Excel airways-opinion

[M Smith]

Despite horrendous pre flight experince (see my other posting).. we very satisfied even though we went economy
comfortable (leather seats nice)
Adequate food (although Cindy sized mini croissant for breakfast was rather comical)
On time
Good as was direct and only 8 and a half hours (nearly nine on return journey)

We were pleasantly surprised!

[Lou W]

Hi,
First off did you fly from manchester or gatwick? And would you fly with them again. I've never flown a charter airline over such a distance. Interested in your flying time, when i go in november its a direct flight (so i have been told) but it's 12 hours goin and 8 coming back?? Can anyone shed any light onto this? I'm not looking forward to the flight too much as i'm flying economy with a 5 year old and a bit worried...

[Paul Tallet]

If the outbound flight is 12 hours then I guess you may be stopping at Grenada for some 'petrol' before you reach Tobago.

Check your flight schedule.

Regards

[Gareth Lambert-Jones]

Just got back yesterday and flew with Excel. Myself, my wife and 2 year old daughter flew Economy and my mother and father in law flew in Excel One (...perfect!)

I cannot fault Excel in any way and found everyone associated very friendly and helpful.

We flew from Gatwick and so had an hour or so stop over (re-fuel?) in St Kitts, which although delayed the arrival in Tobago allowed us to view part of the Island. The cabin crew also arranged for us to take my daughter to meet the pilot which was great although she did expect to do the same on the way back!!

The only fault (?) was that there are limited TV screens, especially towards the front as you have to share a larger screen, and therefore no choice in viewing. Fortunately, I took my laptop and put 'Finding Nemo' on repeat which worked wonders!

Food is pretty good, although no complimentary drinks, and I have also read the comment about the size of the croissant on the return flight....very true and very small! Mind you, for those returning after 2 weeks all inclusive.......do you still need it?

Probably the best tjing about the flight is that it was never full. On the return there was a whole row of empty seats which made a perfectly good bed for my daughter!

Overall, a 7 out of 10.

[Lucy Mckenzie]

Glad you had a good experience.We flew excel last month and i was a bit worried but couldnt fault it.The leg room was excellent,it felt more roomy than virgin.The staff were very friendly,the food was ok (it can never be good!!!!)We also were half full on the way out and one third full on return,so we each had 4 seats,perfect !Only drawback was the tv,couldnt see it but take a good book instead.I will definatley fly them again.Also the ground staff were superb.When i asked for spare seats next to us the man was so nice and gave us 3 extra seats each even though he said he wasnt supposed to.BA refused the same request a couple of years ago.

[Lou W]

Hi Lucy,
Did you fly economy? Cause it's gonna be my second trip this year and i'm a bit skint from the last trip i can only afford the economy seats and i normally fly premium with virgin. I'm only small anyway but after flying with people like my travel i'm a bit worried i'm gonna be like a squashed sardine!!

[Lucy Mckenzie]

Hi
Yes we flew economy,we thought about upgrading but glad we didnt as it was such a pleasant experience.Have a good trip

[Gareth Epps]

Flew Excel in May and I can truly say I have never had a more unpleasant experience on any form of public transport - and that includes 7 years' rail commuting and being on the Tube on 7 July.

The flight out (lunchtime departure) was spectacularly late, the plane was dirty and the staff rude. The so-called film looked like an illegal copy off the market - picture quality went after about 3 minutes, but they kept playing it even though it was driving people mad. Legroom was diabolical and food worse.

But it was the night flight back that was the real pain. Amount of space appalling as you might expect (I am only average height-build). Had an aisle seat and tried to get some shut-eye, in spite of the toddler two seats behind that screamed the whole way. But most intolerable was that every time the staff went by down the aisle, they bumped me - deliberately - ensuring I got no sleep. After about 4am I decided sleep was impossible - tried to call for a drink, but told that I had to pay even for water, after the 4th time of pressing the buzzer.

As someone who doesn't generally travel long-haul it was confusing that no flight information was given out during the flight.

Tobago, I have to say, was fantastic - but the flight back completely removed any relaxation factor tat I should have had. Avoid these pirates!

