Insight into Airtours Premium Cabin please

[brockenspectre]

I recently changed jobs within the travel industry and before doing so thought I would take advantage of the booking discount available in that last job and book myself an Airtours Premium Cabin for my next visit to friends in Florida. (I have subsequently found out that I probably could have had Virgin Premium Economy at roughly the same cost from my new employer but I wasn't to know that grrrrrrrrrr).

I am flying to visit friends in Florida in October and was wondering if anyone could give me insight/heads up on Airtours' Premium Cabin service. I believe I will be flying in an A340. This will be my first flight with Airtours so any other info about what to expect will be welcomed!

Thanks!!

JC

P.S. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to fly as pax in Economy and Biz class with BA, SAS and other European based airlines so these would be my reference/benchmark...

:D

[L.THOMAS]

Hi there,
If you are going out of man you will be on an A330-200.All seats are the equivalent of BA buisness and u have personal t.v moniter showing 6 movies and 8 entertainment channels.Drinks are free all the way.Let me know how you find it.Its a lot better than thestandard service.

[brockenspectre]

A MUPPET

Thank you for the feedback! I am flying out of LGW..still an Airbus 330/340?

Are flight deck OK with someone asking to visit? Only charter carriers I have flown were Air 2000 (to Elat) and JMC ("educational freebie" to LCA) and both times crews were happy for me to visit.

From what you say about the MAN service I am going to have a pleasant ride!! ^5

Thanks again for responding!

Joanne ("JC") :D

[Fast Jet Wannabe]

Hi there,

Airtours don't own any A340's. Your LGW flight will be on an A330.

I flew to the Dominican Republic in Premium class on the A330, and it was fantastic. Huge grey leather seats. and all the trimmings you'd expect!

The flightdeck crew weren't the most welcoming ever, although they did grant me a brief visit. This was, however, the only British airline I have flown with (and thats quite a few!) who have refused me the jump seat for take-off or landing.

Have a great flight!

[PAXboy]

My practice is never to ask for the jump seat! Ask for a visit when you know you are nearing top of descent (say an hour before landing) and then see what happens.

Alternatively, ask to visit in the mid-cruise and then see if you get invited back.

Always
Be polite
On arrival, immediately thank them for the opportunity to visit their office
If you cannot catch their names (back ground noise) call the Captain Sir/Madam
Try not to ask stupid questions!!
Recognise when it is time to leave before they ask you to leave

OK, all bog standard but on another thread a pilot was amazed that people still ask, "Do you know what all these knobs are for?"

[Fast Jet Wannabe]

PAXboy,

Fair enough, but my practise is to always ask for the jump seat! (Via a note to the Captain)

a) It has never failed apart from on the above mentioned flight.

b) It means I also always get the jump seat for take-off.

Some people say that the pilots will often allow the jump seat only for landing, so that they have the whole of the cruise to establish that you aren't a physco.

HOWEVER! On my last Air 2000 A320 flight, I was firstly told by the cabin crew that the Captain said "yes" to my request - but ONLY for take-off! Then, when I was un-straping at the top of cruise to return to my seat, he said to me, "Now that we can see you have a true interest, you are very welcome to return for the landing".

It does work!

[euroboy]

If you go into a Going Places Travel Agents (part of the Airtours Group) they have a short video loaded on there computers showing the Premium service. I know you can pre-book meals. I was going to use them to Oz. Poor meal choice...Sausage and Mash and Sweet and Sour Chicken where 2 of the choices remembering rightly. Hardly Premium Cabin food! All you are basically paying for is extra room, and the "free" drink which you paid for in the flight supplement of £199 pp.
I had a friend who used Airtours Premium cabin to Mexico, and unfortunately, his comments were not that favorable. Basically, he would never use Airtours again, and would use a scheduled carrier. Sorry.

I did a 6 month stint at a travel agents and being honest with you when booking flights for people most had tried the low cost carriers, I would say I managed to beat the low cost fare with flights with BA, bmi, British European, Aer Lingus 95% of the time.
Always check the main stream carriers as well as the low costs. Same with long haul charter...Airtours, and Britannia both pulled off the Oz market as the schedule airlines lowered their fares.

I have heard that if its the 767 A/C Premium Cabin its not separtated from the other cabin, not as comfortable as the Airbus.

[ 02 September 2001: Message edited by: euroboy ]

[brockenspectre]

Thanks for all the feedback on this - as I will be flying in a month's time I will soon know for myself how good the service is!

:D