Thomson Fly Review

Overall Rating

Below I will be writing my trip report from my Thomson Fly flights to Cancun including both sectors of the flight.
Check In -

Check in at Manchester was very smooth. All the Thomson flights check in from a range of desks with separate desks for Premium class. When we got to the desk, as there were 15 of us traveling we decided to check in together so we could hopefully get seats near each other. I half expected the seats to be already assigned but the lady who checked us in turned the screen round and aloud us to pick the rows we wanted and the seats we would like on the row. As the plane had been changed we had 2-4-2 seating instead of 2-3-2 so we got 2 rows and were left with 1 empty seat. They didn't even moan about some cases weighing 26KG and let them go through. Then you have the usual security check and off we went.

Manchester Airport Terminal 2 -

Terminal 2 at Manchester has come a long way and is now a fantastic terminal shops including Dixons Tax Free, Boots, Claire's, WHSmith+Books and many more but the main duty free shop is Biza which contains a wide range of everything. (Alcohol, Cigarettes, Perfume etc) It isn't fully finished yet and work was still going on as we passed through the terminal.

We went into the new Frankie and Bennys for Breakfast and then spent the rest of the wait in the observatory bar, which overlooks the airfield and gives you some brilliant views of aircraft.


Boarding -

There are no calls for boarding at Manchester you just have to keep watching the screens until it says Boarding. We headed down to out boarding gate, which was one of the last ones down at the far end of the terminal.

At the gate I got some good Photos of G-OBYE, which was waiting for us, along with G-OBYE there was a few other Thomson aircraft a continental 757 on its way to New York and a Delta 757 but I cannot recall where this was going I think it was again New York.

G-OBYJ was also waiting at Manchester for a flight to Puerto Plata in the Dominican.


boarding the flight went really fast and before we knew it we were all ready for the off, until they decided there was a problem with the door. They were trying to close it but the door was no closing fully so they had to continually keep closing the door. Right then I braced myself for a lengthy delay before after a few more attempts and some extra help they got the door closed and sealed and we were pushed back.

There were no queues at the runway so we taxied entered the runway and were off within no time.

Flight -

We were contacted by Thomson a few days before our flight to explain the assigned Aircraft was going in for Maintenance and a Short Haul 767 would be taking over the flight. As you can expect I including others in the group were not happy especially the bigger built guys on the flight who suffered the most. But there was nothing we could do and at least they hadn't cancelled the flight so I decided to look on the bright side which was Cancun at the other end. The legroom on the flight was bad, not suited for 10 hours but would be perfect for 3-4 hours. We still had seat back IFE which made the flight that bit better but the comfort on the flight was terrible.

I felt for the people who had paid for the Premium upgrade, they were given a make shift Premium cabin which was the front section of the 767.

As you can see they still got there noise canceling ear phones but there Seat Back TV size was reduced, the pitch of the seats also reduced by a large amount. They still received there free drinks and other benefits so they still got a better ride than most of us.

Once airborne the cabin came on to explain his intentions to us explaining we would be cruising at 36000ft and flying a standard route down the east coast of america but at the same time we would pass next to bermuda so we were not close to the coast just following it. He said we would then pass over Florida before deciding and landing at Cancun. Total flight time he said was 10 Hours 20 Minutes.
Main Cabin on board the aircraft:
I was seated around row 22 if I remember correctly. The crew then came on explaining to us the services on board and then came around the cabin with our free earphones. This was shortly followed by a entertainment system upgrade at the price of £5 which I recommend for anyone who is going to be doing a lot of TV watching on the flight. The upgrade allows you to watch all the movies and pause, rewind and fast forward them. It gives you access to all the TV Programs again with pause, rewind and fast forward options. You also get access to a wide range of CD's including new and old music. I believe the upgrade differs on the ex-FCA 767's. The entertainment system also includes a skymap which displays a range of information including:
All together the Thomson entertainment system is excellent and runs a lot smoother to the last time I used it.

There is a selection of Games including; Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Battleship, Hangman and a few other children's games.

