Transat or Zoom?
 

The wrinklies are coming over this year and are thinking about using Transat or Zoom premium or club class. For those that have used these carriers any preference or feedback please.

Discount codes if you have them would be much appreciated.

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

What are you trying to figure which one is the worst for them????? :rofl:

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

Never used a charter, so no idea what their service is like.

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

How bad is Air Transat??? I am flying out with them for the first time in May.

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

I used Air Transat Club to Vancouver last year. They were good value for money, I thought. You get a reasonable seat pitch and the service is better than the main cabin. Its not business class but you don't pay business class rates.

I would use them again.

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

We have used Transat a few times now, from Birmingham to Toronto, no problems, other than we always book our seats, the last time the flight originated at Bristol and they just gave out seats without thought to the folks in Brum who had booked, it was a shambles with a lot of fed up people, however we got our refunds, (in the end) the seats they gave us were crap though.

Havind said all that, they are cheap and cheerful and I would use them agan.

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

We too are flying out of Birmingham to Toronto in mid-May in Club, but we are visiting the folks in Bristol to say goodbye first, so I would be quite happy if they changed the departure from Birmingham to Bristol! Why was yours changed and at how short notice??

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

No sorry, I didn't explain properly.........the flight originated in Bristol, flew to Brum and we boarded there, but the folk who had boarded at Bristol had been allocated seats that were already booked!!

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

Thanks for clarifying! Does the flight normally originate in Bristol then? When I looked at their website, Bristol wasn't mentioned as a departure airport - or I would have booked from there - is this a route they have ditched??

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

I think it was just that day......at least in all the times we have used Transat that was the only time we had that problem.

I don't think Bristol is usual at all!

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

Wish it was though - would save me getting up at 4am and travelling to Birmingham for the early flight!!

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

Ive flown both, their both much of a sameness except transat is sometimes cheaper.
Ive booked through canadian affair this time and will be flying with thomas cook, the last time time i flew with them it was a crew of liverpudlians (sp) hilarious as i was in the front row and could listen to their chat! Was a definate welcome back to Britain.

Just to note, if you book through canadian affair, thomas cook dont appear to have a club class.

Karen

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

I and two of my kids went home last month, three different flights, two Zoom one AT, all booked at short notice. They were all:

- cramped

- inconveniently timed

- late

- dirt cheap, <$600

I'd take the cheapest or best timed, it's not going to be an enjoyable experience but it's not going to be life changingly awful either, something like a leg wax or a prostrate exam - unpleasant but short lived and soon forgotten.

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

Flew Transatt to and from Toronto last Sept - they were fine - basic class - but booked a more expensive seat - £25 rather than £18

was fine :)

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

Hope its not too bad. We just booked premium with Zoom. Timings are OK and price was great relatively speaking, £1460ish for 4 of us one way to Vancouver.

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

Thomas Cook seems to have the most legroom in regular class.


Transat is OK, but it depends which plane in the fleet you get. Some of the newer ones seem a bit more spacious, but if you are flying club class I guess its not as much of a factor as those in steerage class at the back.

I think I read something here from Canada Jane / Ipevo who run the muchmore magazine that the Zoom discount codes were to be discontinued shortly?

My dad is coming for a flying visit in june (less than a week) and his Transat flight was less than 200 quid.... in part why hes coming I guess.

As dbd points out, air travel is largely miserable however you do it, so go for the cheapest or most convenient rather than worrying about the carrier.

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

Hi
We used Transat to vancouver last Sept and it was fantastic compared to mytravel on the way back. We had paid for premium service and got 3 news papers between about 30 passengers and cattle class food thrown at us when it had almost gone cold. When I had the audacity to request an extra cup of coffee it was as tough I had asked to go outside for a walk (never use them again as long as there is breath in my body). We were put on one of theirs as it is part of Thomsons back from Jamaica and it was even worse than coming back from Canada. In fact I would not S&*% on one of their aircraft (then again thats not a bad idea).
Great holidays though.

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

No complaints about Zoom :thumbup: I couldn't ever bring myself to fly Transat after their incident. I don't care how long ago it was, they were beyond sloppy and they don't get my cash.

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

We upgraded to premium with Zoom - very comfy - food adequate - on time - friendly staff - luggage comes out first - no complaints and would use them again.

Anecdotal evidence on this site produces way more complaints about Transat - but they can work out considerably cheaper. You get what you pay for? (to a degree).

I'm in the process of investigating flights for the summer - Transat work out about a $1000 less for all of us - but I'm in two minds as to whether to hit that 'submit' button because of their reputation ....

The Zoom code is MM2007ZA - usable for flights booked until the end of April, as in the booking, not the flight! (but not sure if that is usable with flights originating in the UK - think it would be ... )

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

WHAT INCIDENT????

