Travelcity direct

[danazara]

Does anyone have any information about European Airlines used by Travelcity Direct. I went with Airtours on my last trip to Orlando, but this time round I needed a flydrive for 21 nights and this was the only airline that could accomodate! Has anybody travelled with this airline, and what is it like to get an upgrade with them, if you arrive early at the airport to check in?

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

There was an extensive thread about them on here recently yuou might want to take a look at:

http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2544&SearchTerms=tcd

[danazara]

Thanks for your help, all I can say at least I'm traveling with BA on the way back!
quote:Originally posted by floridadreamvilla.co.uk

There was an extensive thread about them on here recently yuou might want to take a look at:

http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2544&SearchTerms=tcd

[MTP]

Danzara, I am sure that we would all love to hear your comments once you are back.

Best wishes,

Euan

[orlandobabe]

we managed 21 nights with Travelcity Direct from Newcastle in May. We went with Monarch on a pretty new plane (airbus):D but it didn't have the tv screens on the back of the seats:(

[campers moll]

There must be SOMEONE who has flown Travel City this year (post re-furb)on an actual TCD plane!
We've had a competitive price from them (competitive as in the charters are reducing prices to sell the seats)
With 6 of us (only two get to be kids now)a £25 per head difference isn't to be sneezed at. Seat pitch only really affects me and himself with the wallet. Toilets are needed by all and the boys will be quite happy to spend the whole flight playing on their gameboys. Harry potter's coming too....

Any problems playing Gameboys and walkmans on flights?

[athurstance]

I haven't travel with TCD so can't comment but we always use our gameboys with no problems at all. They are a great way to pass the time on long flights. I always buy a new game for each of us and we pass them round.

[campers moll]

Phoned My Travel this morning to find out their seat pitch - 26" TWENTY SIX INCHES are they kidding??? no wonder they don't advertise that!. Phoned TCD, they've quoted me cheaper than My Travel and offer 31" pitch. Looks like I'll be taking my own sarnies and comode and going TCD! Pre-warned is pre-armed :D

[campers moll]

Well I've booked our flight through Travel City Direct including car hire. The price is slightly more than My Travel, but it includes 31" pitch as opposed to 26" with My Travel (airtours). The car hire is through Budget so I expect we will have to wait ages and ages to get the motor.

I have taken on board all the previous comments regarding TCD. As I said previously prewarned is pre-armed. You pays your money... So I expect toilets to not work and food that tries to pass as rubberbands. I should probably expect to suffer delays both here in in the states. I will pack a bottle of water for each of us, numerous packets of pringles, biscuits, sweeties, books and batteries for the gameboys:D

Why do I do this? because there is 6 of us and the flight is only a means to an end. If I spend £1000 more on flights, thats £1000 less spending money.

Looking forward to 18 September, counting the days [:o)][:o)][:o)]

[Carla]

Don't blame you at all Lindsey. That GB£1000 is the equivalent of around US$1680 at the moment, which is US$280 each to spend on a 5 day Disney Hopper Plus Pass!!

Have a great holiday and let us know please if standards have really improved, as promised.

[Gillian-B]

I thought I read somewhere that the seat pitch long-haul has to be at least 28" (although I may be wrong). 26" is crazy!

As for Budget car hire, we booked with them once as a last minute for a couple of days (from Miami) and didn't have any problems at all.

Gillian

[SunLover]

I'm sure it will all be fine Lindsey .. after all ... if the flight is naff at least you know the destination is fantastic :D

[Derek]

