myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

No posts yet so thought I'd start the ball rolling. After a wonderful holiday in Tobago (Steve- now I know why you keep going back there!), the 8:15pm flight with Excel on Saturday 12th March was delayed. We were informed of this at the departures lounge at 7:30pm with mention made to a problem with the aircraft at St Kitts (it later emerged that the plane had mechanical problems after a rough landing, not surprising given how bad our landing was on the way over, in fact the plane probably hit the dent we must have made).

This was the last thing I wanted to hear as I have a 4 year old daughter I was desperate to get home to see, but previous experience has obviously left its mark with Excel and within 30 minutes we were on a bus on the way to Le Grand Courlan Spa. The next day the hotel reception staff (who I must add were very helpful) endeavoured to get news from Excel and by early afternoon we were informed that the flight would be leaving at 11:30 that night and that we were to stay at the hotel for lunch and dinner until the bus took us to the airport at 8pm.

As it turned out, a 747 had to be chartered to ferry both the Saturday and Sunday night passengers from Tobago and St Kitts and after a pretty shambolic organisation of seats for St Kitts passengers at the departure lounge (as you can imagine feelings were running high) we eventually left Tobago at 12:40am, over 28 hours later than scheduled.

To be honest there are worse places to be stuck than Tobago and once I'd accepted that we were'nt going anywhere we really enjoyed the hospitality of one extra day in paradise at a new resort. However I know we were among the luck ones as some passengers who stayed at other hotels were not so well informed, and I believe the St Kitts passengers had to wait for most of Sunday at the airport without sufficient food, only to arrive at Tobago and discover no seats in the departure lounge and a fight for adjoining seats on the return flight as Tobago visitors had priority.

Although our outward flight was ok with Excel, this return experience has put me off using them again, once bitten and all that. Now I'm just trying to find out how I can claim the phonecalls back from Excel, which I am now entitled to under the new EU ruling on air travel, which might also entitle me to some of the cost of my flight.

However, please don't let this flight delay put you off visiting Tobago - what could have been a very stressful situation for me has not blighted any of the wonderful experiences from this beautiful island.

Sorry to hear about your flight delays,it must have been quite stressful,i'm flying with Excel in April to Tobago and will give them one chance to get it right otherwise i too will not use them again,flew with Virgin last year who were superb in every way so if Excel mess up then it's Virgin i'm heading back to!

Sorry you were one of the people caught up in this. Apparently the Excel flight landing in St Kitts hit debris on the runway which damaged the hydraulics on the plane. As the flight gets into St Kitts one and half hours before reaching Tobago there is no way Excel could have notified passengers at Tobago until they were already at the airport.

An engineer had to be flown in to fix the plane in St Kitts which as you must be able to understand can only estimate how long it will take to fix. There is also not a surplass of planes to be able to call on quickly (and for operators you cannot just get any plane you have to satisfy local CAA authorities and your own governing CAA that the new plane if not one on your AOC) is airworthy etc etc.

I had a friend who travelled back from St Kitts to the UK and they did have to wait a long time in the departure lounge as it was thought the plane would be fixed early than it actually was and sadly facilities at these little airports aren't upto Gatwicks. Once arriving at Tobago because seats had been allocated to all Tobago passengers they were split up. They weren't overly happy with this but understood the reasons.

I am not defending Excel but this problem can happen to any airline, in fact last year Virgin was grounded due to engine failure caused by a bird strike on and had very lengthy delays as had to get an engine flown in.

I was caught out on the flight out from Gatwick on Sunday.

We had the unmarked white 747 and they downgraded us from Premium Economy to Economy.

It was delayed by 4 hours and this was raised to 5 hours. An hour and a half in Grenada increased the gruelling journey to around 11 hours and we arrived in Tobago around 2330 tt time.

On reflection, I felt Excel looked after us well and there were plenty of seats to spare so we could all spread ourselves out. The plane was comfortable and had a larger seat pitch than Virgin/BA.

Having seen the reasons for the problem I believe Excel deserve credit for making the best out of a bit of a dilemma ... it can't be easy going off to rent a plane at short notice.

Regards from Sweltering Tobago

We were on the delayed flight back on Sunday and were also downgraded. The plane used was a yellow Air Atlanta, who own Excel, 747. The seats we had on it were the smallest pitch of any charter I have ever been on. It was the most uncomfortable journey I have ever made and has reinforced my view that Ecomony is certainly not the way to fly.
If this is the best that Excel can do for replacement planes it would certainly make me think twice about using them again.
To make matters worse they did not even have Tonic for the Gin on the plane surely unforgiveable!!!

