Thomas Cook Airlines
View company profile →
Do not fly with Thomas Cook (Condor)
Do not fly with Thomas Cook (Condor). I've flown across the Atlantic with many airlines, but the service on the Thomas Cook flight was the worst of all. We flew out to New York from Manchester, and back from Los Angeles, going out on the 30th April and back on the 30th May. The flight to New York was uneventful, which is what you want. Having been prewarned that the entertainment was poor, I preloaded some movies I own on my tablet and watched those. 7 hours, just as promised. However, the return journey was something else, and more typical of this airline, going by the reviews. First, the woman on the bag drop desk tried to tell us that we were only allowed one carry on item. When we disputed that, she tried to tell us that the weight allowance of 6 kg was for both items (carry on and laptop bag) combined. When we disputed that, she said that was what it said on the website. So it was just as well I happened to have a copy of what it said on the website. However, she could have scammed a few other passengers with that one. The aim was clearly to get us to check another bag, and gain some extra cash. We were delayed for over four hours at LA. No clear explanation, and no complimentary refreshments offered, as they should have done. No answer when we complained. We finally got on the plane and it arrived in Manchester over three hours late. That's a 10 hour flight. They gave us complimentary full entertainment, but that was all. No other attempts at compensation and only a cursory apology. The pilot told us that the plane was late because of a fault in the original plane, which meant a new plane had to be flown up from Heathrow. When that plane finally arrived at LA, they found a fault in the filters, which had to be repaired and checked. However, I wrote to Thomas Cook and claimed compensation. In their reply, they said it was due to stand availability and so not their fault, which according to their own pilot was not true. If the lateness wasn't bad enough, the lies and contradictions offered by the company were worse. Don't fly this airline. Just don't do it.