Flight: MT1482
Route: Manchester - Fuerteventura
Aircraft: Boeing 757-300, G-JMOG
Times: 09:10AM - 13:30PM
Date: 17th February 2018
Seat: 1A
On Saturday, 17th February I got to experience the premium cabin (premium economy) onboard Thomas Cooks Boeing 757-300 aircraft. I will be reviewing:
Airport & Check-in
Boarding
Cabin
And onboard food
And most importantly: How did the flight compare to TUI's product?
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For flights to Europe, Manchester Airport recommends arriving at the airport 2 hours before departure (which, for our flight, would be 07:10AM). We woke up at 6AM, left at 6:45AM and was at the airport for 07:15AM! In the morning hours, before noon, Manchester Airport is usually its busiest, so I would recommend leaving in plenty of time to get there. As you will read about, check in was very, very slow.
Once we had arrived, we went straight to check-in. There were about 60 Thomas Cook check-in desks, 2 of which were 'priority' - for those who had booked priority check-in or those travelling in premium class. After roughly a 35 minute wait to get to the front of the queue, we were greeted by a friendly check-in manager. After our bags were weighed and on their way, we made our way to security. In my opinion, Thomas Cook needs more priority check-in desks, as the priority desks were full and busy, whereas the economy check-in desks were nearly empty, but still staffed, making the priority check-in not worth it. Overall, check-in was a slow and long process.
This was my first time flying out of T1, and I wasn't impressed. It took another 35 minutes minutes (USING fastrack) just to get through security. If we hadn't have used fastback, we would have missed our flight due to the time it took to get through. Compared to when I have flown out of T2 and T3, this was awful (typically, they may take about 10 mins). I appreciate that it was half term, therefore would be busier but it was understaffed and disorganised.
Because check-in and security took so long, we had to go straight to the gate. First to board were people who were disabled , then people in premium and who had booked priority, then economy. We boarded by the 2nd left door and it was smooth. First impressions of the cabin were good; it looked modern and clean.
The seat is the same as economy. Same legroom, same width etc. It was leather with a leather headrest and was fairly comfortable - fine for a 4 hour flight. If I was to be very critical, I would say that the seat is quite narrow, especially compared to their Airbus A321, which I flew on the way back.
Once we had boarded, we sat down and the flight got underway swiftly. Pushback and takeoff was on-time and routine (always good!) Once in the air, the crew came around with a snack and drink service. All purchasable items were in their cafe cloud menu in the seat back pocket, which has overall a good range of food and drinks to choose from.
I bought a bottle of water, priced at £1.80.
The prices were what you'd expect for a flight - alright. Not amazing, but not too bad either!
About 1.5 hours in, the meal (and drink), which is included in the premium fare was served. I was really impressed with this actually! Nice food and presentation! In the hot breakfast there was egg, bacon, sausage, potato rostis and beans. In the cold breakfast, also served, there was a strawberry yoghurt, chocolate muffin, orange juice and a small piece of chocolate. Overall, I was quite impressed with the meal! I would recommend waiting until this service to order your drink, as it comes for free, rather than having to pay for it, as you do in the earlier service.
Food served onboard
The crew came around again before landing, offering drinks and snacks for sale. They were really nice and were able to help at any point. Overall, I would recommend flying with Thomas Cook on holiday! Comparing to TUI, they are both very good products and I would highly recommend them both! Read my TUI review here.
Check out my instagram for more pictures from the trip!
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