There's some information on Monarch flights in our Flight and Airports forum Helen, here's the link (I've linked you to July 2012)

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/forum/monarch-airlines-flymonarch-t59702-1380.html

The main snag is legroom,it is diabolical if you are tall or have long legs.on a long haul it can be very uncomfortable. Other than that they are the usuall package flightsl and if leg room is not important and the price is ok they are sufferable
Alan

I flown with them once in recent years and I found them to be very good, having said that we paid the extra £30 for the plus seats or whatever they call them.

You will find Monarch fans and Monarch haters abound on HT.
I’ve done the Goa trip with them once (NEVER again) and my personal opinion is that this is a pretty dreadful way to start and end a holiday for 9/10 hours.
Also they have been known to change flights so that, instead of using wide body jets which can make the full flight, they swap to smaller (even worse) planes which have to stop off half way to refuel in Abu Dhabi or Bahrain. They did this last year at short notice and made a lot of customers unhappy.
And again, I’ve also seen on HT and elsewhere this year what seems to be an unusually large number of folk complaining about Monarch flight time keeping.
So my personal view is that, if you can maybe use Qatar or another scheduled carrier, then avoid Monarch.
Thomson/First choice planes are much nicer, but this winter they have cut back on flights and there’s virtually nothing available.

Have used them 13 out of 15 trips. Yes there is better, and Qatar are the 'tops' for me having used them for the 1st time last season.
Monarch gets me from A to B and with no stop over at Bahrain the last time we used them, didn't see this as an issue, time seemed to go by quickly.
If Monarch are coming up as the best price and you don't/can't pay for extortionate up-grades (something i wouldn't do) then book your flights.

they allways seem to run late when i have used them

always done Monarch with a valium..last year paid over £600 for a direct flight only to stop in Bahrain for 2 hours sitting on the plane ..they never told us this until a week before....

If you can find monarch flight for that price thios year good luck..I have booked with Jet for £560

Flown with Monarch several times, and can't make any real complaints considering it's a budget charter flight. (Of course, we could all make complaints about any airline if we were invited to do so.)

Qatar are tops. The dogs' whatits.
All arab airlines have superb standards, so let's get realistic and not compare cheapo charter flights with top quality scheduled ones.

Issues with Monarch seem to be usually down to legroom.
If you're tall.... it's dreadful of course.
If you're a 5'8" hobbit like me, it's no problem at all.
If you are tall, why not request an aisle seat so you can get up and walk around occasionally.
(Do you need a window seat? Do clouds look different when you fly over different parts of the world?)

Food and entertainment complaints....
It's an aircraft, not a restaurant or cinema.
Bring your own healthy snacks...and water....and some interesting books or music to listen to.

You get what you pay for.
Don't complain when you don't

Good reply - I'm with you on that one, cheapest option to get to Goa, not a problem for me.

Yes, well said Spike and Shiyong..............

Sorry don't agree at all, the two main faults with Monarch is,

You don't always get what you pay for, you have normally paid for a direct flight on a long haul aircraft but they are very fond of changing to a short haul plane at the last minute and then having to make unscheduled stops, if that happens you will be lucky to get a premium cabin or extra leg room and the seats will be smaller with very little leg room

The other main fault is Monarch are on longer cheap on the Goa trips, scheduled flights are often cheaper with free drinks, more luggage allowance, more legroom, wider seat's and better free entertainment also can almost be as quick in getting there if Monarch have to make a refuelling stop

Monarch long haul planes are OK and will get you there quicker then any scheduled airline but in my experiance you are much more likely not to get what you paid for with a Monarch flight to Goa

shiyong wrote:

You get what you pay for.
Don't complain when you don't

I can't see how that statement has any credability, when flights get changed at the drop of a hat. One year our flight was changed on the day we were flying, from direct to via Bahrain and without premium class (which our friends had paid £400 extra for) and we had to fly to Gatwick to pick up passengers who obviously had their flights changed. This then made our arrival over 4hrs late which caused problems with the taxi driver we had booked. There were some cases not so long ago were flights were being changed by days and not hours. We flew with Qatar last year and what a difference it makes to your whole holiday....
.............Keith........
P.S
Had an email from Qatar this morning, they seem to be having a flight sale (like last year) they had
flights to Goa from Manchester from £510 rtn....

botany bay wrote:

Yes, well said Spike and Shiyong.............. :wave:

The original post asked about opinions of Monarch flights, based on members' experiences.

Every reply has 'credibility' (if respect is due) and is based on personal experiences.

Some members say they have had no problems with Monarch.
Some members say they have.

All are true and sincere statements, based on our individual experiences with that airline, so they do have 'credibility' (which is what a member here disputes.)

Certain experiences have been regarding stop-overs to refuel.
This isn't the normal routine with Monarch, despite what some members have experienced.

It's been reported that, last year, Monarch agreed to 'lend' some of their aircraft to the MOD to transfer military personnel from Afghanistan. Consequently, for charter flights, they had to use smaller aircraft that required refuelling in Quatar or UAE.

Another reason for stopovers that isn't mentioned when booking flights is that if seat sales are below a certain level, a smaller aircraft is be allocated for the flight (to save fuel) so would then have to make a stop to refuel somewhere in the arabian peninsular.

KJF wrote:

vegasone wrote:

You get what you pay for.
Don't complain when you don't

I can't see how that statement has any credability, when flights get changed at the drop of a hat. One year our flight was changed on the day we were flying, from direct to via Bahrain and without premium class (which our friends had paid £400 extra for) and we had to fly to Gatwick to pick up passengers who obviously had their flights changed. This then made our arrival over 4hrs late which caused problems with the taxi driver we had booked. There were some cases not so long ago were flights were being changed by days and not hours. We flew with Qatar last year and what a difference it makes to your whole holiday....
.............Keith........
P.S
Had an email from Qatar this morning, they seem to be having a flight sale (like last year) they had
flights to Goa from Manchester from £510 rtn....

erm I never said that so why have you quoted me as saying it

Have altered KJF's post, looks like they hit the wrong person's quote button.

The quotes seem wrong/odd on several of the posts, is it the system or just coincidence?

Surely hitting the wrong quote button wouldn't cause a mix-up like that?

We had used Monarch a few times in our early days if traveling to Goa.
I can sympathise with those who have cause to complain and must admit to going premium just for more legroom. As I said this was years ago before we learnt to go Schuedual with our own accommodation.
One thing in their favor is that if you are new to Goa and need a cheap introduction some of the late availability deals jewel holidays do take some beating.
It could be said a lot of the figures for tourism are based on the charter business and without this input a lot of what we Brits take for granted wouldnt be there.
Unfortunatly that said I would only book a charter flight if it ticked all the boxes that a schuedual flight gives but cheaper but it has been said they are no longer a cheap option for those who plan ahead.

You pays your money and makes your choice
I did look before I just booked our flights with Air India
Monarch MAN-GOI weekend flights £549 standard cattle class + £50 if you have luggage food extra
AI LHR-GOI 8th-25th 46kg baggage, drinks food and entertainment included £515

But I may look again for a late deal in March

Steve

Jewel holidays are using a lot of Thomas Cook flights this year, the web site does still say the flights are with Monach but when you check the details it isTC flights from Gatwick and a mix from Manchester

Thanks for all the info - decided against using Monarch to Goa due to the leg room issues and the posibility of last minute unscheduled route changes.

Couldn't fit any other airline schedule dates within a reasonable price so ended up booking Mexico all-inc instead!

Have done several all-incs and know its a completely different holiday to Goa, so will let you all know how we get on.