Monarch Airlines

[rf9rider]

Just recieved news from Monarch re-introducing flights to Canary Islands.

http://flights.monarch.co.uk/cnt/news/index.asp?hdlId=1617

[coolcreen]

That's great news. This extra competition will help to bring prices of it's competitors down to more realistic levels.

[sunsand]

fab news i priced up a holiday through them today with acc and flights family of 4 3 weeks ! 2 bed 914 amazing really dont care what the airline is like for that price its just to get there and a bit of a sacrifice to go from luton instead of bris but no problems also great news about supermarkets changing in pr about time

also i really think this will help a tourism boost next year hopefully slowly but surely gc is going to be a little bit revitalised again would be nice to see it bust like it once was

[colinb]

On Monarch website:
From 19th October 2009, one flight a week will operate to Gran Canaria from Birmingham and up to two flights a week will operate from London Gatwick and Manchester. In addition, from 21st October 2009, one flight a week will operate to Fuerteventura from Birmingham, London Gatwick and London Luton and up to two flights a week from Manchester. Flights are on sale now at www.monarch.co.uk for travel until 27 March 2010, with fares including taxes starting from just £52.99 one way (£90.99 return).

The way I read it, they don't fly to GC from Luton?

[rab_c.]

well spotted colin it seems it is fuerteventura that goes from luton not gc.
I put in luton to gc for a holiday and it gave me a holiday to gc. from gatwick some people may not check and end up going to luton for a flight that is going from gatwick

[sunsand]

london gatwick is what i actually meant doing a booking for my auntie at the time of typing who lives in luton easy mistake when your thinking of 2 things at the same time ,
not that stupid im afaraid to not check where im coming and going from rab

[BIG TONY]

Another "Mickey Mouse" operator if you ask me, whilst I totally agree that more flights are needed for us die hard Canary island fans. Just priced up a flight and as usual the hidden costs are there (seperate baggage charges etc). This mob has to be the cream of "RIP-OFF", £25 Sterling for a return suitcase fare, come on guys I ask you ????
I thought that I read some time ago that all flights advertised must include everything from this year.

[rab_c.]

london gatwick is what i actually meant doing a booking for my auntie at the time of typing who lives in luton easy mistake when your thinking of 2 things at the same time ,
not that stupid im afaraid to not check where im coming and going from rab

lol ok if you say so................but not if you are thinking of two things at the one time ha ha ha

[coolcreen]

Another "Mickey Mouse" operator if you ask me, whilst I totally agree that more flights are needed for us die hard Canary island fans. Just priced up a flight and as usual the hidden costs are there (seperate baggage charges etc). This mob has to be the cream of "RIP-OFF", £25
Sterling for a return suitcase fare, come on guys I ask you ????
I thought that I read some time ago that all flights advertised must include everything from this year.

I for one was delighted to see an extra bit of competition on this route and therefore will not rush to condemn them. All budget airlines now separate payment for baggage from that of the normal airfare. To my mind, this is sensible.
I have long been an advocate of carry-on luggage only.
It offers the following:
· Check in on line with no bag drop
· Reduced risk of having your carry-on case weighed
· Arrive later at the airport
· On arrival at destination, quick getaway from airport
· No lost or damaged luggage
· Do not have to tow a trailer after me
· Can usually take my luggage on board public transport, therefore reduced risk of theft or damage.
· Keeping life simple, don’t need a quarter of the things we think we need.
· Some airlines will not allow you to check in online if baggage has to be checked in, additional charge for check in
· Oh, and no baggage charge

Arguments against:
· Cannot bring my favourite liquids or sharp items. £25 will buy a lot of items

· Cannot possibly pack all of what I need in a small carry on case with prescribed maximum dimensions.
Maybe yes, if you choose the correct type of luggage. Here are a few suggestions. Buy a case with soft sides, but shaped like a normal case so as to keep within the prescribed dimensions. Do not buy a case with wheels. It increases the weight from (0.5kg – 1kg for non-wheeled) to (about 3kg for the wheeled variety) and it reduces the volume on average by about 40%. Non-wheeled cases will therefore allow additional luggage to be carried, and you will not be overweight because it is about 2kg or 4.4lbs lighter to begin with. Buy one that does not have a protruding handle as this increases external dimensions without any increase in volume and ensure that it has sharp corners rather than curved corners to increase it’s useful volume. As this variety usually have a shoulder strap fitted, it is easy to carry.

