Air Transat: Would you recommend it?
 

Hello all!

I found a great fare of 785$CAN for Montreal to London in late May/early June 2009 on Air Transat. There's a 40$ fee for seat reservation. The other airlines I was considering were Air Canada and British Airways, both around 950$CAN. Transat flies into Gatwick while the others fly into Heathrow. All are direct flights.

I've always used Air Canada, Air France or West Jet, but never Air Transat. Can anyone comment on them? The savings are pretty good, but I'm not really sure if it's worth it.

Thank you!

I'd fly with them over Air Canada any day. It is a charter so your leg room might not be as good as a commercial flight - but I've never had a problem with them. Plus you get to miss Heathrow!

1) When you say &quot;direct&quot; are you 100% sure they are all <u>nonstop</u>, as sometimes an airline will call their flights direct but in fact they do have a stop.

2) Is the $40 fee for roundtrip or for one-way? If one-way, then your total cost for Transat will be more like $865? Or are you not going to bother with the seat reservation?

3) What are the arrival and departure times into/out of London for the Transat flights? Are those convenient times?

4) Also keep in mind the extra cost to go into London from Gatwick. From Heathrow, the cheapest way is take the tube for 4 pounds. Gatwick is about 2.5x that price each way.

I'm quite sure they are nonstop because of the times. It doesn't really say anything on the Transat website.

The times are:
departure YUL 23:30 arrival LGW 11:00
departure LGW 12:40 arrival YUL 15:25

Could be better, but still not bad. The AC and BA flights are also night flights, only they get in London earlier.

The 40$ is for both ways.

National Express have a coach from Gatwick to London Victoria for 13 pounds return.

Pls don't take the National Express coach. It's a 1.5 hr ride from Gatwick to London, vs a 35-min train ride on Southern trains (about 10 pounds each way) from Gatwick to London Victoria station. With the $ you save by flying Air transat, I'd pay more for the train than sit on the Nat Express coach for 3x as long (and after an overnight, trans-atlantic flight!)

Here are a couple of reasons why unless you're on the tightest budget, you should take AC or BA:

1. YUL-LGW is once a week service. Air Transat runs many routes with less than daily services. They have limited number of aircrafts, and if one of them have mechanical issue, you can be stranded for days. I am not singling out Air Transat here, but for many of these smaller airlines with less than daily service.

2. YUL-LGW is on the 310-300. Air Transat is one of few airlines in the world that put 3-3-3 seating on an Airbus. Almost everybody else is 2-4-2. So, you're talking significantly narrower seats.

If you still want to fly them, then pay C$40 (C$20 each way) more to get a seat near the rear where it is 2-3-2.

Don't ever upgrade on Air Transat. If you grt a middle seat with extra leg room, everyone walks over your feet. Complains because your legs are stretched out. They trip over you. Step on you and so do the attendants. You should not pay for the abuse. The food is terrible. The TV is difficult to see. Try another air line