I have booked my flydrive to Florida in Sep 2006 with this company & have today received a letter stating that the flight numbers have changed from 5A to XLA. The flights on the TCD branded boeing 747 will operate under Excel Airways numbers & there is no change to the service.

However, after reading various reports of how bad Excel are Im worried!! Has anyone just come back from Florida & could provide info please. Im also travelling sunshine premium & would like info on this also.

Thanks!!!

Hi a friend of mine has travelled excel with no problems at all like yourself she was worried but as she said as long as it got her there with comfort thats ok,and it did.our flight was changed with tcd from friday to saturday 3 weeks ago which was a bit inconvenient as we were already booked into a hotel for the night.We have lost money now for the hotel but as long as all goes well then theres not a lot we could do about it

TCD branded aircraft are operated by Air Atlanta which in turn is part of the Avion group . Avion Group also own Excel Airways so effectively you are still flying with the same company. It maybe something to do with the summer 2005 charter flight delay statistics why there is a name change as Air Atlanta topped the table with 34.5% of all flights delayed by more than 1 hour.

Details on the caa website here http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/306/2005.pdf

also of interest http://www.aviongroup.com/

regards,

Nigel

Hi
We are flying out on Travelcity direct in july and was wondering if you can use Gameboys or PSP's on the aircraft as my 7 year old wants to take them, as we don't know what entertainment there is on the aircraft.
Thanks
Terry

Yes, you can, just not during takeoff or landing.

After waiting on the phone for a very long time I was given a quote for 7 nights in Las Vegas 2nd November full package as I was curious to see if they were cheap and the quote I received was £300 per person dearer than the first quote I had from another compant so looks like they aren't cheap for Las Vegas.

John

Hi,

I have used TCD 3 times before and have booked again for this september (06). I have come to expect delays with this company, especially on the return flights from Sanford! I have never had a delay of more than 4 hours though!
I have always booked villas with this company and usually don`t have any problems. Any problems with the villa is usually dealt with by the property management company.
The way I see it is, i use them to get me there and then following on from that i have no ties to them until the return flight!
One question I do have as its been 2 years since i used them last is that the flight prefixes are changing from TCY or 5A to XLA which are excel airways flight no`s. Where do you check in for these flights? Checking on manchester airports which terminal list its says XLA is term 2. But some reports i`ve read say check in at the station?? And then board from Term 1! Can anybody shed any light on this? Cheers?

Hi Bman

You'll find a thread dedicated to Excel HERE, you should be able to find the info you require in that thread.

Pippy

I believe that from 1st May this year they are changing to T2 but we have not had that confirmed yet.
Sue

I suppose i`ll just call them after May when they have changed the flight prefixes. Fingers crossed I don`t have too much of a delay in september but i`ll be letting you all know!! Thanks

My sister has now had it confirmed in writing that they are moving to T2 from 1st May this year.
Sue

Thanks very much for the info. I`ll leave a post after my hols and let everyone know my experiences!

Thanks for the info Sue, do you know if the letter said anything about checking in at the station still or do you check in at T2 now? Cheers

Can anyone help? I'm travelling to Florida in September with Travel city direct, I've never used this company before and wondered what food they allow you to take on board because my youngest daughter is very fussy when it comes to food and she won't eat airline meals!? After reading this thread I'm hoping I've done the right thing by booking with tcd as their reputation doesn't sound that good!maybe I should have gone with ocean Florida instead! Tcd have already cancelled my flights twice, hope they're alright on the day, fingers crossed!

I don't think any airline has restrictions as to what food you can take on board...surely? Obviously they aren't going to be too pleased if you take a TV dinner and ask them to stick it in the microwave for 5 minutes, but any cold items would be fine. But perhaps I am a few years behind the times and now airlines do have restrictions on the food you can bring on board... if they do, to me that seems ridiculous.

Just come back with Travelcity direct, a nightmare, two day delay. They use old planes and are prone to breaking down.

steve

*Edit to remove unauthorised advertising link. Pippy*

2 day delay ,was it in this country or florida,we have travelled with tcd twice before with no probs,but so far we have also had a flight changed from friday to saturday,hopefully all else will be okay

Hi solo
I have used them twice, the flight has always been good, my son and I never eat, we take on sausage rolls, crisps etc. My husband eats the food and thinks its good. The drinks are free, they dont keep coming around with them, either ask them or go and get them. I have always felt the cabin crew were nice, for instance, as I have said my son doesnt eat, but one of the lady cabin crew offered my son her lunch, yes ok we were in sunshine upper deck, but it was still a nice offer. Travel city had a bad time last year, and like you I was really worried even though I had travelled with the year before, try and relax all airline have there troubles.They have their own website forum, I dont know if they like you putting it on here, I will put it, they may take it off, but here goes.www.travelcitydirect.com click onto attractions and it should say forum click onto it.

toni best wishes

In my opinion, Travel City are an awful company. I will never use them again & I have actively put friends off them. They are always having break downs etc with their planes. If I had known in 2001 what I know now I would not have touched them with a barge pole.