Views on Travel City Direct

[CHRIS F]

We are considering using TCD in October as the package on offer is the best value etc, any good bad experiances?

When we were in WDW last year we spoke to a lot of people who sang their praises but we have recently seen some bad reviews as my wife suffers from a fear of flying this has made her reluctant to use them.

Also we are considering upgrading to upper cabin at £129 is it worth it?

Any comments would be appreciated.


Chris

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi Chris,

Personally we have never used TCD, however, they are a much discussed subject and I am sure you will get some feedback.

Have you tried a search on 'TCD' ?, you will see plenty of threads with many opinions - they seem to have a mixed review on these boards.

 

[carolfoy]

Just remember Chris that you'll probably hear more bad than good comments as people just forget when they've had a good flight/reasonable service - due to the fact that thats what they pay for! more people remember terrible delays and poor service and those things unfortunately can and do happen to all airlines.

 

[jomf]

We are considering using TCD in October as the package on offer is the best value etc, any good bad experiances?

When we were in WDW last year we spoke to a lot of people who sang their praises but we have recently seen some bad reviews as my wife suffers from a fear of flying this has made her reluctant to use them.

Also we are considering upgrading to upper cabin at £129 is it worth it?

Any comments would be appreciated.


Chris

We went with them in September and never would again.
However, that said, the premium seating ( when you get it, one out of two flights for us) is good. The cost is good considering the virgin/BA costs.
We were delayed for over 20 hours on the way out, which really put the knockers on our holiday. So we would not use them again. You pays your money and takes the chance!!!!
At least you will know what to expect, when I booked I had never seen this site( or the DIBB) before so had no prior knowledge of their ways.
Jo

 

[Amyrlin]

I have been with them twice. The first occasion everything went smoothly, the second occasion was a nightmare at the end.

They do giove very good proces, and if everything goes smoothly then you are well off with TCD as any other. They do appear to be one of the poorer compnaies in terms of delays, BUT, this in itself is not a reason not to use them as ll compnaies have delays. The problsms occur when there are long delays as their cusotmer service is none existant. We were sent to a hotel for 24 hours due to a delay (it is a legal obligation they do that), at no point did we see a represenative to tell us what was happening, the airport ended up sending someone out so we had some infomraion. I understood from the hotel manangment that they were going to try to stop thier own stop head office from accpeting booking them anymore. Adequaent food and drink was not laid on, no provision for even water or children and on the telephone there were countless lies told, (rep on the way etc).

I would not say do not use them, but make your decision balancing the advantages and potential disadvantages.

 

[Nitram64]

We went in november 2005 and have booked to go back in october this year using tcd.The plane was changed to an excel brand but we departed on time and arrived early.All i can say is iv'e had worse flights than tcd and ive had worse leg room on other flights.For the price they charge its good value.

 

[stubb]

um we have been with tcd a few times mainly due to price as we are a party of 5- unfortunately our last flight in august was awful it was a zoo at the check in on the flight a stewardess was very ill- the staff were asking passengers for a themometer - we had to land in washington where we stayed for over 3hours on the plane with no airconditioning - no information-staff refusing to open any doors- imho you could get a flight that sets off on time and has no problems at all and if i am really honest i probably would go with them again if the price was significantly cheaper. we are going on the 8th feb flying with virgin which we have never done before so i am intrested to see how that goes.

michelle
ps at the end of the day the flight is still long but its a means to a fantastic end

 

[mushumadness]

this year is our sixth time with travel city

our flight out with them wasnt great last year but every other year has been great

plus the in resort help is great too

 

[coastergirls]

I have been with them quite a few times and found them no worse or better than anybody else we have travelled with. We have flown with Thomson had problems with prebooked seats found customer service appaling, Direct holidays had huge delays. With TCD have encountered no problems did have a delay last year but as we were checking in we received more than enough vouchers for food for the 5 of us and were kept informed. So i have no real gripe re the delay.
All in all given the cost of the flights involved I wouldn't complain. They have always been more competitive than others when we have been looking and the flights have generally been good .

 

[ely3857]

I travelled with TCD last Aug and despite delays of a couple of hours in both directions I cant complain, unlike prev posters we were aware of why we had been delayed and had no problems with customer service - Although for any airline this area seems to be very hit & miss.

We have booked with them again this year but because after mucg shopping around they were too much of a good deal to not book with them.



Jodie

 

[Queenie]

I've flown with them twice, Scott's used them 5 times. Once we had a 23 hour delay and were put up in a very nice hotel where meals were provided, they also provided everyone with free meals in the airport before we got to the hotel that night. I will admot that we were never told what was going on or saw a rep during that incident.

Every other flight we've had with them has been fine, ocassional short delays but that is to be expected with any airline. Last year we were in economy where we had leather seats which were incredibly comfy. The food is also very very nice (for airline food!) I can;t really comment on legroom as I'm so short it's never an issue for me! The service on board was excellent and the flight passed quickly and smoothly. We will be using them again this year for sure.

 

[sue&and]

Hi Chris, we have been with TCD twice before and travelling again with them this year also. We have not had any problems, quite the reverse. The last time was in 2004 and having got caught up in Hurricane Charley and being basically stranded in Orlando, TCD put us up in lovely hotels and made sure we were comfortable. We're flying from Cardiff this year (closer to Bristol) as opposed to Gatwick so it'll be interesting to see any difference in service. I don't class delays as being the fault of a particular company; IMO that could happen to anyone.