We flew with TCD on the European charter jumbo..The one with the brown tail or was it yellow ? ...anyway....We were due to leave Manchester on June 28 at about 2.00pm but due to the baggage door being jammed shut we had a 6 hour delay.All the luggage that belonged to the passengers that had just landed was passed one bag at a time through the hole where the front wheel is on the 747.....Apparently a third of the luggage went back to Sanford with us because they didn't have enough time to get it off.....We left Manchester with 10 minutes to spare on our crews flight hours...any later and we would have needed a new crew and would not have left until the next day..........The plane was old and it was hard to believe that it had been refurbished , my arm rest was held together with tape!!! we had row 20 which were bulkhead seats with plenty of legroom and didn't book in advance , we just got to the airport early , check in was 4 hours before the flight so we got there half an hour before check in opened....The cabin crew were very good and kept a constant supply of free drinks and snacks on the go....Food was the usual airline food, there is no way anyone would eat this stuff if they were not on a plane..The flight out only took 7 hours so maybe the pilot burnt some extra fuel, pity they can't go that fast all the time.....We were out of the airport in 15 minutes ,picked the van up from dollar and was on I4 within 30 minutes of leaving the aircraft.Sanford may not have the shops etc. of MCO but for getting in and out fast it is a dream...The flight back was on another jumbo....this one was all white with the blue euro flag with the gold stars on the tail...It was a lot newer and everything was fine except the sound system didn't work for the movies....not just mine but everyones.....took just over 7 hours to get back .
When the stewards do the safety checks before take off have a look at the lifejackets.....Written on them is "property of British Airways".....

All in all the only problem is the age of the planes..and if all the planes were up to the standard of the one we flew home on ,then there wouldn't be a problem....you get free drinks , more leg room and it's cheaper than virgin but at the end of the day you get what you pay for.



A letter of apology was waiting on the doormat from TCD....I don't know if this is standard from airlines because this was the first big delay we have had in fifteen visits to the USA and we have used most of the charters and virgin,ba,continental and AA.

If anyone needs any more info just shout.

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

Derek

I think the flight you came home on was the refurbished planes and the one that you went out was not. I say this because the all white with the stars against blue on the tail is the new European colours - I'd assume they are repainting the aircraft as they refurbish them.

[Derek]

The plane we flew out on

/forums/Data/200371822727_AirlinersNetPhotoID286540.jpg

[Derek]

the plane we flew home on

/forums/Data/2003718221146_AirlinersNetPhotoID383468.jpg

[foghorn]

Also after scouring the net, TC Attraction Tickets are the cheapest!

[foghorn]

Hi,
Sorry for short reply earlier???
Going by TC in October School Holidays. 2 x Adults, 2 x 8 year olds, Two weeks, Hotel, Car, flying from Manchester, Saturday 2.00pm, all for Two Grand..Can't grumble!:)

Will post after trip...[8D]

[Dopeysfriend]

Just got back today after flying by TCD. The staff were friendly, the food was as good as you get on an airline, free drinks and the legroom was okay for cattle class. The only problem was a 1 hour wait for luggage at Sanford and one and a half hours wait at Manchester. Very tired. Going to sleep now.

[mikewj]

We've only ever flown with TCD once and that was on a My Travel (old Airtours) plane last June.

We were a bit worried after seeing Airtours at the bottom of a reliability chart a couple of months earlier, but it was a lot cheaper than the competition so we decided to go for it.

Whilst a bit cramped (most planes are for a 6ft 4inch chap like myself), the flight to Orlando was on time with decent enough food and entertainment.

It was the 10hr delay on the flight back to Manchester that was the real killer, especially for the people we'd met who had small children and had been forced to spend the entire day at Sanford airport (if you don't know Sanford, there's not much there).

Forunately for us, we'd found out before handing our car back, so after checking our luggage in, we drove back to Disneyworld for the day.

Another My Travel flight bound for Gatwick at the same time had been delayed for 24hrs !!

[chrisj]

We once had a 14 hour delay at Miami,. but they never told us when we booked in just
kept giving hourly updates. Now that was bad enough but 24HRS

[Easty]

We've just returned (with Virgin) from 10 days out in Indian Ridge Oaks and we left two of our friends there who were out for 2 weeks. They flew out with TCD and managed to get £100 upgrades to first class for the flight out and loved it! Their flight was even with the upgrade about £150 cheaper than out Virgin flights which I didn't think were anything special either by the way!

