Honest Opinions.... re:Air Transat

[tigger2on]

Ok... after our last trip with JetsGo, I am thinking of going Air Transat to Florida in Sept. Does anyone have any comments or opinions on this airline????

 

[Scratch42]

Charter is a Charter!

Remember last year they ripped us off an entire day? No compensation whatsoever!

You are better off Shuffling off to Buffalo and using Southwest!

Scratch

 

[mom22belles]

And while we had no real issues with the service we found the plane cramped ie ; no leg room and packed.

Nancy

P.S. I should mention that my family includes my FIL. He uses a wheel chair and because of Air Transat prebooking option we where unable to get a bulk head seat. My FIL cleary needed one due to a fixed knee artifcal leg. These seats had already been sold when we tried to prebook (at 2 weeks out). We could only get seats together around row 20. Air Transat was helpful pushing him down the jet way and offering the aisle chair. All in all I wouldn't fly with them again with FIL or for a long flight

 

[Amberle3]

Jetsgo is *supposed* to be operating as a regular discount carrier, not a charter.

Air Transat is definitely charter. They can change their flight schedule at any point with no compensation necessary. The problem with that, as opposed to a regular scheduled carrier (like Jetsgo is supposed to be) is that charters typically only have one flight a week to a particular destination. What that means is that if your flight is delayed you have to wait until it comes in. If you're with a regular carrier there are usually multiple flights each day so at least there are a few more options.

I'm anxiously awaiting Westjet's announcement of their US flight schedules. They were supposed to made it on June 1.

 

[mcms]

I've never used Air Transat, but did use Canada 3000 when they were still in existence and I would never use charter again. The first time wasn't too bad, but the second one our Toronto bound flight that was supposed to leave MCO at 9:00 in the morning didn't leave till 9:00 at night....what a nightmare. While I have never done this myself I know many people who go to Buffalo and fly from there on a scheduled airline. That would be the way I would do it if I had a choice.

 

[wee-haggis]

I've use Air Transat for every trip to Florida (including my upcoming ).
I've never had a problem .
Sure,its a bit tight leg wise but its only 2 hrs and 45 mins so its no big deal.
I also like the real early flight time (6-30am) .
The airport is empty,the check in is easy and the car rental pick up at the other end is a breeze (theres hardly anyone around).
Sure, you have to kill a few hours before you can check in to the hotel ...but ,heh your in WDW ...I'm sure you can find something to keep you amused!

 

[mom_rules]

Believe it or not-some seats on AirTransat ARE bigger than others-DD found this out the hard way-on a flight to Europe. Seat there was way smaller (outside aisle seats) than the inside seats. When I called to rebook her seat for the way home they told me which rows and seats were actually bigger (DD is thrilled since she searched out her return seat for the way home -biggest, roomiest she could find-and I actually booked that exact seat for her).

 

[BeamsofLight]

So many non-DIS-friendly things come to mind when I think of Air Transat.. must control myself.

Let's just say that we booked AT for our June trip, against my better judgement, and have subsequently booked another night at Disney and a flight home on JetsGo to avoid having to fly home with AT. If I could have found another way to get there without breaking the bank, I would have gladly taken the $700 hit and just dumped the AT tickets altogether.

We have had nothing but problems with them. This includes previous flights we've taken as part of different vacation packages - the ones that made me convinced several years ago I would never fly with them again.

After the 14th, I will definitely, positively, never ever ever, even if they paid me, fly with them again.

Just my experience. Your mileage may very.

 

[CJK]

Wow, I'm surprised to read these negative posts about AT! While it's certainly not a luxury airline, we've never had any problems with them. You're cramped in, but it's a short flight to Orlando so we never minded that too much. We're using them again for our next trip.

 

[robsawatsky]

I should mention that my family includes my FIL. He uses a wheel chair and because of Air Transat prebooking option we where unable to get a bulk head seat. My FIL cleary needed one due to a fixed knee artifcal leg. These seats had already been sold when we tried to prebook (at 2 weeks out).

Under Canadian Air Transport regulations regarding passengers with disabilities, if those bulkhead seats would have been most appropriate for your FIL, then Air Transat is obligated to re-assign those seats unless the passengers assigned are also disabled or the row has restrictions due to being an emergency exit. However, this would only apply to FIL and not the rest of the family unless he requires an attendent.

 

[tmli]

I used AT 2 years ago and have ressies for this Sept. It's a little cramped, no frills. But they got us there alive and on time with no problems. We were going to fly Southwest out of Buffalo then got a real good deal on AT from TO so booked it.

Our flight times have changed already though. We were supposed to leave here at 1:00 p.m. but now are leaving at 6:30 a.m. This we though was better. Coming home we were supposed to leave at 5:00 and now are leaving around 11:00.

In our case this change worked in our favor, we like the new times better.

I think you have to calculate the dollar difference and decide if the Charter is worth the money saved. For us in this case it was. We are only paying $274 incl all taxes etc.

 

[Snowwark]

I booked Air Transat also, for our flights in September. I think I've flown with them before, but I can't remember for sure.

I would rather of flown with AC, but the price would of been almost doubled. Definitely the deciding factor.

We'll have to compare our experiences when we return!

 

[mom_rules]

Here's hoping AC still flying after Sept 30th. We have flights booked for October.

 

[Amberle3]

I spent a long time on the phone with Air Canada earlier this week, and had a bit of a discussion with the res agent about their whole situation. She told me that their feeling is that they should be quite safe, her reasoning is this:

Apparently the bigwigs in the Federal government get free seats on Air Canada. If they let it go under, then they have to pay for their tickets.

And despite the fact that it makes news frequently up here, it's not that much of a concern in the US. Virtually all their big airlines are in much worse shape financially than Air Canada is. Delta's debt is several times what AC's is.

Worry more about United - their codeshare partner for the US side. United is trying to file for bankruptcy protection, again.

 

[mom_rules]

Okay - so is this a double whammy? Our AC flight is being operated by United-so what happens then?

 

[Amberle3]

If United goes under - which isn't likely, since it's been a while since one of the majors went under in the US thanks to multiple gov't handouts - then one of the others has to step in to take over the immediately affected passengers. If United goes under and AC is still running then I'm guessing that AC will have to do the route completely. Which can only make AC more valuable really.

The point is that United (and others) are in much worse shape than AC, and so far no one in the US is in a panic about it.