Are the 320's expected to be painted.

tommyinyork,

As above!!! They are all being rebranded to Thomson Airways as part of the merger. The A321's are leaving the fleet.

Darren

Hi

I am flying First Choice MAN-ACE Flight Nos. TOM2411/2412 on 22nd of this month. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what plane is due to be used? Also seat pitch and drop down or seat back entertainment? Thanks

Sunaddict,

MAN-ACE-MAN (TOM2411/2) are operated by a Airbus A321-200. Seat pitch is 28" in economy. These aircraft are fitted with overhead drop down LCD screens every 4 or 5 rows like their little sister, the A320-200.

Darren

Hi Darren

Thanks very much.

Hi All,
Having used this forum for a while now i wanted to add a short report on my recent FCA flight.

We have used FCA in April07 Dec07 And again now Dec08 all for different long haul flights.

Each time we have upgraded to SCP. Both trips in 07 we were very pleased with the whole experience. However this time round we paid the most expensive upgrade yet at £289pp, and were very disappointed.

We we departing Man going to Cancun, firstly they only used a bridge at the front doors meaning that they loaded SCP passengers last, this gave no time for pre-flight drink. We noticed that the plane was looking rather tatty with bits broken etc, dirty marks and also the toilet was never cleaned the whole time so even in the little used SCP toilet it was smelly and messy. Half hour into flight they switched on the IFE system, ours (seats 1a&b) did not work, they rebooted system twice then did nothing further, we were not the only ones not working. I asked if they could do anything more, was told NO. I asked to be moved to an empty seat anywhere in the plane but it was full. Great, 10 hr flight and no TV. Only one bar round was done on the flight which meant having to ask all the time for further drinks, this has not been the case on our other flights. As per our other flights with FCA the meal in SCP was nice with a choice of meals etc. Arrived in Cancun very fed up with the whole thing but looking forward to our holiday.

On our return flight we were in seats 1 f&g, different plane but again shabby interior, this time even dirtier as it had just come in from the uk and was turned around in about 1 hr. We found there was still rubbish in the seat pockets and again the toilets were dirty and smelly. We did however get our pre take-off drink. Meal orders were taken then about half an hour later a member of cabin crew came along and said that there wasnt enough chicken dishes to go round so could we swap to beef? This i did even though im not that keen on it. I didnt mind to much as sometimes these things happen, however i was most p****d off when about an hour after our meal i went through the front to the toilet only to find the cabin crew eating their meals (which of course they do need!) but most of them were eating the chicken that they apparently didnt have enough of, so what, do they get first choice of meals then?? Over and above the paying customer??
Thankfully the TV worked on our way home although my partners headphone jack wasnt working properly so his sound was intermitant.
Back to the meal, our return meal was really poor, bad food, not the normal chocolates that you get (lily o brien is it?) And the breakfast before landing consisted of a stale roll, butter, jam, warm orange juice and a soggy friut salad.

So overall a most disappointing experience, and the most expensive one yet! We have booked our next holiday already through FC for Oct to the Maldives, we havent upgraded to SCP this time as it was even more expensive and after the experience we have just had we are glad we have kept our money.

Glad to add we had a fab holiday though!

Katielind,the last time we paid for the Premium upgrade we had a similar experience - no early boarding on either outbound or return flights, luggage offloaded along with everyone elses,a defective TV so we both had to squint at one screen, infrequent drinks service (plenty of time for "duty free shopping service"tho!!!) and fairly average meals; its also been my experience that the Premium upgrades are getting ever more expensive;for our holiday already booked for March to Cuba I've never seen the upg for less than £279 PP -at one stage it was coming up at £399pp!!;When you think that most people don't use the drinks service anyway on the overnight return flight its a lot of money for a couple of free drinks and 3kgs extra luggage.
We are now just paying for extra legroom seats in Star class and will budget ~£40 for inflight extras on the outbound flight- we will spend some of the money saved on travelling the night before for check in and staying in a hotel so we have a relaxed start to the holiday.
Having said all that I still prefer to travel with First Choice as my experiences with other airlines have been far worse.

Hi,
It's that time of year again when the thought of going on hoiliday is getting near which involves a long flight. Could anybody please advise on what type of aircraft and seating arrangement this will involve:
11.04.09 FCA044 London Gatwick.