Neil

Sadly most airlines do not have spare planes of the same quality that you normally fly on. It is economically unviable for them to have a plane sat around doing nothing. It is not just Excel that has old 747's as a spare planes most of operators do (or lease from another company with all the paperwork involved), if they have a spare plane at all and if not have to reschedule all routes to make a plane available to fly out. Then you go into duty hours for the crew, hours for components on planes it is a minefield so I do think that Excel are being unfairly criticised for a plane failing. It happens to the best. It is just very unfortunate when it affects you.

On the other hand you can criticise about service etc etc, but the majority book Excel because of how much cheaper it is that BA or Virgin. Premium Economy is cheaper than the above two so you have choices. If you have been Excel and dont like pay the extra money and go on one of the other carriers. It is the difference between booking a 3 star and 5 star hotel, the amount paid dictates the service. Having said that I have found Excel to be a good service, the food is ok, the service is ok, the price is great it gets me there and back which is what I want to do and keeps money in my pocket so I can have luxuries when I am out here. If you want built in seat entertainment, bigger leg pitch, drinks that you want etc etc you have to pay for that service. If you were downgraded then you are entitled to the difference in the price being returned to you. But sometimes these things are unforseeable, planes do go wrong, passengers were accomodated and fed and got to where they were going safely.

Criticise where it is fair but surely above everything else to do with aviation I think air safety and passenger safety is the most important aspect of all.

Sharon do you work for the aviation industry by any chance? You do seem very knowledgable about planes etc. For me it's not about the money but the standard of service and reliability,if i fly with Excel and they dont come up to scratch then i wont use them again,simple as that.It really doesnt bother me whether i pay more to fly with Virgin or BA as long as they maintain high standards of safety,service and reliability.I know planes can go wrong just like anything else can at short notice,sometimes things happen and you just have to accept it however frustrating it may be at the time.
Still,i am looking forward to flying with Excel in April.

Excel flight just 3 hours late today leaving Gatwick.

Steve they knew you were dying to get home thats why it was early, VIP Steve

Hi John

My outbound was early as well. If memory serves, they were 10 minutes early off the gate, but an hour early in Tobago. It was great because I had time to collect my car, my phone SIM card, have two brief "hello" meetings with friends, do all our self-catering shopping at Moorsheads and still get up to Castara long before dark.

I guess its luck of the draw.

Sharon

You sound like you work for Excel!! I had no complaints at all about the outward journey but most airlines that I have flown with in the past have been able to rustle up a substitute plane with roughly the same configuration.

My point was Ecxel did not and it certainly makes me think twice about using them again.

I would also say that if the stewardess had spoken to me llike she spoke to the guy behind me when he had the temerity to complain about the lack of both tonic and ginger ale then I would be writing a very strong letter to them

Neil

No have spent all my life in aviation and 10 years at the CAA so understand from all sides and all the paperwork and authorisations involved when an incident like this occurs.

However no Tonic to go with the gin is unforgiveable.

Happy Paddy's Day by the way

And we had the last 2 bottles of gin on the plane! Oh well, I can forgive them. Maybe it's the overall affect of Tobago on me but I just wanted to stress that we were treated fairly and promptly by Excel and for me to be able to feel like this, despite initially being ready to explode in desperation at getting back home to my girl, is pretty incredible. It just added to the adventure. I'm home now, it's been misty and drizzling for days, but the Tobagon calm has'nt worn off yet. They must put something in the water, or roti, or beer...

We couldn't fault our outward flight for promptness and efficiency of the staff and this being the first time we'd flown Excel and having read the comments on this forum decided we'd treat ourselves to Excel One both ways and we were even quite looking forward to the return flight.

BUT

I agree with Neil regarding the stewardesses - very rude and although we were told there would be free drinks for all - they only came round once (not enough hey Neil - since we hadn't managed that many during the wait?!!!) and when we asked for more water it was like way too much trouble.

Also because of the turbulence we had to keep seat belts on for much of the journey, we hadn't been given fleece blankets and we pressed the steward bell which was ignored for 6 hours - great!!! When I eventually was able to get up and find steward to request blankets I was told that there weren't any more and that I just have asked earlier - durrrrrrrr!!!

