Royal Airlines:Toronto/Sydney,NS
 

We are going to Cape Breton next week & we booked with Royal b/c we were concerned that <BR>Air Canada may not settle its labour dispute <BR>& didn't want to get stranded. Now we are hearing that Royal is extremely unreliable. We have heard that they cancel flights at the <BR>last moment. Also, they are often very late. <BR>For instance, a flight scheduled to leave Sydney, NS last week @ 3:00 PM didn't depart until 5 the next morning!!! This makes us <BR>very nervous. Any comments from recent <BR>Royal Airlines travellers?? Is it true that you have to check in 3 hours before departure b/c Royal routinely overbooks??? <BR>Thanks!

I've never used Royal for flights withing Canada; however, for southern destinations, they are one of the more reliable charter companies I've used.

It's is suggested that you check in 3 hours prior to depature... Check in closes 30 minutes before departure. <BR>If you don't make the cut off time... then you're not making the flight. <BR> <BR>Seat selection is done at the time of check in... so the earlier you check in the better the chance of getting your seat preference. <BR> <BR>There has been some irregualar operations with Royal airlines. But in the past they have been reliable. <BR> <BR>As Royal is a charter, as Canada 3000 and Air Transat... they only have the one craft assigned to fly the route. If there are delays etc... it really disrupts service. Since there are no other air crafts scheduled for the route or later flights. Unlike Air Canada / Canadaian... they have multiple flights a day in most cases. <BR> <BR>Good Luck. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Royal is the absolute worst airline I have ever flown on (and we travel alot). We had a 13 hour mechanical delay in Vancouver for our direct flight to Maui. They wouldn't let us leave the airport, so we were stranded there the entire time. We ended up losing an entire day of vacation (we were supposed to arrive early in the day), and instead got there in the middle of the night. All of the car rental places were closed when we arrived. It was a complete nightmare. <BR> <BR>I wrote to the president of Royal airlines to explain what had happened to us & do you know what our compensation was? A $150 voucher to fly with them again. Needless to say, I ripped it up and mailed it back to them. <BR> <BR>You couldn't PAY ME to fly with them again.

I was very hesitant about flying Royal last year when I went to the Dominican Republic because of all of the stories I have heard about their performance....I bit the bullet and took the flight and the flight was on time, the staff was very nice, and the food was --well ok it was airplane food. <BR>But, hey its the luck of the draw that you get stuck with a delay (wouldnt you rather be on the ground wishing you were up there, then being in the air and wishing you were on the ground??) <BR> <BR>Oh ya, to whoever said that Royal does seat selection at the airport -wrong, you can pre book but of course there is a $10 charge each way!! <BR>Good luck and dont be stressed -you'll get there when you get there. <BR>

Thx. to Vanessa, Angela, dbanon, <BR>& Laura for your comments.... we head out on Tuesday so keep your fingers x'd. <BR>I will post a "Royal Airline" flight <BR>report upon our return on Aug.22. <BR>Any other comments? <BR>