· I want to check in my baggage, bring my additional items, including liquids and sharp items, and then walk around handsfree. (an absolute necessity if you have a small child under 2 years of age without a baggage allowance). Just pay the additional charge for checking in your luggage. At £25, it is a minute fraction of what DHL would charge you.

For those of you who may be considering travelling without checked in luggage, consider the following examples, both taken from Amazon, but buy where you want to:-

The following one is 0.5kg with a volume of 39 litres, all of it useable, and costs £34.99
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001CZPYDK/ref=s9_simb_gw_xu_s0_p200_t1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OL E&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=0ECP7BAWWTPXWK7SVYHQ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467198433&pf_rd_i=468294
With an allowance of 10kg, you have a payload of 9.5kg


or this more robust one, 1kg with a volume of 43 litres, all of it useable, and costs £25.95

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000WIUSAC/ref=s9_simb_gw_xu_s0_p79_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0ECP7BAWWTPXWK7SVYHQ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294

With an allowance of 10kg, you have a payload of 9kg

If you have a checked-in allowance of 15kg, a normal case with wheels can weigh 5 – 6Kg, payload is almost the same.

[rab_c.]

lots of good points from coolcreen but only if some passengers take the advice..........if everyone did the same thing then im afraid there is not enough room in the overhead lockers for everyones cabin baggage and with the compressed seating space your baggage would not fit in at your feet. we see this often on globespan flights where people are fighting for overhead locker space and thats mostly with all the goodies from duty free. and imagine the massive wait at passenger search as security check the huge upsurge in luggage to be xrayed and poor me would be on the dole as there would be no hold baggage to xray and check. so!!!! its only a good idea if just a few people travel this way.there are a thousand other factors that go against these plans and the biggest would be that security would have to double at the passenger search machines now who would have to pay for this......yes the airlines who would then hand the payments on to the passenger who are then going to be paying the same price as they would have anyway by checking baggage in the hold and are now sitting watching overy head lockers for any freefalling baggage coming their way. but as said lots of pros and cons here.

[coolcreen]

I was thinking of this purely from the point of view of the passenger.
You obviously have a much greater on-site knowledge than me regarding airport operations and security, RabC. I have difficulty with some of your opinions so correct me if I do not make sense. Maybe I did not make myself as clear as I should have.

I only carry one piece of carry-on-luggage, within size and weight restrictions, no duty-free. From my observations, almost every passenger takes carry-on luggage along with checked-in luggage, some of it way in excess of the present weight and size limits so I cannot see the increased workload on security. If the present size and weight restriction were properly implemented, I would see a reduced workload for security staff, but both you and I know that it is not implemented in the vast majority of the airports. Judging by the effort required by some strong men to put the case in the overhead bin, I suggest that the 6kg allowance (some airlines ) is more like 16kg. I was not advocating that anyone exceed maximum allowance, just make maximum use of space allowed within the limits. Since I suggested no wheels, then I am interested in keeping the weight down anyway.

As regards overhead locker space, the prescribed width of a bag for many airlines should not exceed 350mm. Three of these bags (one row of seats) placed correctly in the overhead compartment will now occupy 1050mm. I suspect that it is less than the most crammed seat spacing, but maybe I am wrong.

Duty-free, that’s another matter, no control over that at present. (Ryanair is looking at this however and may see it as part of the carry-on luggage allowance. If they introduce it, others will follow) The overhead storage was never designed for the number of bottles of wine and whiskey placed on it. I believe that bottles, in particular should be carried beneath the seat for safety reasons.


As regards putting yourself out of a job, I hadn't really considered it. Wasn't it very inconsiderate of me? However, you provided a solution for that yourself. You say that addition security is required. If you were moved to this position, all of the passengers would benefit from your pleasant personality rather than having it wasted down in the dungeons watching cases go by.


