars.