Excel Airways

[Rowena & Carl]

Hi Everyone

We have booked with excel airways for the first time. I had heard bad things about them from a couple of people but just thought you can have a bad experience with any airline, but having just been reading some reviews on them i'm now now worried! I would welcome any comments good or bad from any one who has flown to Crete with them. Over the years as we do flight only we have flown with pretty much every one & generally all have been ok with the exception of a British Midland flight years ago & this June Thomsonfly, was first time with them and not impressed worst experience yet, hence now wondering if Excel will be worse?

Look forward to your comments

Rowena & Carl

[The Lib]

Hi Everyone

We have booked with excel airways for the first time. I had heard bad things about them from a couple of people but just thought you can have a bad experience with any airline, but having just been reading some reviews on them i'm now now worried! I would welcome any comments good or bad from any one who has flown to Crete with them. Over the years as we do flight only we have flown with pretty much every one & generally all have been ok with the exception of a British Midland flight years ago & this June Thomsonfly, was first time with them and not impressed worst experience yet, hence now wondering if Excel will be worse?

Look forward to your comments

Rowena & Carl

Depends what you're expecting from the flight really, I've flown with them to Crete twice now and I've no complaints.  It's pretty basic, meal isn't much to write home about but as in do they get you there in one piece then yes.  Also both times I've flown with them we've got in a few minutes early at both ends.

[janm]

Hi Rowena and Carl,

We have travelled to Crete with Excel twice and will be flying with them again in September.  We found them to be EXCELlent.  All of our flights have taken off bang on time and usually arrived early (coming home last year we landed about 45 mins early).  The planes have been spotlessly clean, they seem to have quite a bit more leg room, cabin crews have been very friendly and helpful, check in very quick and efficient, in fact we have nothing but praise for Excel.  We booked in January this year, and paid £375 for two adults, including all taxes, meals etc.  I haven't seen the fares quite that low since then.  All in all, I would recommend them - however - I know that others have had bad experiences with Excel, so this is just my opinion.

Jan

[harribobs]

i've got to agree with Jan, we've used them a couple of times and found them very good

in fact i am pretty sure they have won awards for being the best charter airline quite recently

[janm]

They have had the Telegraph Best Charter Airline for the last 2 years!

Jan

[Mike G]

I'll be using them for the first time next month so can't comment directly.

However, no one is going to get anything approaching proper comfort on these low costs charter flights. Meals are usually very small for an adult and they are keen on selling you something (drinks, gifts, etc) before anyone is fed, whatever the takeoff time.

I'm 6' 4" so I hope the previous posting about the legroom is correct.

Mike

[Rowena & Carl]

Thanks very much for the replies so far makes me feel much happier. Wasn't expecting anything amazing but it sounds pretty nice. I had heard that they had won awards but on the reviews I looked at they still sounded awful, I guess people are quick to complain and don't always mention when they've had a good experience. My main critera is to get us there safely & good customer service on board, I don't even mind delays really as I'd much rather fly on a plane that works!! We got our flight for £388 for 2 for 10 nights also including taxes, meals etc which I thought wasn't bad for a 10 night stint.

Rowena & Carl

[paxmere]

Rowena
We have used Excel many times and like others have found them to be very good and we have never had any problems. clean aircraft, helpful friendly staff, we'll use them again when we return to Plakias next May.
Enjoy the holiday and dont worry.
Regards

[Rowena & Carl]

Rowena
We have used Excel many times and like others have found them to be very good and we have never had any problems. clean aircraft, helpful friendly staff, we'll use them again when we return to Plakias next May.
Enjoy the holiday and dont worry.
Regards

Thanks we shall & can't wait!

[Rowena & Carl]

We're flying with them again for the third time next Tuesday into Chania, nowt but praise for them from us, but have read some bad reviews from other folks.
We did have problems getting receipts for money paid and late ticket delivery but thats now sorted after I kicked up a fuss ..........they then sent everything in duplicate and tickets arrived via email, thats after I was originaly told tickets cannot be sent by email  
Last year I seem to remember they sub contracted our flight to Scan Air which did concern me at the time, but the flight was fine and on time at both ends going and coming back.
Hope you have a good 'un too  

Thanks hope you too have a great time

 

[Ploppy]

Sorry to be the voice of discord  

To be fair this tale of woe was bad luck more than anything.

We flew with them last year from Gatwick, think it was around about a 10PM flight.

We were a bit late boarding but nothing major. As we were taxiing out the Pilot mentioned that there had been a bad smell reported from the back of the aircraft (knew those egg sandwiches were a bad idea!)

I actually smelt it and was relieved we turned back. An engineer checked it out and we tried again.
Got to the runway and came back again  

We all got off after midnight and had to wait for a replacement plane.

We were given a £5 voucher to spend anywhere in the airport which turned out to be one bar as everything else was shut.

We eventually took off around 5:30AM I think, only 7 and a half hours late.

Arrived in Plakias around 1PM just in time to hit the beach. Was an early night that night for a change.

The flight itself was fine and the staff were OK, just a shame about the dodgy plane.

Looking forward to a smoother trip this year!

Paul

[Ploppy]

I'm 6' 4" so I hope the previous posting about the legroom is correct.

Mike

At 6' I find the legroom tight and cant have my knees together, however it is is possible to request one of the few seats available that DO have loads of legroom. These seats are adjacent to the exit doors and are normaly reserved for disabled passengers. If there are no disabled then they are yours for the asking.....at an extra cost  
Being close to exit door does also have some advantages    

Is it not the case that these exit row seats are actually assigned to people who are in no way limited in thier ability to leap up and open the hatch in the event of an emergency? I know I have been asked in the past.

These seats are like gold dust to frequent flyers, hence the surcharge  

Paul

[John & Zell]

Not wishing to stir up a honets nest but being disabled myself I can definitly say that disabled persons are not allowed in the exit seats for safety reasons, in the event of an emergency people sitting in these seats are expected to open these doors, and I do know that they are in fact given instructions in doing so.
Whilst I can see the reasoning behind it, when there are 6 (3 either side) seats available it does seem hard that maybe 1 or 2 of them cannot be made available to disabled persons, after all it only takes 1 person on either side of the aile to open the doors.
It seems to me that it's a case of women, children and able bodied first and let the disabled make their own way after everyone else has got off safely.
John & Zell

[Mandy Harrison]

Hi Everyone

We have booked with excel airways for the first time. I had heard bad things about them from a couple of people but just thought you can have a bad experience with any airline, but having just been reading some reviews on them i'm now now worried! I would welcome any comments good or bad from any one who has flown to Crete with them. Over the years as we do flight only we have flown with pretty much every one & generally all have been ok with the exception of a British Midland flight years ago & this June Thomsonfly, was first time with them and not impressed worst experience yet, hence now wondering if Excel will be worse?

Look forward to your comments

Rowena & Carl

Hi there

Harribobs and I flew with Excel a few years ago.  No complaints.  Nice seats (Leather).  Efficient and no delays.  Would go with them again for sure.  Indeed you could ship me out on shank's pony  so long as I got there.  Flight is fairly short anyhow so whatever it is like it wont be for long.  Look forward to hearing your review.

Mandy

[Mike from Sussex]

Not wishing to stir up a honets nest but being disabled myself I can definitly say that disabled persons are not allowed in the exit seats for safety reasons, in the event of an emergency people sitting in these seats are expected to open these doors, and I do know that they are in fact given instructions in doing so.
Whilst I can see the reasoning behind it, when there are 6 (3 either side) seats available it does seem hard that maybe 1 or 2 of them cannot be made available to disabled persons, after all it only takes 1 person on either side of the aile to open the doors.
It seems to me that it's a case of women, children and able bodied first and let the disabled make their own way after everyone else has got off safely.
John & Zell

You could be right, but it was my understanding when enquiring last year that at least 2 of the 3 seats was for a disabled wheel chair bound person+carer ? They did ask whether I was fit enough to open door as you rightly say. However I decided against the extra leg room seats in the end as we could'nt all sit together...........  
Personaly i think in the unhappy event that an incident did happen it should be disabled first followed by women and children.......

This is not personal opinion!

For the airline industry, safety is measured in deaths per million passenger miles. The cabin staff (whose main purpose is not to serve us meals etc.) are trained that, in an emergency, the aircraft be evacuated as quickly as possible. Any slowdown in the procedure could mean passengers getting killed in a fire or explosion, when they could have been safely out of the aircraft. The rule is, therefore, able bodied first, the old and infirm last. Ruthless, but logical.