Thanks.

want2gothere,

Are you travelling to Goa? First Choice no longer exist as an airline. All flights are now operated under Thomsonfly (Thomson Airways) as they have recently merged. FCA044/5 are no longer valid flight numbers, they are TOM044/5. Flights are currently opperated by a Thomsonfly Boeing 767-304/ER. These are configured 2-4-2 in economy with 33" seat pitch. The exception was 23rd December when an ex-First Choice 767-300/ER was used. You'll find all the aircraft information over on the Thomsonfly (Thomson Airways) thread.

Darren

If it is Goa- They are using ex FCA aircraft not Thomsonfly aircraft, I can guarantee you 100%

so it will be 2-3-2 throughout

want2gothere,

BY-TOM-AMM-FCA wrote:

If it is Goa- They are using ex FCA aircraft not Thomsonfly aircraft, I can guarantee you 100%

We need to know the destination; TOM044/5 is Dom Rep not Goa FCA044 is Goa I think, but I don't have the TOM flight numbers to hand at the moment. I'd checked TOM044/5 where G-OBYx are being used thinking it was the Goa flight number.

Darren

brewerdave, Good thinking!

I phoned the T.A today and have booked extra leg room seats and will just do as you have sugested with spending money for drinks etc. We would get no benefit from the priority check-in etc this time round anyway as we depart LGW at 18:05 but we need to fly down from Aberdeen anyway so will be at the airport by lunch time! And also because of that we cant take advantage of the extra luggage allowance for the SCP as we have a 20kg limit when flying down from ABDN.

T.A today quoted £740 to upgrade to SCP for our flights, big saving then when paying £140 for the extra leg room! It means we will have £600 to spend on in flight drinks !

Anyone know if/when the Thomson airways planes will be geting an overhaul or are they holding out for their Dreamliners!!??

katielind wrote:

Anyone know if/when the Thomson airways planes will be geting an overhaul or are they holding out for their Dreamliners!!??

Thomsonfly aircraft received refurbished cabins and entered service in May 2007. The ex-First Choice Star Class cabins were introduced in November 2005. There's no plans for any further refurbs as far as I know as they'll be replaced when the 787's start to arrive in May 2010. Assuming no further delays from Boeing!

Darren

Hi

I'm presuming from reading previous posts that our flight - TOM133, Manchester-Punta Cana, 10.00am, 28th January - will be an ex FCA 763. Is that correct?

Did I miss the IFE listing for Jan/Feb, not released yet, or is it carried on from the Nov/Dec list?

Also.......

Not sure whether to post this here or in the airport thread - is it advisable to check in the night before? We've not upgraded the flight this time (have to agree with previous posts about the value for money lately, etc) and I've read that the check in queues can be quite long at 7am. We're staying the night at a local hotel and I've treated us to the executive lounge so either way would be ok - just wanting the trip to be as stress free and calm as possible (and hoping to have an air rage free trip, unlike TOM133 on 31st December!).

TIA

Yes, it will be an ex-FCA aircraft

IFE listings for Thomson Airways- i'll put them up ASAP, completely forgot about it.

BAZ657, we have used the night before check in for the last 5 or 6 years when going from LGW to the Caribbean; we aim to arrive at the terminal for ~ 6:00pm when we find it almost deserted and we have never had to wait more than 5 mins. to check in and get rid of our checked luggage.We leave the clothes we are using for the flight in the boot of the car so that we can change at the hotel. We use Holidayextras to book a combined hotel/parking package so that we don't have an early start on the morning of the flight. Its great not having to join the check in queues, just straight thru' security and time for a relaxing coffee/croissant before the boarding call.Even better now that FC aren't charging for the service at Gatwick(and you don't have to spend hours on the phone to prebook it either!!!)
The other thing I didn't mention about the last time we upgraded-got sat next to a young family with a baby which grizzled or cried the whole way to DR!! £500 for the privilege!!

Hi Brewerdave,

Quick question for you, I have upgraded to SCP/premium, but am looking to check in 'day before' at Gatwick. Can premium passengers still check in at the 'day before' desk or do I have to go to the premium desk?

Thanks in advance,
Rachel.

Yes, no problem - only thing is your luggage will probably not be first off at the other end(which in theory is one of the privileges of SCP!!!)

Thanks Brewerdave.