Excel Service

[Steve Wooler]

Just a few words for those of you who have enquired about flying to Tobago with Excel or who are booked on flights with that airline.

Our flight out on Thursday departed from Gatwick 10 minutes before schedule and landed in Tobago 20 minutes before schedule. I am delighted to confirm that the ‘new’ aircraft is in service. There are few, if any changes in Excel One or Premium Economy, but there are less seats in Standard Economy meaning that the average seat pitch is now 32 inches – just one inch less than BA or Virgin standard economy. Talking to passengers who flew out on the flight, that extra inch makes a world of difference.

I have always found the standards of service offered by Excel staff to be exemplary. They certainly didn’t disappoint this time; in fact it was nice to recognise a couple of members of the flight crew from our trip last year.

So, the plane ran ahead of schedule, the seating was very comfortable, the flight smooth, the catering as good as you can expect on an aircraft and the manner and attentiveness of the cabin crew top grade. My only criticism was the in-flight entertainment. Sadly, this is still a disappointment. Yes, maybe we can’t expect seat-back displays at this price, but it is a shame that the interior designers didn’t raise the drop-down screens at the front of each section a little. They are so low that the heads of everyone sitting in the rows in front of you block the lower half of the screen. Even empty seats intrude into the viewing area. Mind you, I’m happy to know that the two of us are going for the price of one with BA/Virgin and will just make sure that I take a good book.

Well done Golden Caribbean/Excel Airways. Let’s hope that all the negative reports at the end of last year are now a thing of the past.

[Andrew Prince]

We flew Excel on thursday 6th January and returned this morning on Friday 21st January. Our flight out was delayed by four hours. The cause was someone on the previous inbound flight flushing a disposable nappy down one of the rear toilets and blocking the exit pipe from the rear storage tank.We then had to be "deplaned" while an engineer had to be suited up and go down into the tank to remove the offending object, not something you would get me to do under any circumstances. That thoughlessness cost 300 of us 4 hours of our holiday and Excel the best part of £3000 in extra meal and delay costs.
Like Steve we found the crew helpful and professional. The food was adequate . The video system is dated but worked ok with some screens better than others for colour quality.My only criticism with the economy seating is that I think they bought a bulk lot of second hand assorted airline seats to fit it out. I counted four different types of seats in use, and some of them after only six weeks in service had problems with the reclining system.
Our return flight was an on time departure and a return time of only 7hours 35 minutes due to strong tailwinds.Is this a record?
Overall with the restriction of only having one plane for the route I think they supply a good service and excellent value for money.

[Sally T]

We have just got back from two weeks on the island, flying Excel One there and back. We thought the service was excellent - exceptional value for money compared to BA and Virgin and the flight staff are very, very good. We wouldn’t hesitate to go this way again.

[Andy D]

This is excellent news about Excel,we are flying with them in April to Tobago,lets hope the standard of service and reliability are kept up.

[Tara Potter]

We are travelling on Excel in Premium economy on 26th March - very excited!! We are travelling with 3 kids. What sort of inflight videos do they have in Premium economy? I am not looking forward to the flight at all. Last year we did American Airways to Miami with seat back screens, choice of channels etc!! I'm sure this flight is going to be harder! Apologies in advance to our fellow travellers!

[Douglas R]

I am afraid that much will depend on the plane you travel on.

I understand that they have a "new" one with seat back video and choice of movies. Unfortunately we travelled recently in premium economy on the older one which has a big screen at the front of the cabin and therefore no choice of viewing.

Sadly the outward journey was marred by thoughtless people with friends in the seats behind who obscured the screen for most of the other passengers

You will just have to keep your fingers crossed and hope you get either the new plane or more thoughtful fellow passengers.