well cockney girl you and me seem to have the same idea and lets face it after a couple of hours all airline toilets smell bad just dont smell too deeply and every airline has delays hasnt anyone seen airline on telly and is there such a thing as nice airline food to me it all tastes like cardboard as long as the plane gets me there ime happy

Could I say that the toilets were smelly when we first got on the plane last year - both ways. You could smell them from your seats not when you actually went to use them - no one had used them before we all got on I presume. Personally I wouldn't complain about smelly toilets, food, bad service etc on a short haul flight but when I am on a flight for 9 hrs I would like some comfort and a pleasant flight to start off my holiday. Clearly, some posters have not had the experience of a really bad flight, if they had, their views of TCD would change.

The number of posters complaining about TCD have clearly had bad experiences with them, if you log on to the DIB (Disney Information Bulletin) you will find many of their posters, if not more than HT, complaining about TCD too. I think its rather sad when people say they are not bothered about smelly toilets, bad food, bad service, not being able to see the screen, long delays, as long as the plane gets them there! I think its on HT within the last few days that a poster tells of his TCD plane being delayed for 26hrs and being offered £50 for a hotel or told to go home until the next day. Would that not bother cockneygirl or markwebster? I think it would.

Coo we would love to go to another hotel for the night

Yeah, but be honest cockney girl you'd be a bit naffed off at spending your first day and night of your holiday in a Gatwick hotel instead of starting your holiday in America.

I travelled with TCD 2 years ago and couldn't fault them, had a brilliant time. At that time the majority of posters on HT said similar positive things but I've noticed a big change in the last year or so.

Incidentally a couple of years ago the odd complaint about TCD could get a response direct from TCD, but it doesn't seem to happen now.

Maybe they don't read these boards anymore, maybe there's too many complaints now....... or maybe you are the TCD Rep cockneygirl?

I really hope you have a good flight cockney girl, although I suspect that even you had the worst flight ever with the longest delays ever recorded you'd still support TCD - maybe you're getting a discount? Or maybe you own the Company? Matter closed as far as I am concerned, I have 'aired' my views, surely thats what this forum is all about, for people to share their experiences and views, positive and negative.

No im not anything to do with tcd they probably dont even read this forum,to be honest i would be p-d off with the 26 hour delay,i just hope i dont suffer the distress others have on here,going in july so keep fingers crossed.

hi cockney girl,
well I did definitely started something with this thread. I am a bit like you, I have had good service with them, I am still a little concerned about my next flight, I am going sunshine upper deck, march next year. Some people have answered my question about the upper deck, but I look at it as travelcity are not the only onces with delays. I have got the impression the delays are more at the other aiports than gatwick. One question if anyone could answer me, when I go on holiday can I check to see if my flight is leaving ok, would I do that on the gatwick internet site.
thanks
blakey

hi im the person who posted early about the really long delay. I forgot to mention that there was a 2 hour delay coming back as well. But the thing that really frustrates me is why do they lie so much.

The monday we came back, we had to phone up TCD for the flight details, they said its on time. so we thought oh "thats alrite then, the plane should already be at the airport" .when we go to the airport we find that after 2 hours in the airport our plane as just landed from gatwick. They said it was on time, surly they know if its still halve way over the atlantic theres going to be a bit of a delay.

I mentioned about the 4 hour delay going to sanford at the start. They said that they couldnt print somthing off so we coludnt take off. After 2 hours of that, the pilot told us that there wasa problem with the engine. so they lied to us again.

My friends head phones didnt work properly, they were just on constantly on loud, the volume would not work. A hotel in brighton is not quite a villa in florida

I've posted comments about Excel Airways in a previous thread, but thought I'd update you here as well.

TCD, Excel Airways and Air Atlanta are all owed by Avion group. Our family were delayed for 14.5 hours 10/11th July Manchester to Sanford. Still awaiting any sensible response from TCD and Excel following my complaint letter.

Done some research on these three desparadoes. Check out the Manchester Airport web site www.manairport.co.uk and use their interactive flight arrivals/departures search. I've just checked flights arriving from Sanford (TCD with 5A flight number prefixes). It's a disaster at the moment. The flight that shoould have arrived 21st Aug at 10am appears to have arrived 24 hours late, the flight due to arrive today (22nd) at 10:00 is expected tomorrow (23rd) at 10:00. Another has been cancelled completely.

Departures are similarly affected.

This is by no means a one-off. 30/31st July weekend was equally bad with a 24 and a 29 hour delay.

Excel emailed me to assure me they have a 15 (working) day deadline to respond to written complaints. It's now 16 working days and as yet, no response.

I've already booked for next year main holiday. Jet2 to Nice. Together with Easyjet they offer a relatively trouble-free service unlike TCD/Air Atlanta/Excel. You've been warned !

yer tell me about it i was in that 24 hour delay on the 31st july.
There so dreadful. its seems to be a regular thing

I hope it gets better next july,i dont mind a couple of hours delay at sanford the children love the games room but not on the way out

I was on the 10th july tcd flight out of manchester to sandford, I am still waiting for my sensible response from tcd.this weekends delays are due to a bird flying into an engine of a tcd plane read the disscussion forum on travel city direct web site.

we were on the 28th july 2pm flight 22 hour delay. 11am flight 26 hours never never again. we were told that this and been going on a good 4 weeks befor. this is no way to run a airline. tcd and air atlanta should be told to clean there act up or clear out they will never get a penny off me again. we filled our forms in because we never even got sunshine upper.

well i hope my flight will be better its at the end of september so ill let you all know what happens hope there are no delays i dont mind smelly toilets or even bad airplane food my feelings its all bad food anyway ha ha just dont want any delays

We travelled to Orlando with TCD from Cardiff in the summer of 2004, we were obviously pleased, because we have already booked to go with them again in the summer of 2006.
However, my son has been watching the flight timings for Cardiff since the end of July, and they have been dreadful, 24hrs being the first he noted and anything between 6hrs and 24hrs since - I know it is a year till I travel, but I am really not looking forward to it!!!!!!!

tell me about it holiday ime going out of season so i hope everything will be back to normal flight wise so will have to see

I hope so mark for you and your familys sake

hi cockney girl was chatting with someone who got back last sunday and only had 4 and half hour delay so it seems to be getting there

We have just returned from Orlando after a two week holiday booked with TDC.

I can say postively that there were no delays whatsoever with both out outward journey (12 August 2pm) and inward journey (26 August 9 pm).

But I have some very negative things to say about the flight itself. The first is that I would not recommend anybody to fly Sunshine Upperdeck because the only difference from economy was 34 inch seat instead of 31 inch. TCD advertise an upgraded meal service now but when we booked last year in was advertised as an upgraded mean tray and service. We had nothing different to economy. Free drinks, we were offered ONE on the flight going out and coming back. When my husband went to the attendant and asked for a drink for our son (two hours left to fly) we were told everything was closed up.

The first thing that the attendants do is come round with a snack trolly which you have to pay for. Not a drinks trolly!!!!!! We should have had a welcome aboard drink on sunshine upperdeck we got NOTHING, but the attendants passed through our deck to get to first class and offered them their welcome aboard drink.!!

Priority check in was a joke at Sanford, everybody was queing up when the flight was called.

But the best joke of all was priority baggage, we were in the last ten people to leave the airport at Sanford when we eventually got out bags, and exactly the same at Manchester when we got back and they lost one of our cases also. As you can imagine I am still very angry about having to pay £129 extra for WHAT...... the letter of complaint is on its way.