 

[Aceman88888]

Hi, We travelled with them in September. The flights were fine in TCD branded Jumbo's (300 series). The only problems we had were shocking service at the airports. At Gatwick on the way out, the check-in is like a zoo. We had a 2 hour delay for Immigration at Sanford (Sunday Arrival) as only 7 of about 30 desks were open. Finally on arrival back in Gatwick it took us 3 hours to clear the airport from touchdown. Baggage reclaim was just a joke, and the overcrowding must be seen to be believed. I would seriously consider never using Gatwick again after this year.

Flights left on time outbound and 30 mins early inbound. Food is ok and drinks are plentiful. Lack of seatback TV's could be an issue for some people but take a cheap £50 portable DVD player with you. We had 3 under 10's in our party, 1 a todler, and we got great attentive service from the stewardesses.

 

[crux]

We used TCD for the first time last year and we were a little worried at all the negative posts we saw after we'd booked. But we had the best flight ever to Orlando, we had paid to upgrade to Sunshine First and it was fantastic. You can't beat the leg-room and the food was superb, steak that actually tasted of steak. We were a little late setting off and there was a wait at the Dollar counter at Sanford when picking the car up. We were offered a media player on the flight, but I'd bought one before we set off and I'd copied a few Disney DVD's onto it and the planning DVD so that kept us busy. While I would prefer to fly into Orlando rather than Sanford, the extra distance was noticable on the drive to WDW, you can't beat the price.

Would we use them again? We've booked TCD Sunshine First for our trip in October (less than 250 days to go ) and will continue to use them.

Ian

 

[traycie2201]

we just came back on sat from our first fly drive with them, no delays, food okay, service not so great , plane landed safely there and back have also flown virgin - big delay, great service, okay food, British Midland, short delay , good food, great service. all have good and bad points, delay can happen on nearly any flight, for the price we'd take a chance and go again with them, i'd rather have the extra $$ to spend on holiday no in seat tv's in economy so take your own or upgrade, also sanford although a little longer drive to disney area only took around 30 mins to get luggage and through immigration to the car, not like experiences at MCO ! , i'd go there again no worries.

 

[daveyoghurt]

Not a fan of TCD I'm afraid, we booked the upgrade and were bounced down when the plane was changed prior to our departure date - unfortunately our plane was changed to one in which the Wright Brothers made their inaugural flight! I would describe TCD as cheap and cheerful, Virgin offer a far superior service and when things go wrong, they have the back-up and resources to step up, there were seven Virgin planes lined up to take home holiday-makers home after one of the big hurricanes last year - that's the difference in my opinion. You get what you pay for.

 

[maggs]

I mostly had admin problems. It took five lots of invoices before they got the details correct. I was fed up with the waits and total ineptitude each time I called. We flew out in August 2004 at hurricane time. The 2nd hurricane had just finished but thank goodness we got away. Although we booked through TCD we were flying Virgin as we couldnt get the odd number of days we wanted in our chosen accommodation.
Thank goodness we flew with them! When I met up with the person staying in the next room she was in a really bad way.
They had flown out from Gatwick 3 days late - well that couldnt be helped but what happened at Gatwick certainly could. They were told by TCD to go to the airport only to be told they wouldnt fly out that day. Fair enough, TCD said they would be back in a few hours to make arrangements for accommodation. No one turned up nor did they the next day! The passengers (kids included) slept on the airport floor for 2 days.There was a near riot - still no TCD! Armed police arrived as did members of the press and TV.
Still no TCD! The passengers eventually got away on Monday afternoon. I on the other hand flew with Virgin and had no wait. When they arrived at the hotel at midnight there were no rooms for them. TCD hadnt bothered to inform the hotel they would be late arrivals and the rooms were reallocated. They had to drive five miles to get another hotel for the night. Next morning they got back to Homewood and were informed they all had to go to the TCD office - they lined up for 4 1/2 hours while 1 man dealt with all their queries. These were seasoned TCD travellers. They had been 7 times with them but never again. I have heard that others were treated extremely well during the hurricanes ny TCD.
I booked my taxi with TCD for my return from the All Stars. I confirmed it the day before. (twice stating MUSIC) Well, they sent the taxi to the wrong hotel and we nearly missed the flight. What do I think of TCD - not great! For those of you lucky enough to have had good experiences, thats great. However I have only ever had minor problems with Virgin and would hesitate to book with TCD again.

Maggs

 

[jomf]

Yup, forgot
We had no entertainment on either leg of the flight. On the way out the plane had been changed, we were in the very front of the plane it was freezing and there was no tv/screen or any hand held dvd's. On the way back we were in premium seats but the system was not working!
Jo

 

[vicky1bfc]

We have flown with them once and lucky had no trouble.Flight was fine,food good,service good.Delayed for an hour outbound but it was not tcd fault.It was early last year though and it was an air atlanta flight.We found the customer service fantastic,we origanally booked for 4 of us but with only a month go to wanted to take an extra person,they bent over backwards to help.
I'm afraid i can't help with telling you what they are like if theres a problem.

 

[FizzyPop]

We have flown once with TCD, The flight was ok, nothing to shout about but thenthe price you pay you wouldn't expect anything fancy Lots of drinks, and the food was just like any other airline I liked the fact we was able to take a car seat on the plane for our 2 year old to sit in. The only negative thing was immagration queue in sanford (never bothered us as we had my dad with us who holds a US passport so we went through the US side) but the queue was snaking all the way back to the entrance door. Also the wait for the hire car we had to wait for about 2 hours, the queue for this was very long and very slow moving