First Choice flights

[jinky]

I have booked flights with first choice(into Sandford) for September and was wondering if anyone had flown with them before and if so any feedback??
many thanks

[Curly Wurly]

Hi,

Flew with Unijet (under First Choice umberella) in Sept 2003 from Manchester to Sanford. To be fair, the flights were okish but we had a smaller plane than planned because of a fault that developed on one which consequently meant our flight was delayed for 2 hours (not bad in todays terms!) We had priority booking but still didn't manage to all get sat together. The cabin crew were ok but as in most planes there wasn't much leg room at all. The food wasn't anything to write home about either - all in all nothing special, nothing bad!

[julieanne]

We're flying with First Choice for the first time at the end of May.
I'll let you know about the flight when I get back..........

[Rich-n-Ang]

We are flying with First Choice in July, if you look on their website they are launching their "New Standard in Longhaul Flying" this month so it will be interesting to get peoples opinions of the new service, according to the website they have a 33" seat pitch as standard.

[ali and boyz]

we are flying with MY Travel in July, Would love tohave flown with Virgin etc but unfortunately not an option when flying from Glasgow as we need a direct flight. We were originally booked with Thomson but it has been changed. Heard quite a few bad reports but to be honest they have very accommodating so far re my DS so fingers crossed.

[jinky]

thanks all please let me know how you all get on
thanks

[Neatfeat]

I've been looking for a last minute flight for next week and I see Unijet are now flying from East Midlands (50 mins away from home)

Those that went in May 05 any feedback? Has anyone been from East Midlands?

Thanks

Anita

[nicklangdon]

We flew from gatwick to sanford in may with First Choice and the flight was great.The planes are newly refurbished out with better leg room (perfect),the food was ok (dinner outbound was nice/breakfast return was yuck!)Seat entertainment was great -i liked the map/info feature so you could see where you were and the choice of things to watch was good but what is worth doing is the £5 entertainment upgrade (you then get the same as 1st class)so you can start films when you want,get to watch the newer films etc.We've booked to fly again in January with them (i'll just take extra snacks for breakfast this time!!!) [msnsmile]

[owen3]

flew with first choice last july, and also in september 2004. food was ok, had tv in the seat. staff were really good nothing was to much for them. but the flight coming back last september was not to good, they put us on an old plane, when we were almost home they announced that this was the last flight for the plane, as it was going to be s[bad language filtered out]ped. if i had known that before i would not of got on the plane. barbara

[owen3]

flew with my travel in june this year, staff not to good. tried to land at sanford three times, then got diverted to mco. kept on the plane for over 6 hours, customs would not let us off. i know it was not the staffs fault, but we were not told any details, why we could not get off. we asked for food, which they would not give us. they only gave you water. all the kids were hungry and fed up. i am afraid that is not good enough. they would not let anybody buy crisps or snacks. i would think twice before i flew with them again. barbara

[julieanne]

If you get one of the newly refurbished planes I think you will enjoy your flight - if you don't then it's pot luck I'm afraid...

[millie]

Friends of mine have just returned from travelling to Florida with First Choice. Their owtward trip was what they paid for. Good leg room, TVs etc. However on the way back their plane was down graded and they had a plane which would have been suitable for a 2 hour hop to Spain but not a transatlantic flight. They were cramped in on tiny hard chairs with no TVs and no decent facilities. They had to stop to re-fuel but were not allowed off the plane so had to sit there for an hour and a half with the engines off - NO AIR CON! Then on home.

They have said they will NEVER book a First Choice holiday again. They paid for the service they got on the way out but did not get it on the way back.

Going by that they have a lot to learn if they want Virgins business.......

[julieanne]

If FC could stick to using there own planes I think they would do themselves a lot of good. But as long as they keep using sub-standard replacement planes they will lose custom.

Would have thought they were over any inital problems with the refurbished planes now - why do they keep swapping aircraft???

[amy]

barbara, our friends were on your flight in June and have said never again, they would prefer to pay extra and fly Virgin or BMI. They were trying to help other family members out by using cheaper flights. But as the saying goes you get what you pay for[msnsad]

[julieanne]

I've got to say our return flight with FC was great and very good value for what we paid.
Whether I'd risk booking with them again and chancing a repeat of our outward journey - I don't know...

[owen3]

Amy did your friends complain to my travel. i did not bother as you never get a reply from them. we asked to see the captain to find out what was going on. could not speak to him. by the time i got to my villa, i had been travelling 24 hours. barbara

[Frosty]

Have flown twice with First choice this year, the new planes are very nice and the entertainment system is very good.
We flew in their premeir class, which is a poor mans 1st class, i suppose, but its still very good.

Compared with Virgin, when you take into account the difference in cost, i would choose FC.
Now if i had the money to afford Virgin Premium Economy then i would obviously choose them.

But for a 6'4" bloke like me, the premeir class of FC was more than enough, don't know about the standard class though.

Also the board first rule and first off baggage is really handy, worth the extra money.

[Rich-n-Ang]

We have recently returned and flew with First Choice from Manchester to Sanford, we have previously flown with Virgin and Britannia to Orlando and found First Choice to be better than both.

We were in the standard cabin and there was loads of legroom (33”), comfortable leather seats (although they are quite a sickly turquoise colour), excellent seat back TV entertainment (which can be upgraded onboard for £5 per screen which gives extra films and games, the films can then be started whenever you like, paused, FF etc.), I spent a good couple of hours playing Battleships with my Nephew who was sitting 2 rows behind me (I’m sure he kept looking at my screen though [msnwink]) and dare I say the food was the best we’ve ever experienced on a flight.

[julieanne]

Glad you enjoyed your FC flight Rich and Ang.

I think the FC flights are vey good value - I had no problem with the FC flight, I enjoyed it as much as you can enjoy a 10 hour flight!!. All our problems were with the Icelandic Air flight they used for our outward flight.