After they had upgraded the entertainment systems they came through the cabin with a drinks and snacks service, I had previous knowledge that G-OBYE has water fountains on it so I choose not to buy any water for the flight instead I used bottles I had bought from the Airport and refilled them using the water fountain.

I bought my usual Sour Cream and Onion Pringles and settled in to a film.

A hour or so later they came through with the flights meal which was a choice of either Chicken Or Beef. The Chicken was in a tomato sauce with a small serving of Mash and vegetables. For afters there was a Strawberry Cheese Cake and sort of Fruit Salad. Included with the meals is a free cup of tea or coffee. I have to say the chicken was a fantastic meal and rates far higher than other Aircraft meals I have had in the past, I was surprised with the quality of the meal especially the desert which was one of the best cheese cakes I have ever had in my life.

Im not too sure what the beef meal was but I know it was very similar to the Chicken but I don't think it was in the tomato sauce.

After this meal service I didn't see the crew again until a couple of hours before landing which I found really disappointing I would have expected another Drinks service but they were very reluctant to make one.

Around 3 hours left of the flight after I had a watched a few movies and played all the games on the system losing at everyone as per usual the crew came round with there duty free products. I didn't need anything but for anyone who is interested Cigarettes on Thomson are £32 for 400 of any of the brands they sell(B&H,Regal,L&B, Marlboro). They are far cheaper than Manchester Airports Biza duty free and they had a wide range of stock on board the aircraft.

The duty free serivce was then followed by a Afternoon Stack which consisted of A Cheese and Onion sandwich a small juice drink and something else but I can not recall what it was as I knew I wouldn't eat the sandwich so I declined the meal. You were also given a free cup of tea or coffee should you wish.

After the meal we hit really bad unexpected turbulence. The seatbelt sign was switched off and out of nowhere the aircraft suddenly felt as if it had dropped. The seatbelt sign came on straight away as the aircraft continued rocking for around 20 minutes. The captain came on to instruct us that we had flown into a thunderstorm and that he was changing the route in order to get us out of the turbulence. He began to turn towards America before turning back towards Mexico going right around the turbulence, he then came back on and said we could still hit more so he was leaving the seatbelt sign on but we were permitted to and from the bathrooms as by now we had been in our seats for a hour. Shortly after he turned off the seat belt sign and we had around 1 hour 20 minutes left of flying time.

I decided to take this opportunity to fill in the immigration form for Mexico but we had only been given 1 form. Last time I flew to Cancun we had to also fill in a Customs form but I thought maybe they scrapped this now and mentioned nothing of it.

Becoming rather thirsty for a cup of tea I called a crew member to request one but was rudely told that I would have to "Get up and walk to the back of the aircraft, can you not see we are busy" the crew member had walked from the seat at the 2nd exit door to my row which was 4 rows up. He was certainly very busy gazing into space.

The cabin again came onto the PA system to inform us of his decent and landing and before I knew it we had begun the decent. We had some fantastic views of Cancun and the area as we came in for landing and landed 3 minutes behind our arrival time. We had a very smooth landing and taxied to the terminal (Terminal 2) within no time.

When we arrived Cancun airport sent us back onto the plane as we were not permitted to exit the flight as we had no Customs Forms or Swine Flu Forms. The crew frantically searched the aircraft for the correct Forms and began hanging them out. Once filled in we were permitted to leave the aircraft. When I left the Air Bridge I was standing in the Departures Terminal and was very confused along with the rest of the group.
It seems when you arrive in Cancun's Terminal 2 you have to pass through Departures to get to Arrivals, or this is the case when you arrive in the satellite building. So we gets to customs only to find out the crew have told us to fill in the wrong sections of the forms so everyone was rejected entry until we completed a new form with the correct information filled in.
The crew however walked through without a problem which I found rather annoying.
Eventually we got through customers and after a hour of queueing in Customs at Cancun and passing through there "Traffic Light" system which is where you press a button if its green you go if its red you get your cases searched even though they have just been X-Rayed. By just I mean they X-Ray your cases when you arrive as well at Cancun.
Luckily no-one got red in the group so we were off on our way to the Riu Cancun.
Conclusion -
In Conclusion I found the flight "ok" but uncomfortable, the reduced legroom was no help and after 10 hours my legs were killing and I am only a small person. The aircraft its self would be great for around 3-4 hours but its not a aircraft I would like to travel on for 10 hours again. It was lucky we had the entertainment system as if we didn't I could have seen it been a very boring flight.
As for the crew I have to admit were very rude and unhelpful, not once did I see one crew member smile and I have to say I have put in a complaint with Thomson about the crew as I feel they were not motivated at all.