Will find out how they find cattle class on the way back!!

Paul

[Easty]

OK just spoken to friends who returned last weekend on TCD.......they were upgraded to first class again on return leg, so for about £600 each that was a first class flight in August including basic car. They love TCD despite all the other views on here!!

Guess the plan is to try and get cheap upgrade?

[grant_w]

I've been with TCD 3 times now with absolutely no problems at all and I'm going to use them again when I book for next year. They are the cheapest by far

[Chris7]

I have no axe to grind either way here as I've never used TCD, but I do notice that many of the contributors who have had no troble with them are "first time" (or nearly first time) posters.;)

[caroline]

Very interesting observation Chris7

[MrEktion]

Hi Chris,

Do I take it you mean that anyone extolling the virtue of TCD has no other experiences to compare it against?

I am a new poster here but I am about to embark on my 6th visit to Orlando and my 5th since 1997. I have travelled each time from Manchester non-stop on charters and with Virgin. The Non-stop thing is important to me as I have young children and the journey time is best kept as short as possible.

TCD is usually the cheapest Manchester non stop option, they have 31" seat pitch in economy and it is therefore in general more comfortable than MyTravel, TC, Brittania etc and about the same as a BA or Virgin flight in terms of legroom.

The European 747's they use are basically ex-BA planes with ex-BA seats and facilities. The type of plane is a 747-200 series which is the same plane as Virgin use from Manchester (Virgin lease it too, from Air Atlanta Icelandic) so the seats and facilites are similar. The main difference is the inflight entertainment is in the seats on the Virgin flight but not on the European. In addition some of the fringe benefits on Virgin like a goody bag etc are not available from Eurpean but all in all the experience has not been unpleasant flying European.

I too have no axe to grind and have read some of the horror stories on this site but I am sure there are horror stories about every operator, I can only speak about my limited experiences of European/TCD so far. The only problem I can see with TCD is the lack of back-up if the flight has technical problems but again this is probably the same for Virgin and any other charter operating from Manchester.

I'll let you all know the result of our latest trip when we are back in September, hopefully this post isn't a hostage to fortune :D

Mr Ektion



Whilst

:D

[margaretb]

I have flown with TCD four times and only had a problem with delayed flights the first time. Flew with them again as I couldn't find any airline that can anywhere near their prices. Have booked a villa with them once, it was brand new and excellant. Also stayed on International Drive with them and that was great. You can only speak as you find! Planes are old but the leg room is good.

[Lesley S]

We have travelled with Travel City as well and have been more than happy with their service.

[Chris7]

Hi Mr Ektion,

my observation wasn't so much that new posters didn't have anything to compare TCD to, as much as a possibility that perhaps some of them had a vested interest in supporting TCD (in case you weren't aware employees of TCD have posted here before without disclosing their connection). Incidently congratulations on being so well informed about the specification (and origin) of the TCD planes. I wouldn't have a clue who AA get their planes from ;)

[Easty]

Just like to add I have no connection with any airline either (I'm an accountant - quick plug!!) and the views on here were merely expressed to assist people's questions asked.

I am aware of the long, long thread previously where a TCD employee started posting in defence.

Incidently I have since found after my previous posts that there was indeed a 4 hour delay for our friends on the way out from Gatwick!!

[Chris7]

"....where a TCD employee started posting in defence" - I think it's great that an employee would come on to defend the performance of his employers. My problem was that he did it without disclosing his interest[}:)]

[MrEktion]

Hi Chris,

I realise now which thread you are refering to! I don't work for TCD either I sell plastic packaging.

Most of the information I got about the planes is from reading up on European Aviation Air Charter on the net. When TCD told us they were flying with European I thought it best to check them out before we booked last year.

