Dingdongler

Need some winter sun next year. On the whole I'd avoid a long haul chartered flight but I see Thomson premium class can get you over to the Carribean for about £675pp. The pics here make the seats look quite comfortable and only one inch less pitch than Virgin premium. Virgin premium class is about £1200 for the same destinations.

http://www.seatplans.com/airlines/Th...sses/Premium-1

Not that bothered by food quality or a few glasses of fizzy plonk, I just want comfortable seats and priority boarding/checking in etc.

Anybody flown with Thomson premium seats?

Thanks

47 NAT

I have but there premium seats were just the first few rows and nothing special. Maybe that set up was just flights to Canaries/ Egypt and Cyprus as not flown Thomson long haul.

We have used Virgin and Monarch premium to go to Tobago. Monarch are the cheaper out of the 2 with Virgin been about 40% more expensive.

dpb

Does a couple inches make that much difference ( or is it social thing) , id go cattle class if the beers were cheap

nik52wrx

Long haul it makes a huge difference imo. I'm 6'1" and normal seats for eight hours is torture so I always get extra leg room or premium seats depending on prices at the time of booking.

Nik

Ant

Uncle and auntie went with these to Jamaica , ended up with a letter of complaint when they got back. None of the inflight services was working, food was ****e and leg room was less than desirable.

dpb

fair enough , im 5 eleven and only fly long haul every few years cos im that poor

Dingdongler

Hmmm, that doesn't sound too promising. Saying that though my mum flew Virgin upper class a few years ago and the seat wouldn't recline into the flatbed position! It wasn't fixed until the last few hours of the flight.

Dingdongler

It's not just a few inches of leg room its the seats themselves, often in 'premium' classes they are wider/more padded with better head/neck support.

It's not a 'social' thing for me, though the added benefit is that I don't have to sit next to chavs like you who are after 'cheap beers'

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Doubt the seats will be better quality...just spaced out more. You'll still have worn out foam padding and a construction no better than cattle class.

Every plane I have been on be it long or short hall, business, premium or enoconmy has killed my back and neck. Even the tarty Recaros at the front of Virgin long haulers (think that was to South Africa IIRC ).

I still have a numb right thigh caused by a trapped nerve from falling alseep on a short haul flight...on a extra legroom seat

I found out why they are shyte...when a seat that was next to me had collapsed...the crew removed the cushions to prevent people sitting on it so you could see how it was constructed. All teh seat bases and backs are made from is strips of fabric straps with a pole at each end....just like the rear bench seat on a 1986 3 door Fiat Panda. Thats why they sag in the middle of your **** and give no support to the arch of your back. Bacuse some fat duffer has stretched the fabric straps. Its also why you can feel the magazines in the seat pocket poking you in the lower back.

The seats in this video don't look any better in construction that bog standard aircraft seats:

http://media.thomson.co.uk/asset/v00...&ib_id=thomson (might need to right click 'save as' for it to work )

Noteable key is the thickness..just a couple of inches. So its the same straps holding the seats together, just with different padding covering it

dpb

id only drink the beer/else if it were free ( our trip qatar to joburg) to knock myself out

which makes sleeping a lot easier besides

Account deleted by request

Ding,

Ive flown thomson premium a few times. The issue I have found is it depends what plane you are on. I flew to Kenya on a new plane and it was superb, bigger seats and better legroom compared to standard and was well worth the upgrade. Then went to Mexico and we were on quite an old plane and it was the same as standard class apart from more cabin crew and maybe a touch of extra legroom. Not sure i will bother next time and will go for extra legroom seats in the back unless i can find out if it is a new plane on that route.

Chop

Chop

^Qwerty^

Not sure about Thomson Premium myself, but the folks paid for it on their last long haul and said it was worth the extra.
For me, anything over 4 hours in cattle becomes some kind of legalised torture, and thus I won’t fly long haul unless I turn left after boarding, but then I’m 6ft3 and need the leg room. I flew back from Prague to Manchester a couple of months ago in cattle and my back was killing me even after that short flight 
The business lounges are nice places, well as nice as you can get when stuck in an airport, but I don’t buy in to this priority boarding – if you’re going to stuck in a metal tube for hours on end, I’d rather minimise that time as much as possible so I’m all for pitching up at the boarding gate when the queue has all but gone.