All In All I would fly on this aircraft again but only on a short haul flight its not a aircraft I would choose for my Long Haul flights but it did a good job in getting us there.
Inbound
Cancun - Manchester
On the morning we were due to fly home I checked on the Manchester website to see if the flight had left on time, it had not it had taken off at 14:56 instead of 10:30 so I wondered with such a delay why we had not been informed.
I thought I would ask the reps see if they knew any more information. Ill just add the reps have been fantastic whilst we have been over there sorting out many a trip for our group.
Anyway I asked the rep and all 3 of them were not aware of any delay on the Manchester flight so they gave there head office a call and found out we were delayed. They then told us instead of sending us to the airport we were staying at the hotel until a suitable time. I thought this was fantastic gave me a little bonus on top of the fantastic 2 weeks at the Riu.
New Departure time was 20:30 instead of 16:40
So I went back on the internet to be horrified that G-OBYE was operating the flight again! I couldn't understand why at the time because all the FCA 767 had a log on them as being operational so I thought that it was so they could squeeze on more passengers and I still think that now because there were not 80 free seats on the flight like they were meant to. I am still not convinced 2 planes broke on the same day and im still not convinced they can fill a plane in 10 hours with 80 more people but that Thomson for you full of surprises. I was rather disappointed I was looking forward to getting a ride on a ex FCA before they merge them all together to Thomson but instead I was going home on G-OBYE a aircraft that seems to follow me as it operated both my Outbound and Inbound flights to Cancun in 2007.
Check In -
Check in at Cancun was again swift and simple we all checked in separate as the check in operator didn't seem to understand group check in. We were again asked what seats we would like and what row we would like. I asked for the far back row on the aircraft as on the flight out the back 2 rows were empty and I saw a great opportunity to lay down on a 4 to my self. We were given the seats we requested and off we went through to Departures at Cancun.
For anyones information Cancun's Duty free isn't that cheap cigarettes were around £38.00 for 400 at the current exchange rate which is cheap but not as cheap as on board the aircraft.
I decided I had nothing to buy, so I went and sat at the gate and awaiting the aircraft landing. I could see the start of the runway where I was sat so I saw the plane land and it was a smooth landing. It then slowly pulled up to the gate but was towed into the gate at Cancun instead of taking its self in.
Boarding -
After a while the pilots arrived and were doing there home work whilst waiting for the aircraft to be cleaned, I was sat rather close to them so I could here there views on the flight back home. The pilot was saying we had a tail wind which I thought was very good news the quicker we got home the better now the holiday was over.
The cabin crew then pulled up to the aircraft and the words one of them uttered were "Oh My God" then another cabin crew said to her "Whats wrong?" She said back "Its only G-OBYE" the other one said "Your Joking, Not the stand by one" Then they all made they may to the aircraft. It sounds like poor G-OBYE is hated by many a people these days.
Anyway we began boarding and I was disappointed to find there were only 1 free row of seats at the back and the cabin crew had dominated them with there hand bags. I was slightly suspicious to how the other 60 seats or so had filled up so fast but anyway I got my self seated. Thomson provided us with blankets and very nice first choice Pillows that fit around the neck and were very comfortable.
This crew seemed a lot nicer one even stopped to talked to me who I was asking about the Aircraft and why it had been changed she told me that the Ex FCA that was meant to operated the flight went tech that morning and another ex FCA that was meant to cover has had recurring technical problems and is always going in and out of service. She said this was also the reason for the delay at Manchester that morning.
Anyway all was going well when the cabin informed us the refueling truck had broken down, I was half expected us to be unloaded from the aircraft but another one was brought in straight away and before I knew it we were pushing back and we were off.
The pilot came on and told us the route would take us over the east cost instead of following it and then over Newfoundland before crossing the atlantic heading over Shannon Ireland then beginning our decent over Liverpool. All in all the flight time was going to be around 9 Hours with a nice tail wind helping us home.
We took off slightly behind schedule and the cabin crew came on they explained they would only be doing 1 drinks service so they didn't disturb sleeping passengers but welcomed anyone to the back of the aicraft for drinks and snacks unlike the outbound crew who didn't invite us to the back to get our drinks.
Anyway, after the meal I tried to settle down for some sleep but couldn't quite drift off due to the leg room I couldn't find anywhere to put my legs so that I was comfortable so in the end I just ended up playing games and watching the map.
Again I didn't buy any Duty Free but the limits for the UK for Cigarettes are 200 each from Mexico, a couple across from me asked what would happen if they took more and the Thomson crew explained they would be fined £40 for every so many over and have there passports stamped so they are searched at customs.