A search on Airliners.net will get you the aircraft registrations for all their 747's and if you then search the net on the registrations you can find entries from the previous owners in this case all 5 were owned by BA until around September 2001 (I think BA offloaded them when they cut services after September 11th). One of the planes flying from Manchester this summer was used for Heathrow - New York JFK during 1999, another Gatwick - Orlando and Miami the same year. So I guess many of the people here have travelled on these planes at some time.

Another interesting fact about European is that they were owned by Paul Stoddard who runs the Minardi Formula 1 team. Minardi cars still have Eurpoean on the rear wings in Grand Prix. Sorry if I sound a bit of an Anorak here but I like to know who I'm flying with :D

Anyway we're off to Orlando soon so I'll let you know how it works out when we get back.

Mr Ektion

[MrEktion]

Out of interest I have just done the search again and I found a page listing all Europeans aircraft, they are currently waiting delivery of two ex-Virgin 747 planes currently stored in the Mojave desert (where redundant planes are stored due to the dry conditions) so looks like they will have two ex-Virgin spec planes soon.[8D]

Mr Ektion

[steph_goodrum]

"Out of interest I have just done the search again and I found a page listing all Europeans aircraft, they are currently waiting delivery of two ex-Virgin 747 planes currently stored in the Mojave desert (where redundant planes are stored due to the dry conditions) so looks like they will have two ex-Virgin spec planes soon"
I saw them last week, I think, on our travels round California. We thought it was an aeroplane "graveyard" and then realised some of the planes looked reasonably new and as we got to the sign found it was called something like the Civilian aircraft commissioning centre (my brother has probably even got them on video - he is definitely an anorak where planes are concerned. BTW the BA planes that went in Sept 2001 and some Virgin ones were already planned to go before 9/11. A travel agent friend had notification earlier in that summer that some of the planes were being retired and routes cut due to less passenger traffic, 9/11 gave them a better excuse when the cutbacks were publicised though to justify what they had already planned.

[kagguk]

http://www.airfleets.net/flottecie/?file=ficheopp&lang=en&opp=European%20Avtn

[SHERLOCK]

[8D]

I arrived back in Manchester on sat 14th September after booking a two week holiday with TCD, this was the fifth time Ive been to Florida and the second time ive stayed in a villa.


Firstly the plane I flew out and back on were extremly old. It looked good from outside but to be honest the inside was very dated and i found that to be a bit unerving. The entertainment was the old projector at the front on the cabin so if you are sat at the back (as we were) you couldn't see a thing especially with selfish idiots who like to stand the whole flight - and there were a few. The lights in one of the toilets didnt work, but the cabin crew were very good and for the 7hours 30 mins we were on it did the job. But the age of the plane concerned me. Also Manchester airport was a dead loss - the baggage system didnt work when we went out and the security checks were anything but secure, but we did leave ontime.

Secondly The villa and car hire were first rate. The villa was on the 192 and it was really something. Four of us went and loved every second of it. We will go with tcd again but I will not be looking forward to the flight. I also have nothing to do with tcd, but we did get a great deal.

[Chris7]

Well I guess you do get what you pay for, and I'd be prepared to "rough it" for a bargain, but a very old plane would bother me from a safety point of view. If they economise that far on what you can see, how often do they check the bits you can't see[:0]

Out of interest what sort of saving would you say you made over booking with a scheduled airline?

[floridadreamvilla.co.uk]

Chris

You should have nothing to worry about with the aircraft - it's extremely likely to have a UK CAA Public Transport Certificate Of Airworthiness - the CAA are about the most thorough avitation authority in the world and the standards they set are the basis for a lot of other countries.

The plane will be regularly stipped down to bare parts and every little bit of it inspected in great detail - I own a light aircraft on a CAA CofA and they do this for us too...you literally see the plane in bits in the hangar.

The cabin fittings may well be a little tatty (these are not essential to safe flight) but the underlying airframe will be very good. They simply would not be allowed to operate the aircraft if there was even an small element of doubt.