[Ronald]

Excel to Tobago is a charter flight, not a regular flight. It´s common that one have to pay for wine, beers, soft drink and bottled/canned mineral water on charter flights. But water into the cup is always free, and every time I´ve been on Excel to/from Tobago, the staff has quite regulary walking up/down and serving water, even in the night.

Noise during the night, I would say that it´s common, never mind what flight you are using. It´s not only people, even the noise from the aircraft itself can sometimes make it difficult to sleep or relax. Why not use ear plugs? Put them on and get a sleep or at least get more relaxed.

Delayed flight does not always depend on the flight company itself, there´s many other things, out of control for the flght company, wich can happen and create a delayed flight.

Dirty aircraft, I have never seen an Excel start without been cleaned. Was there really items left from other passegers trip? Paper, empty bottles, magazines and so on? And the Excel flights I´ve been on has more legroom space in the economic section compared with many other charter flights.

My opinion is that, as a charter flight company, Excel is one of the best.

[Liz C]

Used Excel economy last year with no problems at all. Have just returned from this year's trip and again no problems. Both flights landed on time although they departed 30 mins late, the planes were certainly clean, the staff pleasant, food ok and the legroom definately much improved. We were offered more free water than we could possibly drink both day and night.
Excel provide affordable flights and I hope they continue to do so.

[Kat Blomfeld]

Gareth

I read your post with dismay and concern as we are flying out with Excel in ten weeks time. However, when I got to the bit about "every time the staff went by down the aisle, they bumped me - deliberately" I had to laugh. I bet you are a delightful holiday companion.

[S Burls]

I returned from Tobago yesterday and flew Excel One from Gatwick. Being a charter company it was much, much cheaper to upgrade than with, say, BA or Virgin. I wouldn't have been able to afford to with either of them.

The plane was clean, the seats comfortable and the staff absolutely lovely. Talking to others in the airport and hotel, economy travellers had the same experience. I'd say they're probably the best charter company I've flown with.

The only bad point about the whole thing was Tobago airport on the way back. It's very disorganised and the staff, (from the check-in desk, to information, to those at the departure gate), both slow and rude. Also, the waiting area doesn't have enough seats, albeit it is air-conditioned.

On the flight out we stopped at St Kitts to drop off/pick up passengers, but it was only a 45 minute stop. If you want to buy any duty free on the plane do it before this as you can't on the hop from St Kitts to Tobago. The flight back was direct.

Shannie

[Lou W]

Shannie,

Not overly impressed with your comments about the staff at the airport. They are not slow, they just have a different pace of life to us. Did your bags get on the plane ok? Did the plane get enough fuel? Did you get on the plane? I'm guessing yes and that was because of the staff there.
On a personal note, My other half is a baggage handler, his uncle is based on the info section and many other people i know work doing other bits at crown point. I couldn't have found them more pleasnt when i was there, making sure i was ok and my daughter was happy.

On a plus side, good to know that you had a good experience on the flight, it worries me a little bit when you read bad comments as it is just myself and my daughter travelling for the first time on our own. Still really worried about it, the last time i used a charter airline was flyin with airtours to Cuba (not pleasant)!!

[S Burls]

Hi Lou

Guess you and I will have to differ on our opinions about the staff at the airport then. I have visited many countries for whom the pace of life differs significantly from that in the UK and am used to things progressing at a relaxed pace. Also, I'd just spent two weeks on the island so I had become familiar with 'Tobagonian time'. However, nowhere else on the island did I experience this poor attitude apart from at the airport.

At the check-in the staff, (both Excel and other airlines), were far more concerned with chatting to each other and doing each other's hair than checking bags in. At the information desk the woman looked straight at us when we were about two feet away and then promptly put her head down on the desk and pretended to be asleep! These are only two examples. I'm perfectly prepared to accept others have had good experiences at the airport, although a few people I spoke to in the departure lounge told me this was pretty much the norm and good experiences the exception.

I'm not suggesting that everyone at the airport is like this. Maybe I got unlucky and got the 10 or so that are, but I was reporting on my experiences there. I'm glad you haven't suffered the same treatment.

I only brought it up because everywhere else on the island, whether in town or country, I experienced only extremely pleasant, courteous and helpful people - probably why the experiences at the airport stuck out in my mind so much!

Shannie