I have today received our refund of the different between Excel One and Economy plus £100 each compensation so maybe I shouldn't be complaining, but still it was a pretty awful way to finish a great holiday.

Interested to hear about your refund Emma - did you have to prompt them first? I look forward to hearing from Excel...

I too thought the drinks thing was a bit stingey, but as it was Air Atlanta I think Excel on the way out were much better, nicer staff, as much water as you could drink etc. Oh well, have saved my Tobagon shots a my screen saver so I can remind myself of the nice holiday.

Simone - I did write to Golden Caribbean and got reply today from them today, but cheque came from Meridian Travel. I also wrote a strongly worded letter to Chief Exec @ Excel - no reponse yet but it helped vent some of my angst!!!!

Yes Emma I might have slept a bit better if we had had a couple more before we boarded.
Mind you I was better off than the guy sitting next to me, he must have been well over 6 feet and his ears must have been really sore by the time we landed as every time he turned his head he banged his ear on his knees!!! Those seats really were the pits.

I see you got some money back but I think you may have been short changed if you see the scale at this link http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4267095.stm

Interestingly in spite of several emails to Meridian travel and Golden Carribean Maureen hasn't even had a reply never mind any refund, could be we are going to have to send the boys round if nothing comes soon.

Neil

Neil

I am not sure if you are referring to the delays of the 12th/13th March, however I have read the link you supplied.

In my case (see previous thread), there were exceptional circumstances (i.e.; the plane collided with something on a runway and had to be repaired.

This was an extraordinary circumstance which resulted in my family being downgraded from Premium Economy to Economy for the outward trip.

It is worth emphasising that we benefited from all other features of Premium Economy apart from the seating ... that said, the Premium Economy gang of around 20 had a compartment containing at least 70 seats to spread themselves out on.

I never had the intention of taking issue with Excel because I was satisfied, having heard and understood their explanation.

The following quote from the link you refer to gives me further cause to believe that taking such issues would be fruitless ...

Any catches?

Yes.

Airlines won't have to pay compensation if the reason for delays or cancellations was due to "extraordinary circumstances".

Airlines are likely to argue that bad weather, strike action, or delays caused by air-traffic control or security alerts are outside their control.

Most airlines are not happy with the new rules and they have been seeking to challenge them in the courts.

They are also warning fares could rise as passengers will ultimately foot the bill for any additional costs incurred as a result of the regulations.

On arrival home there was a letter, dated 16th March (3 days after the flight), apologising for inconvenience, giving a full explanation for it and a cheque attached for £983 that represented the difference of the Premium Economy/Economy downgrade plus an ex-gratia payment of £100 each for 5 of us.

In all fairness, although I found the outbound flight quite gruelling, I have to accept Excel performed well under the circumstances they found themselves in.

I also feel that they overstepped the mark in their generosity ... I would never have claimed anything having learned of their difficulties.

Despite the obvious disappointments that we feel when we go on our holidays, we need to understand that exceptional circumstances happen and we have to accept that no unearthly power is going to rectify things 100%.

I will remain loyal to Excel and I commend them for the way in which they handled the matter.

Regards

Paul it's good to hear that you are satisfied with the service, but personally I'm not so happy. I'm still waiting to hear anything from Excel/Meridian for telephone call charges and any compensation that might be owed, which I guess is because we were booked in economy. But for every satisfied customer there'll be an unsatisfied one

Hope you had a lovely holiday though - the north wind is lashing rain against my window here now so all I can do is look at a Tobagon beach photo and yearn for the next visit.

Good point Simone.

This emphasises the point that those that had been upgraded received compensation for the downgrade.

The delay was due to extraordinary circumstances and therefore the compensation was not due for that.

I guess this makes it a little tough on the economy passengers.

Regards

Hi Paul Yes it was that fateful flight on the 12th March I was talking about. You may be right about the extrardinary cicumstances and since the compensation that Golden Carribean came up with was only about £10 less than using the EU rules I never did anything about complaining, BUT

In spite getting a copy of a letter from Golden Carribean to Meridian Travel, dated 12 March, enclosing a cheque for them to send us we still have no sign of the money.


I must confess that until last week we hadn't pushed it but now the guy at Meridian Travel does not answer emails or voice mails so we are getting slightly p***** off.

If nothing comes this week then I guess we will have to take things a little further

Neil