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

The one where the plane's engines stopped halfway over the Atlantic?

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...27/ai_77567146

if interested

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

How about globespan? I checked out zoom and globespan today for the relatives coming later august and globespan was over a hundred pound cheaper per flight, plus you get 25kg total baggage, zoom its only 20kg.....

I did post a code on another forum for zoom the other day MM2007ZA, its good until the end of April i believe for 20% off, but flights are same price with globespan without a discount AND you get that extra 5kg baggage.

I think ive flown both and they are just as bad as each other....a few years ago we upgraded our seats with zoom at a cost of 80quid extra per seat one way, a little extra room was all we got basically.....they were reluctant to give us a beer - wonder why :eek: and our service was pretty crap. Not the best thing when youre leaving the country and your family and have enough on your mind, but to almost have to beg to get a drink (that youre supposed to get anyway) is a little ridiculous!

I've flown transat too but i havent found much of a difference between any airlines,i loved Globespans staff when i flew with them, but the inlaws that came out last year werent impressed....you win some, you lose some

I guess i was actually no help here but thought id throw in my 2 cents anyhooo :o

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

Thanks all, I think I am going to put them on with BA.

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

Here's hoping you dont fly out of Terminal 5 at Heathrow ;)

Here is my take on the flights to Canada -

Zoom - flown with them the most - only used their premium service once - you get extra leg room which is good for a 6 foot chap like myself. Watch out for the trollys they push up and down the eisles - on my last trip it clipped my right knee and I had to spend the rest of the flight with ice on it.

Air Transat - flown with the one trip - flight over to Vancouver wasnt bad, but ran late. Flight back was terrible - I had booked a seat with extra leg room, but with little room either side of me, it made the flight a little unbearable.

KLM - flew with them one trip - good flight, good leg room, however when I got my case back it was damaged.

Canadian Affair - Not tried them, but from what relatives say, their flights were not bad.

Regards

GW

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

Most of my flights between England and Montreal were Canadian Affair. Great value including a return for £209 once.

Also did Zoom, they have a little more leg room, but I wouldn't say my knees were crushed on Canadian Affair like they have been on short haul flights.

It's worth looking at going out with one and coming back with the other.

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

Hi Surrey expat

We flew zoom premium on a packed plane and had a fantastic experience! Would recommned it. BA are always overrated IMO- their leg room is pitiful. either 30 or 31 inches across to Canada which is no better than Zoom standard. They charge extra for more than one bag, they are always on strike. They are expensive.

Gryphea

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

Is the extra legroom on TC worth going well out of your way for i.e. to an airport 2 hrs further away?

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

I dont have your legs, so how would I know? I would live with the shorter space on a 8 hr flight to save the the two hours drive, but Im only 6'0" and my legs are relatively short for my height.

One of my brothers on the other hand is 6'4" and (noticably) hasnt been back to visit in 8 years since flying over Air Transat;)

http://www.westernair.co.uk/seatpitch.html

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

Good point! I'm 6'6", so legroom tends to matter a lot to me! Flew back from NYC once in economy with some ignorant yanks in front fully reclined - swore never to do economy again after that....

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

I dont blame you!

Zoom "extra leg room" seats looks like the way to go for you at 36" for $60 each way, unless you pay for premium Air Canada

http://www.flyzoom.com/index.cfm?fus...SeatingOptions

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

To fill in some of the gaps;

Faulty spare part fitted to aircraft, and when questioned it was approved by management as they had to keep to the schedule.

Regular vibration of jet engine combined with bad fit of the faulty part resulted in a fuel line breaking in flight.

Fuel leak on one side of aircraft caused a weight imbalance that the pilots noticed...he pumped fuel from the heavy side to the light side to correct this...not a problem except that he was unknowingly feeding more fuel into the leak.

Plane ran out of fuel...miracle bit of piloting got it down in the Azores without loss of life.

Air transat management fined $250000 (largest ever fine in Canada?) for safety lapse in approving the aircraft for flight with the known deficiency of the spare part. There is a reason aircraft designs take so long to approve and shouldnt be messed with on the spur of the moment by people who dont necessarily know what they are doing. Still, I wouldnt rule out flying Air Transat on those grounds alone, it was a hell of a bit of flying to get it down safely when all is said and done, and I wouldnt wonder if other airlines have done worse and got away with it through dumb luck.

Re: Transat or Zoom?
 

That's quite a good deal at $60! However, flying from/to Birmingham limits choice to Air Transat only.... otherwise it's back to the original question of whether it's worth 2 hrs extra in the car....

I try and tell myself it's *only* 7 hrs, but that flight back from NYC seemed to last a lifetime.....