[chrisj]

I have an uncle who is an aircraft engineer and he confirms what John has said. Even though
they might be old and tatty inside, their air worthiness is not in question as they have to
have the same checks etc as all airlines. The only thing is that they may not have back up
planes like the bigger companies, and so if something does go wrong it could be a long wait. Mind
you this also happens to the big named companies as well

So the only choice to make is how much you want to pay, and do the little creature comforts
warrant the extra money.

[stephen williams]

Just done a quick survey on my past guests and found that over 80% have used TCD in the last two years. Without them I could not rent my villa , their prices are so much cheaper than the rest ie £159 January, Feb. I have paid £270 this October to fly from Cardiff and I booked this 1 year ago. I have also booked my flight for the 15 July 04 again direct from Cardiff £500, over £650 from London with BA or Virgin. I always gives out their phone no to guests, and I would like to thank TCD for the sevice they provide.
steve

[MrEktion]

Just back from our trip to Orlando. As stated above the inside of the plane is a bit tired but I am sure it is airworthy as European are a UK company with full CAA approval.

We had a good flight in each direction 8h 10m outbound (delayed due to a late passenger by 40 minutes on takeoff but arrived 20 minutes early in Sanford) and 7h 35m on return. I agree with comments on IFE being difficult to see if people are standing but I was able to watch 3 good new movies on the return when most people were sleeping. The crew as mentioned earlier were very good and the increased legroom over other charters not to mention free meals, drinks etc made for a very pleasant journey.

The most interesting thing for me was that we had a different plane for each journey. The outbound was the old livery European (yellow)with tired interior, the return was a new liveried European but with the same tired interior. I therefore think that the so called refurbished planes mentioned in other threads are just repainted on the outside.

We booked our Car and Villa independantly and saved money on the TCD prices for these as well as getting our choice of villa not allocation on arrival. Our villa was everything we had hoped it would be and more, a real credit to the owner.

As mentioned by Sherlock, Baggage operations at Manchester Terminal 1 are now beyond a joke. I travel through this airport about twice a month and find I am waiting on average 30 minutes for baggage on a small flight (737 or small Airbus) and over an hour for larger planes. This was also the case with our European flight which took about an hour to disembark all luggage. To add insult to injury our pushchair (the last thing loaded) was the last item off approx. 20 minutes after our 7 suitcases had arrived.

The good experiences I had with TCD before this trip have been further reinforced. I would say TCD/European is a good deal from Manchester (we don't often see Virgin prices at £299.00 from here unlike Gatwick). If you want good legroom, free meals and drinks, headsets etc can put up with a tatty interior and IFE screen on the bulkhead then for £269 in September from Manchester I don't think you can grumble. We had 6 people in our party and booked quite early but if we had needed only 2 seats we could have got flights this week for next week for £99!

I love flying with the scheduled carriers as much as anyone here but at prices like these and with scheduled non-stop prices being at least £150 per person more from Manchester you have to consider 'roughing it' with TCD:D

Mr Ektion

[Chris7]

We fly from Manchester, so I'll certainly consider them next time. Thanks for the info

[mikewj]

Unfortunately, TCD's deal with European Airlines doesn't apply to three week holidays.

If you want to travel for more than 14 nights, you are "downgraded" to a MyTravel charter flight into Sanford.

[Tashmina]

We have booked thru TCD for SEP04 - and compared to Virgin Direct prices for the same accomodation and car TCD have worked out nearly £600 less and we are flying 1st class!
Our initial flight is only £199 each (because we have also take car hire with them and booked so far in advance) and to upgrade to their 1st class is another £249 each...so why not! We are 2 very tall people so the extra leg room is worth it!

As many other people have mentioned...it's a mean to an end...a very enjoyable end at that!

By the way, how come Virgin is so pricey...we were quoted the same Virgin Deal thru TV Travel Shop for nearly £400 less than going thru Virgin directly?

[Funshine]

It doesn't make sense does it, you would think the airline could offer a better deal by cutting out the middleman!