Carribean charter flights

[james87]

Hi

 

Me and my wife to be are getting married on azura in Feb 2018. We are all booked up but obviously no flight details have been given yet.

 

First question I have is when do p and o tend to announce flight details?

 

Second question I have is p and o state it will be either thomas cook or thomson flight. Now I absolutely despise thomas cook as a company due to the way they have dealt with us regarding issues we have had in the past and I vowed never to travel with them again. Can p and o take into account customers preference?

 

Looking at flights for the carribean season just gone it appears p and o use one thomson and one thomas cook flight from Gatwick per day so I would guess there's a 50/50 chance of getting Thomson flights? Although I'd guess customers who have booked through Thomas Cook will almost certainly fly with them maybe more likely to get Thomson fingers crossed

[yorkshirephil]

My experience is that you pay your money and take your chances, in the past we have not always known who the flight would be the week before. Last year we were supposed to fly with TC and ended up on the Thompson dreamliner both ways, which was a bonus. There have also been issues with premier seats when the flights have changed to a plane with fewer premier seats and people have been jocked off premier, us included.

 

The upside is Azura in the Caribbean is fantastic and a great place to have your wedding. Good luck with the wedding and the flights.

[Holly24]

Hi,

It is a case of wait and see, details can be anything from now until a few months before you travel. We did Brit this year in Carib on a Thompson Dreamliner from Birmingham and it was one of the best flights we've had. We're doing azura Carib in Feb 2018 too, seat booking is open roughly 6 weeks before, excursions were 6 months before cruise. I would say just keep an eye on your personaliser. There have been scheduled flights before, BA & Virgin, there maybe extra charges, or possibly just because the charters are full, I'm not sure which. The downside of these is having to cart your own luggage from carousel and watch weight on return journey as their not bonded.

H

[sammybonny]

We have cruised 3 times with P&O to the Caribbean twice the flights have been with Thomson (the second time on the Dreamliner) and once the last time with Thomas Cook.

 

We found the Thomas Cook flight just as good as the Thomson flights and we actually prefered the seating configuration on the Thomas Cook planes. Thomson Dreamliner:-3-3-3 Thomas Cook A330 2-4-2.You will be able to prebook your seats nearer the time at a cost.

 

We booked all 3 cruises through Thomas Cook Travel so I dont think this has any relevance to who you fly with and is just decided by P &O.

[james87]

Thanks for the input

 

I think a call to there flight department later in the year to see if I can express a preference might be worthwhile

 

If not we'll I'll just have to put up with my dislike for them!

 

You would think those booked through them would be first dibs for a thomas cook flight that's how I thought it would work clearly not!

 

We did the carribean a couple of years ago on azura and it was great hence why we are going back to get married there. That time we flew thomson which was great but I didn't have a dislike for thomas cook then!

[Mr Blue Sky]

Hi James87

 

We have always requested Thomson Fliights when booking which can sometimes

be 18 months ahead and it's always been honoured, we have booked direct

with P&O and had the ATOL flight certificate via email fairly promptly after

Booking with them. Certainly worth asking Travel Agent your preference

of carrier, good luck

 

 

Mrs Blue Sky

[james87]

Thank you that's very interesting to know booked directly through p and o would you suggest I contact their flight department to request this or our dedicated cruise specialist. I've got the atol certificate from them which just has p and o cruises on it should I get another with the airline name on it? Thanks for your help

[yamanid]

Thank you that's very interesting to know booked directly through p and o would you suggest I contact their flight department to request this or our dedicated cruise specialist. I've got the atol certificate from them which just has p and o cruises on it should I get another with the airline name on it? Thanks for your help

 

Obviously this will depend on whether or not there is a Thomson Flight going out for your Cruise or not:)

[soobs]

We have done the Caribbean a good few times which was always good on the Dreamliner, we don't like the seat configuration though, it's put up able outbound, but in-bound stuck in the middle of a 3 or someone climbing over you all the time on a night flight I find a tad stressful, so we requested TC last December when we did our first Britannia cruise and found it to be excellent the food was the best we have had on a charter flight.

The 2 seats together made it a lot less stressful for me in fact the food was better than our recent Emirates flight last week where one meal was okay the other was awful we were economy though!!

 

If it were me I would ring P & O let them know your reason for wanting Thomson and I would bet you will get it they are not going to start your honeymoon off on the wrong footing and I think they fill the Thomson plane first before starting on the TC.

[Mr Blue Sky]

Thank you that's very interesting to know booked directly through p and o would you suggest I contact their flight department to request this or our dedicated cruise specialist. I've got the atol certificate from them which just has p and o cruises on it should I get another with the airline name on it? Thanks for your help

 

Hi James87. if booked direct with P&O I would certainly try ringing them from experience

their customer service agents are very helpful and if they can not help they will put you

through to flight department, from past years there has

been TC and TUI flights on Fridays and Saturdays so there is a good chance

it's the same in 2018, yes as previous replies tell them it's a honeymoon :):)

 

Our ATOL certificate quotes dates and airports no carrier, cruise number.

 

Fingers crossed

 

 

 

Mrs Blue Sky

[james87]

Thanks for all your advice I've sent our cruise specialist at p and o an email requesting thomson flights and explained my reasoning. The way thomas cook have dealt with our family over a complaint we had with them last year was shocking. We were basically called lairs by them! But that's another story.

 

They know it's for our wedding as it's all booked through them. I would say we would be willing to fly from a different airport if it meant we could fly Thomson. Birmingham is actually closer but at 100pp to fly from a different airport now, with a party of 14 of us going that's 1400 just to avoid flying Thomas Cook!

 

The 3 abreast seating actually suits us better as we are taking our child as well.