Monarch Flights

[wattsey]

Have had 2 flights pulled by Monarch which we booked some time ago - one for a trip mid May and one early June.

Should I be worried about the viability of the company or is this quite common?

[Bruce Wallis]

That's interesting.....why not contact Monarch and ask them? I can understand airlines "consolidating" flights in the winter, but not in the spring.

There are plenty of Easyjet flights out of Gatwick, also Aer Lingus have now started a Faro service from Gatwick.

[JWT]

Having been an avid Monarch user over the past few years to Faro, I was surprised to learn last friday that they have amalgamated 2 flights affecting our return trip from Faro on 12th July which now means that we dont land until midnught( delays excepted of course - it will probably be 4am the following morning)

Having said that we have always found them to be the best of a bad bunch, so keep aware and always pay by credit card and suffer the service charge just in case

[Barry]

Our Monarch flight back to UK was cancelled just before Christmas. We were put on a flight for the following day, which did not suit but were allowed to change it for free. Think the airline is nervous about flying half empty planes and is consolidating.

[ceh]

I'm flying out later this week for a few days at short notice and was surprised to find that other than BA, my choice was limited to easyjet ie no Monarch flights despite flexibility with airports. Through preference always use Monarch (except when there are very good offers on BA).

[Michael Crane]

For this Christmas we have gone for BA. Monarch were just too expensive . . . and now, it looks as if they might also be unreliable.

[Bruce Wallis]

I know some have you have a bee in your bonnet over Easyjet....but that the fact is that they have a better and more frequent service, are cheaper, and are in the main, more reliable.
We all hate the unseemly scramble for seats, but checking in on line gets you on the plane in group A, and you dont have to queue for checkins either here or in Faro.
To us, it's almost a no brainer.

[Lesley Jean]

Agree with you Bruce, Easyjet is a good airline and cheaper than most, some of the time!! altho on our last trip out the difference from flying out of Gatwick to Bristol was £74 each!!! so we drove up to Gatwick and flew from there worth it even tho' we had the extra petrol to cover. Also as Bruce says if you check in on line (hand luggage only) then you are in group A so no real problems getting a seat without the crush.

Must admit tho' that during the madness of high summer we do fly British Airways as it is just such a nice way to start and finish our family holiday, no pushing and shoving and luxury of Club.... heaven

[Barry]

We tend to stick with Monarch because they (usually) have an afternoon flight out of Gatwick, when most of the others leave between 6am and 7am. Having said that this flight was not available for January when we wanted to return to Carvoeiro, so we flew with bmiBaby out of Cardiff, at 2.15pm. This means we can call at Intermarche for essentials, and still be in the villa by 7.00pm.

[Derrick & Rebecca]

I am quite surprised at Monarch. We have also flown with Easyjet and have never had a bad experience. Have you tried Thomson Fly? They offer quite a regular service to Faro and the price has always been good, especially from Coventry airport, tiny but no hold ups!

Alternatively you could drive if you have plenty of time on your hands. We have caught a ferry to Calais and then driven through France and Spain. It was an amazing experience.
This year we are sailing to Santander and driving down, a good excuse for a 3 week holiday.

Derrick and Rebecca.

[bradybunch]

Re derrick and rebeccas reply about Monarch alternatives.Unfortunately Thomson Fly discontinued their service out of Coventry last year as we found it a very good alternative to Monarch.BMI Baby have some excellent offers at the moment out of Birmingham £68.00 each in August plus baggage and check in of £27.

[eyeask]

Hi, I always use Monarch when coming to Faro but out of Birmingham. Have had a couple of tussles with them before but generally they are fine. First of 3 return trips planned for end of April and all booked with Monarch, will let you know if they make any changes. I agree as well Easyjet are good when we use them out of East Midlands and personally we like an early flight as it means you get the whole day there when you land (although it is an unearthly time to get up).

[VON VON]

We always use easyjet but found at christmas they had changed our flight so we home 2 days later [which was good for us but not work] and also they changed our homeward flight in June. Both flights were booked well in advance as soon as they were released, but we would still go with easyjet.

[Bruce Wallis]

Are you out of Stansted Von? They seem OK out of Gatwick.

[joanne]

We fly out of Manchester at least 8 times a year and have never had a problem, even had enough points for a few free flights for the 5 of us, we booked up all year so will say if we have any changes.