500

We flew it last year, legroom was good, seats were fine, better food, drinks when you wanted them, better choice of entertainment etc. priority boarding didn't bother me but to just sail through all the checks to get through departures at the UK end was much better than waiting in the que. No such luck at the Dom Rep, the airport didn't even have walls!

If you do book, make sure you check in online to sort the seats out before you fly!

LeeMac

iTrader: (1)

Just flew back from Barbados with Thomson (think 767 300) and they had about 8 premium rows up front, nothing to write home about and not worth extra for me, they got priority boarding tho which might help.

On return we got over wing exit seats with masses of leg room which we gave up after a tall chap was asked to move, didnt bother me.

Spend the extra on your accommodation upgrade if poss

ps. thomson and thomas cook were both flying passengers from same destination, both airlines had long delays Thomson passengers got a far better deal
you should be able to pay for over wing exits seats

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I have, was a bit more tolerable, was with work so they are too tight for business class, thing is though I take the direct Manchester Atlanta flight whenever I go and suffer Delta economy to avoid having to go to LHR to go on BA. Some do it and its like two grand because they can get away with it despite it being two or three times the price of the Delta one, I could go Business class for less, anyway I digress.

I went to Calgary on Thomson Premium, or was it Thomas Cook come to think of it, a bit better, sat next to a bit of a flirty Milf with a low cut top, weirdly I was sat next to her and her husband was in front of me, I offered to swap and they couldnt be bothered, was ok, funniest bit was a pair of retirement age Daily Mail readers, he was getting off on the Premium thing, like it was First Class on BA or something, he was dead put out when we boarded last and as badgering the gate staff, he was all upset when "Non Premium" people walked through to use the bogs, total dick, its £100 extra not five grand !

billythekid

When we flew to jamaica we went premium and we would reccomend it. Seats were a lot wider than normal. Better ife and food. Speedy boarding and security checks. Good leg room and drinks before take off etc. Was a 767 both ways. I have heard some routes don't get the full service. It was a worry tbh but we were lucky as the seats were good.

I have flown BA business and VA upper and tbh on any flight over 4 hrs I would really not want to go eco anymore. BA are very good. VA upper was ok, flat bed, reasonable food but cabin was tired tbh. I got an e mail from VA telling me they have just started upgrading the cabins for 2012.

Dingdongler

Thanks, some mixed reports then. As with all airlines it does depend somewhat on the age of the aircraft. Up until a recent refit/refresh some BA business class sections were just awful.

Anyway, premium on Thomson is £200 each extra, but this only takes it to just slightly more than economy in say BA or VA. So if the cost was equal what would be better, economy in BA/VA or premium economy in Thomson?

Cheers

LeeMac

iTrader: (1)

£200 extra for a 8 hour flight!

If you are that bothered fly Virgin or BA, you wont then have to walk or get a bus from terminal to plane (Barbados)

Dingdongler

What are you talking about???

I've already told you that VA premium economy is approx £1200 and (VA upper class btw is about £2500) and I've got four tickets to buy.

If you get **** all then it's obviously not worth it, but if you get some comfort and I don't get off the other end with back, knee and neck ache then £200 extra is really neither here or there. It's my holiday, I want to enjoy it not suffer it.

Jaybird-UK

They look ok from these pictures http://thomsonlonghaul.webs.com/longhaulcabinpics.htm

stormyuklondon1

flew to luxor last year with thomson. sheer. hell. uncomfortable, freezing cold and the food is abysmal.
we're going to cape verde in march, and unfortunately we have to go by thomson..not looking forward to that flight in the slightest.

LeeMac

iTrader: (1)

Look just the same as the ones I was in

Have to say it wasnt what I experienced

dpb

I cant even remember how much walking was involved when i flew out of there ( for miami , 1996 ) or even which airline

I had just pulled out all the stops to pay for their flight tax , which was something else

Jamescsti

I flew on a jet2 flight earlier this year from Tenerife to Leeds, got an extra leg room seat right at the bulkhead for £20 upgrade and it was possibly the most comfy flight I've ever had, I found it better than ba premium economy.

billythekid

For the money its worth it mate. But it is a bit of a lottery. If you are not happy we were told they will usually refund the upgrade. We were more than happy though and I would fly with them again. BA business is the best, imho, but again hit and miss and a lot more expensive. I was lucky I got my last lot of VA upper class flights at £1800 return, same flight now is £2300, even more on peak days. Ok the Thompson seats do not give a flat bed, or anything like the space BUT at less than £800 return its good value. And that included transfers. We last flew with them 2 years ago.