Wayne Maunder

Reviews by Wayne Maunder

TH

Thomas Cook Airlines

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May 19, 2018

Thomas Cook - I am impressed !!!

I see lots of negative reviews for Thomas Cook - but I can't agree with them. Booked a return flight from Birmingham to Palma for the missus and I joined her on the return leg from Mallorca to Birmingham. I had used TC once may years ago and was shocked to see the standard seat legroom - this alone kept me away from them. I am 6'3'' and leg room is always an issue for me. A friend was recently raving about TC so when Ryanair quoted me horrendous amounts for the flights, I tried Thomas Cook once more. Now remember, Thomas Cook was a substantially cheaper option than Ryanair, so that must firmly put them in the budget airline category. Also remember that you get what you pay for in this world - so a cheap flight won't be a fanciful affair. I booked the Premium Economy ticket purely for the extra legroom I needed and the tickets were still cheaper than Ryanair. Those tickets came with a very generous luggage allowance and a meal included - Chicken Tikka Massala. The food was really very good. Its an airline remember, not a michelin restaurant but nonetheless I was impressed. The crew on board were outstanding. Pleasant, helpful, happy, cheerful. Be sure though - if you are a 6 footer like me, take the extra legroom by opting for premium economy or an exit row seat otherwise it will be tight. So why only four stars??? Both flights were a little late (but we did arrive in one piece), I suspect that might be the norm. The real snag though was contacting customer support. I put the wrong email address in for the missus and we couldnt get her documents through. Turns out this wasn't a problem as we didn't need them to check in, but I imagine if you wanted to contact customer services - you would get peeved with them quite quickly. The on line live chat just didn't work, the premium rate number was a rip off and the standard rate number suggested a 40 minute wait - definitely room for improvement here. All said and done - for short haul - I would use Thomas Cook again, but only in premium economy.

VI

Vietnam Airlines

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Oct 10, 2017

Don't do it - Don't book with this airline

Oh Dear! - However tempted you are by their ultra low prices, remember, you get what you pay for - or in my case, you get nothing. I bought a business class ticket from Singapore to London after enroling in their lotus loyalty program. Paid the fees and checked my account to see the ticket was booked. Unusually, I didn't receive a confirmation email although I did get a confirmation number when the booking was made. Next day, still no email confirmation from them so logged back in to their loyalty program only to be told they had cancelled my booking. I tried all the number listed on their web site and none of them connected, just dead numbers. Imagine I hadn't checked and just turned up at the airport? Never received anything from them nor could I talk to anyone at the airline. Called my credit card company and checked that I hadn't been charged and rebooked with BA. I have used Qatar Airways extensively but they are getting too expensive now, Vietnam Airlines seemed like a viable alternative but I wouldn't recommend you waste your time and money