Tracy, the situation you and others were in, was very similar to ours several years ago with our 3 day (72 hours) delay.
After checking in at Dabolim (Friday) we were informed of a fault and told the delay would be 3 hours. At noon we were told a further 7 hours delay was to be expected (myself and others knew that with flying in the dark banned, we would be here 'till the next day).
We were taken to a local restaurant/hotel for lunch and was told there that we wouldn't fly today (suprise suprise..) then back to Dabolim to collect our luggage, split into 3 groups and off to some top hotels (Heritage we were in - very nice).
Early call at 6.00am (Saturday) - ''the plane is on the tarmac and ready''. Off to dabolim - check-in and wait...wait...wait, you guessed it, NO PLANE !!
Collect luggage and back to hotels.
We were then informed that new parts were coming from London and will be here Sunday !!
Up early (Sunday) to get latest up-date, and was told plane was being fixed and would fly us out later in the day.
A frustrated bloke in our hotel decided it was best to take some action and rounded anyone up who would stand by him, and told the reps we would not go to the airport without 100% proof the plane was ready.
Well... he was right, the Captain of the flight (nice Indian chap) came to see us and at the meeting he said the plane would not go 'till Monday !!
Up early again (Monday) and off to Dabolim - all ok and took off around noon - yipppeeee (then again the 3 days were brill..).
When we landed at Bahrain, we had the usual 1 hour leg stretch, but the call to board never came... - the plane had problems again !!
At the same time another Monarch flight from London to Maldives landed and as they got off, our luggage was swapped to there plane,leaving them poor soles with a long delay at the start of there holiday.
So, on to the claims. I got compo via my insurance for time delay, (didn't bother with food drinks etc.. as most of these were paid for by Monarch).
I contacted Monarchs customer service and the lady who took our details was excellent. I kept calm with her and wasn't nasty - whats the point ?
I explained to her that we had both lost out on wages through work (was a bank holiday Monday - and wasn't working anyway !).
My partner and myself got our bosses to type up a company letter explaining what we had lost for the Sat/Sun/Mon. I also got a £60 taxi receipt, and my ticket for the rugby final at wembley.
In the end I got a cheque off them for £750 + a payment from the insurance company.
The year after we flew with Monarch again, and after getting in our seats we were given a bottle of champagne and free drinks going out and on the return flight (12 months on and they remembered us !!)
Things have changed with insurance claims but you should be able to get something ? I would still contact Monarch customer services (fingers crossed not many have) and see if they will offer anything like we got - worth a try, good luck.
P.S Still not 100% happy with Monarch flights but they ain't as bad as people are shouting about,plenty of delays with other companys.

yes that was me who gave out the announcment in Dabolim about the missing Monarch aircraft Allan.

That gave us a laugh while waiting for our flight to Gatwick

Flights via Mumbai are not always reliable either. Some friends of ours went back on Saturday and their Indian/Air India flight was cancelled. So night in hotel..very good. Next day to Heathrow..no flights to Manchester so another night in good hotel. Someone had cancelled their BA flight the next day so got a bmi one. So she missed a work day, she is a teacher, so was not too popular. They were quite happy as they were very well looked after.

Just another word on this fight.When we checked in at Manchester and put our luggage on the scale mine was 19.9 k and Marians was 22k the girl on the counter let the cases go through on the conveyor belt gave us our seat numbers and a slip with a bill for £20 to be paid before we got our boarding cards , We had hardly any hand luggage she said that it doesn't matter and it was £10 per kilo Marian paid the £20 As I walked away I was kicking myself I should have told her to return the case held up the queue took something out (like 6 pairs of shoes ) and put them in my hand luggage which basically just had tickets and passports ,oh and yes we also had to show proof of accommodation details, is this just a Monarch thing? I still cant believe I never done it as I am not backward in coming forward!!!! :sulk.
While I am on a Monarch rant they charged passengers £2.50 for headphones and wanted them back at the end of the flight.I noticed they never charged anyone on the return flight though there would have been a riot!!!!!!!!! Allan.

That sounds extremely harsh charging you excess baggage for such a small amount over. We were over by about 3kgs each way fboth rom Gatwick and returning from Dabolim and never got charged, we were with First Choice.

I have just received a very apologetic letter from Monarch with a cheque for £400 (£100 each) compensation. I also received an explanation letter for the insurance company within a couple of days of returning to the UK. I spoke to a very nice lady on the phone and have been quite impressed with their post flight service, maybe they are not so bad after all!!

Can anyone give me some ideas as to what airline to look at flights in december from any london airport, and what sort of price we are looking at, dont mind going via mumbai, or direct i know a lot of airlines will not be showing until the beginning of febuary but would like to be organised. We have just come back from our first trip to Goa but think we would prefer to DIY it next time.Loved it there. Many thanks in advance.

We always come through Mumbai because we stay a long time and our friends come this way for short stays too. We have used British Airways and Jet Airways recently. We prefer Jet as they check your luggage through to Goa on the homeward journey and are very helpful when coming out too. Their flight timings are very convenient tooTYou can check prices on their websites. You can get cheaper flights but they are not direct to Mumbai and can involve a long wait.

Thankyou cocopop, will check them both out.

Allan

oh and yes we also had to show proof of accommodation details, is this just a Monarch thing?

This is quite interesting.
In 2006 there was a lot of discussion (probably on the Goa forum) about Monarch at Manchester insisting on seeing proof of accommodation before allowing check-in.
One of the check-in staff stood at the front of the queue and said 'has everybody got a valid visa AND proof of accommodation? If you haven't got both, you will not be allowed to travel'.
They did turn some people away - in tears.
I asked loads of people during our holiday about this, and as far as I could gather, no other airline from Manchester were asking for this, Monarch from Gatwick weren't either.

It seems that Monarch in Manchester have interpreted some rules differently to everybody else.

Polly

anyone flown or flying gatwick -goa myt67. is it direct flight

am flying with MyTravel from Manchester to Goa, can anyone who has been on it recently advise on service, state of planes etc ? and if tvs are in back of chairs ?

Thanks !

Went december, smaller plane, no seat back TV, service OK and awful food, take sandwiches.

packed lunch it is then .... oh the joy ! lol

solobrummy,

There's plenty more information on the dedicated My Travel thread.

Darren

FooFoo i'm flying from gatwick on MYT67 in march and its direct.Should be 91/2 hrs flight.

I was about to book Premium Monarch seats from Manchester to Goa for £407 for 2 weeks on 1st March..... until I found that First Choice have a flight on the 3rd March for £340. There are no Premium seats left on the First Choice flight. Having read through some of this thread I am a bit concerned about Monarch and am wondering how a First Choice normal flight/seat to Goa would compare to a Monarch Premium flight/seat. I am 6ft tall and would not be too keen on being squashed in for 10 hours. Thanks in advance!

searcher
up to you if you want the free drinks on the way there and back and extra luggage allowance,oh and priority checkin both ways ,,for 60 quid extra i know what id go for..so what if its monach..ive done both in premium and i had no probs with monarch plus you stop at bahrain which is great for a quick hour of cheap duty free shopping..
personally id go for the monarch upgrade,
dont get me wrong first choice is great and even in normal class i would say is enough room,,plus its direct flight,
like i say each to there own but look at the benefits of the 60 quid and what you get for it,,
robbie

we were thinking of booking an apartment next year.can anyone tell me when and where to get the best deal for flights?
thanks