Another benefit. If I check in a bag but do not arrive in the plane, the task of finding my bag to remove it can sometimes be quite lengthy. I'm sure some of you have experienced this. Flight delay (my experience, with containerised baggage) can be about 25 minutes.

If everyone took carry-on luggage only, it would not work?????
Since we now have an almost empty baggage hold, planes can be redesigned by say, lowering the floor, and increasing the in-cabin storage. Alternatively, make it a double-decker with seating at increased spacing at two levels. This would not happen overnight however, as it could only be introduced when new planes are purchased.
I'm pretty sure that short-term measures could also be found to allow some of the hand baggage be stored in a new location to alleviate any problem that may arise.
One such solution may be, place a small door in the floor just in front of each seat. The size of the door would be small, say, 40cm X 20cm. When open, it would allow a carry-on-case to be dropped into it with the end handle at the top. The depth of the box in which it will fit into will equal say 55cm, the maximum length of the bag. Close the door and take your seat. Of course, if you have baggage in excess of regulations, it will not fit……red face. It will get one third of the passengers in off the aisle very quickly,

I am not saying that I can solve the problem, but we must always think outside the box. For every difficulty we are presented with, we must never say “It cannot be done”. We must replace it with the phrase “How can it be done?”
I can never see a time when checked in luggage will be eliminated completely, in short-haul flights, just greatly reduced. It is happening as we speak. The charges are helping to make it happen. Checked in luggage will always form part of long-haul flights.

Checked in luggage is a very expensive operation, baggage handlers, very expensive containerised luggage lifting equipment, conveyer belt systems from check in desks, conveyer belts to baggage hall, large baggage halls with carousels, and transporting vehicles. There has to be a better way of doing it.

[rab_c.]

you, said it in the very first sentence coolcreen I do in fact have a very high knowledge of baggage procedures and through this I am limited to what I can say on here as for working in a dungeon our job is the last point of safety on a plane for you the passenger. the equipment upstairs is not designed the same as the highly sophisticated equipment we work with therefore new equipment would be required, I think I have pointed out enough as to let you know theres more to my pleasant personality than you will ever know.

without going much further in to your very ridicolous points onboard here is a wee suggestion for you, the next time you board a plane count the rows of seats down one side then count the overhead lockers then tell me if you find that there is a overhead locker for every row then try measuring your bag and see if it fits long way in doubt if the compartment would close then advise me if you can get 6 bags in the overhead locker obviously you know very little regards security and safety in an airport to come away with some of the silly points you have come away

[Sunshine girl]

I'd rather just pay the money and not have to lug bags around airport.

[steve]

Here yer go coolcreen stick yer stuff in here..lol

http://www.ovi.ch/b377/pcs/airbus2.jpg

[BIG TONY]

Just face the facts guys, we're getting ripped off thesedays for taking flights only. Up until a few years ago baggage was free with flight only tickets. Now that a lot of people (NOT ALL) have cottoned on that D.I.Y.holidays can be put together saving a substantial amount of money in many cases, they've got to rip us off in other ways. Christ only about 4 years ago I was getting G.C. flights for around the 100 quid mark return "BAGGAGE INCLUDED".
They're just sharks and are fully aware that the British are a soft touch and will just cough up. As for cramming the overhead lockers with all you can stuff in a regulation sized bag is just asking for trouble. Bags in the hold free of charge with sensible sized bags for essentials overhead, that was the way for years so why change it.
That's all Im gonna say on the subject as I can see this thread going the lunatic way as well !!!!!!!!

[Dolly Dimple]

Oh my goodness me!!! information overload with the lengthy suggestions!!!
I always thought overhead lockers were for HAND LUGGAGE not for all of the holiday luggage.
When away in June there were people that were checking in cases and taking cases on as hand luggage also, as long as it wasnt over 5kg.

If we were all to do that there certainly wouldnt be enough room for everyone, causing huge disruptions of getting seated, who's cases goes where, arranging to get put in hold.
All delaying the flight when its a long enough one as it is.

Over head lockers for hand luggage thank you very much.