Anyway, After what seemed a short flight home we began our decent over Liverpool with a few turns into Manchester. I was watching out the window and was surprised to see how low down we were to the housing estates. I have seen aircraft flying to LBA fly over my village before but not as low as we flew over these poor villages.

Anyway we touched down and it was a rather hard landing I have to say. The crew apologized for the delay and aircraft change for the 3rd time which I found very respectable. They said sometimes these things are out of there hands and it just has to happen. Being the last of the aircraft I personally thanked all the crew for there hard work throughout the flight. This crew was 100x's better than our outbound crew.

Manchester Arrivals -

The Arrivals at Manchester is very outdated compared to the Terminal. It looks rather much like what the old terminal at Manchester looked like before they did all the development. Even had the same carpet as the old terminal. (I remember strange details such as carpet) Customs took 2 minutes and our baggage was off the aircraft in no time allowing us a smooth transition through the airport. Not many flights arriving at 11:30 at Terminal 2 I expected it to be very busy but it was the complete opposite.

Conclusion -

To Conclude the return flight was not as bad as the outbound, the crew were a lot nicer but it was a shame about the aircraft change. The delay was dealt with perfectly allowing us to stay in resort instead of leaving us to stew in the Airport which I think was a very good move of Thomson's.
Overall Conclusion -
Overall the flights to Mexico didn't rank overly good in my opinion.
Below I will do a out of 5 scale on the aspects of the flight;
Comfort : 1/5
Food : 5/5
IFE : 5/5
Crew: Outbound: 1/5 Inbound :5/5
Aircraft Facilities : 4/5
Overall : 3/5
The food and drink and IFE on the flights are fantastic Thomson really have put in a lot of effort to make a great entertainment system for there long haul passengers. There is a wide choice of films and TV programs to watch and a good selection of Games worth playing if your in between films.

The comfort on the flights however was a downfall, it would be nice for Thomson to have a standby 767 which is in the long haul config in case this happens. I believe this will pay off seeing there track record this summer isn't too good with planes being out of service.

I am still rather confused as to the real reason for the aircraft change as the extra seats that should have been present were not all there and it seems strange that 60+ seats managed to book up in less than hours. However the crew on board the flights were most certain it was due to maintenance issues with the ex FCA 767's.
The outbound flight was perfectly on time I just recommend anyone traveling to Cancun prepares them selfs for a long wait in there customs area before reaching your resort.
The inbound flight was delayed but I believe Thomson handled the Delay perfectly allowing us to stay in resort and it didn't really interfere with much at all.
I hope that by next year when we will again be flying Thomson to Cancun they have sorted out there fleet issues and I can experience there Long Haul service again as I believe there is no other airline in the UK which operates such a fantastic service than Thomson Airways do.
Despite my flight not having all the long haul features I would still recommend Thomson Airways to anyone flying Long Haul because 9 times out of 10 they get it right and there long haul product is
I hope you have enjoyed this review and it will allow to to get a "jist" of the Thomson Long Haul service and for the people out there flying Short Haul on a 767 it will allow you to see my opinion on the seating.