TCD - honest opinions please!!! Never used them...

[bazzanoid]

Hi all,

We've always flown with VA for our florida trips. I've read a fair bit about TCD, and since their price is currently about £600 less for standard economy (main cabin, as they call it) than VA for our upcoming October trip (14 nights, flydrive with fully inclusive car insurance and intermediate 4-door car), we are seriously considering using them for the first time.

Does anyone have an opinion on their service in comparison to VA? I know they fly into Sanford rather than Orlando but for the several hundred pound saving i don't mind spending an extra $10 - $15 on petrol and a bit longer in the car!!!!

Also, anyone know which car hire company they use?

Cheers!

(two worried disney fans!)

 

[kirlie91]

Using them for the second time on May 13th - havent had any problems.

Car firm they use is Dollar.

No need to worry in my opinion

 

[bazzanoid]

how many movies do they show and do their flights have seat-back tv's as standard?

 

[jdybnsn]

We have used Virgin in the past but like you, fly drive prices from TCD tempted us - £1210 2A/2C Econ. car (which of course they don't have ! so upgraded free) in Feb 06.

After reading so many horror stories I must say we were dreading it !

But the reality is (or was) ....it is EXACTLY like any charter you would get going to Greece or Spain etc. - but longer !!

.....which is not surprising as this firm operates charters all around Europe.

Of course they can get problems ....and these are just the same as any charter flight problems you may be unlucky enough to encounter flying on holiday within Europe; delays , cancellations, headphones not working, etc..

......but I am pleased to report it was all plain sailing on our trip ( we arrived early both ways in fact ) and the £800 we saved on our flights almost paid for our Disney 4 night cruise. !!!

We loved the Guest House at Sanford too - highly recommend it - very good value for money ! Infact prefer Sanford as much smaller than Orlando and alot less hectic.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Never flown with them and have always used VA - however, they have been discussed on here many times and seem to get mixed reviews.
I am sure if you search on TCD , you will get more than enough info (although you may well end up more confused than ever)....

 

[Miffy2003]

Remember that people are always quicker to talk about negatives than positives

There has been a lot of criticism levelled at Virgin lately too. All airlines get it sometimes

What I am trying to say is that you may find TCD fine, and if it saves you a chunk of money that's good news

 

[bazzanoid]

Do Dollar at Sanford offer a choice of cars as you get with alamo at Orlando Int'l, or do they just wheel one in your selected class out to you?

 

[brer rabbit 28]

from what i recall you just get a car suited to the reservation you made-although they offer you upgrades at the airport if you want one.
I wave the flag for TCD!Have flown with them several times now and i can't knock them at all.Upgrading to sunshine premium is well worth it if you want a bigger seat and priority boarding (extra luggage allowance too).

I appreciate a lot of people slate them on this site,but as an earlier poster said,we are always very quick to complain if we get bad service.

Aside from all that-they are cheap as chips!!I'd rather have the extra money to spend on Mickey

 

[mushumadness]

have my 6th and 7th trip booked with them for this year and next year

I like them, last travelled with them dec 06 had a great time

 

[vicky1bfc]

We traveled with them last year and had no problem's at all.We would definately use them again with the amount you save.

 

[bazzanoid]

Thanks all!

I think the cost saving is too great to ignore - equates to £200 each since there's three of us.. having weighed up the pros and cons (virgin has individual tvs, closer to our villa, etc)!!! Easy enough to justify spending an extra bit of time in the car and about $10 extra on gas for a large saving... especially as it's the best part of four month's overtime money i'd be saving!!!!!

 

[lisagirlyUK]

We did a package with TCD in 2004. Had a nightmare trip - 12 hour delay on the way out and 8 hour delay on the way back - not much fun when you are pregnant and trying to keep a 3 year old amused. We were livid and swore never to use them again - but guess what!! we are flying with them again next year! It was an airplane problem and I am sure the same delays would have happened with any company - I just wish we had gone after them for some compo now though!!!

 

[Disney owl]

Used them once with no problems & would use again.

No seat back tv's which would have been nice but as we went in August it was the cost that swung it for us.

 

[bazzanoid]

We're going to take our laptop and a couple of adventure games to pass the time!!!

Anyone experience any problems getting the whole family seated together?

And.... luggage allowance.. a hot topic with VA lately, but how much do tcd offer - it states 20Kg on their website but doesn't say if it's one or two cases at 20Kg...?

 

[Mad4WDW]

This September will be our first time with TCD, and like others, we were worried about all the horror stories, but if the worst is a possibly 2-3 hour delay, then it's still worth it considering the money you save.

The baggage allowance is 20 in total per person not per bag, so it is well worth paying that little bit more for the extra baggage allowance, I think it's like £15.

About the sitting together, that concerned us too. We have upgraded to the middle upgrade, and asked about sitting together, and customer service told us that with the upgrade, there is no need to prebook seats and the three of us will automatically be seated together. We are still a little apprehensive about this, even tho two different people at TCD told us the same. Anyone have any reports of how they seat a party after upgrading?

 

[lexie32]

Sorry to rain on your fire, but a 2 or 3 hour delay is not the worst that could happen, we flew with them sept last year and were delayed 23 hours on the way out and 3 on the way back, after following their flights and arrival times closely last summer due to warnings on the web lets just say i was not surprised when we were told of a delay at check in!!

Apart from the delay i could not fault the service from the air staff or the plane itself you definatley get what you paid for and i found the seats better than vigin.

It seems with the recent buy out TDC are starting to sort themselves out and i have not seen so many majorly delayed flights recently and they seem to have spare aircraft available for emergencys now.

I will probably try them again if this trend continues, but i never want to book with a company again, where i am not surprised but a 23 hour delay, as this meant missing a whole day of my precious holiday.

Alex

 

[carolfoy]

I flew out with virgin last november (12th) and we had a seven hour delay, the people who due to go out on the 12 o clock flight after us had a 23 hour delay and had to stay overnight in gatwick - they too missed a day of their holidays. It can happen to any aircraft at any time! I had a 24 hour delay coming back from St Lucia with BWIA and was wishing I had been travelling with Virgin when I met up with friends at LGW after I'd got back the same had happened to their Virgin flight - it'd got as far as Barbados before holing up for 24 hours!

 

[jomf]

We did a package with TCD in 2004. Had a nightmare trip - 12 hour delay on the way out and 8 hour delay on the way back - not much fun when you are pregnant and trying to keep a 3 year old amused. We were livid and swore never to use them again - but guess what!! we are flying with them again next year! It was an airplane problem and I am sure the same delays would have happened with any company - I just wish we had gone after them for some compo now though!!!

Not much point going after compo, they don't give it!! Been trying for months now to get even the most basic amount for the 20+ hours delay. They won't pay a penny. We lost a days holiday, car hire and hotel booked direct and the use of a days park tickets. Like getting blood from a stone!

 

[lizzysmith]

Been there and done it with TCD. Never again. We go on holiday to relax not to get stressed hanging about in airports for hours on end.
Its no good people telling you that every airline has delays because most people know that. Its just that this lot have far more than there fair share.


Lizzy

 

[lexie32]

Been there and done it with TCD. Never again. We go on holiday to relax not to get stressed hanging about in airports for hours on end.
Its no good people telling you that every airline has delays because most people know that. Its just that this lot have far more than there fair share.


Lizzy

Well they definatley did last summer!!