Mikelesley

This also happened to us - when I wrote complaining about this I was told that this was a very rare occurance - funny that I said there were at least 12 other people in the same boat! We got our money back - but that did not compensate for the arrogance they showed when we complained. I certainly will think twice about using Canadian Affair again.

HSJones

try booking Thomas Cook flights on www.flythomascook.com
I've always found Canadian affair good, but then i'm always travelling alone so don't need to book seats. As for Zoom it seems they have much less choice of direct flights to Toronto from London.
The advantage of travelling with Canadian affair is that you can mix airlines and therefore make the most of your time in Canada/Uk on holiday.

minimeeze

Well, we have just literally arrived back in the UK after upgrading to Premium seats with C.A on the return leg of our journey. We did have more room in our seats and weren't as cramped. The seats in the premium area are in a 2-3-2 configuration rather than 3-3-3. Leg room seemed about the same, which was more than adequate for my short little 5'3" bod My main gripe was that the armrests were fixed which limited the space we had. If we had been able to move them, we would have been so much more comfortable.

Having now flown via Zoom and Canadian Affair, I think I prefer Zoom as the seats were much more roomyand comfortable in economy, although the service we had in Premium via C.A was fab

Linda P

I flew with Canadian Affair (air transat) in March, the attendant told me I would have to move as they had a young family that needed to be seated together.

Normally I would have been happy to help, but, as I had paid the extra to pre-book my seats, I asked that this be refunded, to which the answer came back " sorry we can't do that ". I have to be honest I was so annoyed, I told them in that case I was staying put, and they could move someone else.

I did feel guilty, as I am normally the first to change or give up my seats for whatever reasons, but it was just the attitude that this was what was going to happen, instead of asking if I minded.

Linda

tracy-cheshire.UK

Just returned from Vancouver to Manchester with Thomas Cook.

Just a word of warning for anyone who has booked seats in row 7 in premium class.

Only 7 DEF (the middle row) exist ! We booked 2 seats 7A and B and were told at Manchester that the plane had been reconfigured and there was no 7A and B !!!!!!!!!!

Couldn't believe it after having issue last year when they also had to move us as our pre-booked seats had been double booked.

Maybe it's just us .... we rang CA to change our seats from row 7 on the return and guess what - the plane was an older one and 7A and B were there and we had given up a window seat.

halftheworldaway

We had a problem with Canadian Affair (Thomas Cook) flying from Glasgow to Toronto a couple of weeks ago.

3 days before there flight they phoned us up, to say we were being moved to a later flight (AirTransat) and we would retain our pre-booked seats.

Arrived at the airport really early to avoid any problems, the check in agent said the flight was overbooked by 14 people, but we would get on no problem.... turns out there was a problem and we got bumped off the flight even though we booked about 8 months in advance.

They even managed to screw things up the next day when we checked in which meant the seats they gave us weren't even together!

Waiting for a reply to our letter of complaint! So we'll see what the say but the staff at the airport were really unhelpful.

zoec

I flew with Canadian Affair back in May, when i got to check in (3 hours before as you should do) i was told to go to customer services, so off i went, only to find out, that i had to wait right until the last minute to find out if i would be boarding the plane because they had overbooked the plane.

Apparently they hold you back if you plan to go for a long trip (i.e 2 and a half months which i came to Canada for). So i was held back just because i wanted to go to Canada for a longer period of time, they told me that if i didnt get on this flight, that i would have to go on the later flight, with Airtransat, even though i had specifically booked with Thomas Cook beacuse they had more leg room opposed to airtransat.This angered me even more because the thought of having to go on a crappy airline just because i wanted to for a long time, meant i had to suffer the consequences. I would have had to wait in the airport for about 4 more hours!!! and my boyfriend (who i hadnt seen for 8 months) would have had to wait too! Grrr!

Fortunately other people didnt show up, so i was allowed on the flight. Now most "normal" air carriers will not hold you back just because you want to go for a long period of time, they only hold you back if your late to check in, which i definitely wasnt and was there before other people.

I will definitely not be flying with CAnadian Affair ever again, and i find most cheaper airlines, in the end, with all the stupid extra costs they give you, end up being the same price as normal airlines like BA or Air Canada. Plus the luggage allowance is pretty bad too!

Just a warning to all those planning to go to Canada more than the usual holiday time as you may be disciminated against because of this, so dont bother with Canadian Affair!

dbd33

Do get over it. In the past two weeks on scheduled Air Canada flights out of Toronto my OH was eight hours late leaving for Denver and my daughter was 22 hours late leaving and then had to go via Memphis to get to Minneapolis. Flying just isn't a reliable way to travel. A budget airline that delivers you within a couple of days of your chosen date is giving you what you've paid for.

startwin

I have news for you - every plane is overbooked. BA and Air Canada included. They don't care who they bump. It's a fact of flying these days.

Surrey Expat

This is not new, airlines have done this for decades. It helps ensure they don't fly with empty seats. There are compensation requirements they have to meet for whomever they bump off the flight.

zoec

I am over it i just wanted to warn other travellers about travelling with them, and i know that all other airlines overbook, but they only bump you off the flight if you are very late to checking in, on a first come first serve basis, they dont bump you off just because you want to travel for a long time. Maybe read what i said again and then you'll understand.

Surrey Expat

Depends on whether it is a non stop flight or routes through other centres. You'd be surprised at the criteria used to decide who gets on and who doesn't (and who gets upgraded and who does not). There is no way as a passenger you'd have any ide if you were one of the last to turn up or not, so pretty much they can do as they like.

That's the problem with going coach.

pete66

Hi

We have flown Canadian Affair a couple of times on their Thomas Cook flights and found them to be OK. They are certainly not a high end airline...but they did the job.

Has anybody flown with Globespan??

Pete

wheatsheaf

Air Transat has to be the worst air carrier. They leave you felling like you are paying for the privilige of being treated like dirt.

dbd33

AC does that and charges more.