Info on what happens at the airport if you were due to fly home TC

[luckystrikes]

Hi,

We flew home yesterday 😔 and I thought I would share what happens at the airport for those meant to be on a Thomas Cook flight. Apologies if someone has posted it and missed it but hopefully it helps put people's mind at ease.

We were flying as a party of 2 adults so this will be different per party.

We arrived and headed to the TC counters, there you will find someone wearing a high vis Vest with UK Government written on the back. We spoke to them and they advise where you need to queue based on what airline is taking you home.

We were taken around to Virgin where we scanned our passports and we're given a boarding card. This is where it will be different for everyone as ours stated no seat allocated. The couple behind us had 2 seats and were together and families seemed to be auto assigned a set of seats.

When we got to the desk a phone call was made and we were both given seats albeit apart at this point. It seems the approach is to just get everyone on the plane and sort out seats later (which we will come to) also bear in mind we were being flown to Glasgow with people who were meant to be going to Manchester so that made the plane busier.

We made our way through security as normal and had been told to talk to the person at the podium about changing our seats as they needed everyone checked in before they can do seat moves.

We went up to the podium about 60 to 70 minutes before the flight and were re allocated seats so we were now sat next to each other. There was a lot of couples who were given the same, I think around 10 sets of tickets were sitting.

Flight was as you would expect from Virgin Atlantic.

On a side note we were booked to fly Premium Economy which on these flights doesn't exist (they allocate those seats out as normal seats with none of the other extras such as a different meal etc) so we were due to have a higher luggage allowance. There seemed to be no concerns about weights of cases and no one being charged for being over x weight.

Any questions I will try answer based on our experience.

[wendim]

Thanks for that update, we are due to fly back to Manchester Saturday 5th October, I have been fretting a fair bit :-(

[luckystrikes]

Originally Posted by wendim

Thanks for that update, we are due to fly back to Manchester Saturday 5th October, I have been fretting a fair bit :-(

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Honestly don't worry, we woke up to the news as you will have while we were over there and spent a good hour in bed Googleing to see where we stand but decided to try put it to the back of our head and enjoy the holiday.

I posted this because I knew it had played on my mind, especially the day before we left to try help put others at ease that it really is a smooth process and doesn't feel hugely different.

[mitch-fishguard]

Originally Posted by wendim

Thanks for that update, we are due to fly back to Manchester Saturday 5th October, I have been fretting a fair bit :-(

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Please dont fret. Just the Thomas Cook.CAA website. You will simply get a link on your original travel day. It will either say "check back for information" in grey background writing, or "Click for new flight information in blue" We flew on 26th and the link turned to blue on 25th.
The link takes you to a flight that will be the TC one that you booked. Click on that and you will be given your new flight. It was so easy to understand and such a relief to see.
You the simply turn up at airport as if you were going as normal with TC. You may be driving, you may be on the Magical Express, but there is nothing to be gained by going early. Your seats are confirmed and there is nobody to call. Youre on that flight. We went 4 hrs before on our scheduled DME. RELAX

[wendim]

Thank you :-)

[sijen]

Thanks for this thread... We're due to fly home Sunday and last night the link gave us our info. I am still worrying but this has made me feel better. Xxx

[scottishmum]

We flew home on Monday to Glasgow but with Atlas air.
They were brilliant.
We went to the original TC check in , a few officials arrived and told us there was more than enough seats to accommodate us all on the plane and we all would get back to Glasgow .
We were given allocated seats and boarding cards.

Flight left about an hour late .
The plane was a 747 it was spotless , much cleaner than BA planes lol.
The crew all American couldn�t do enough for us, they were happy, joking reassuring etc.
Food , better than any uk food.
Dinner was food and the breakfast an hour before landing wow, we are used to the lies of a small water and orange juice and a croissant.
This was a turkey and cheese soft baguette , a banana and pack of lays and a choc chip cookie ! When ever did we get that with another carrier?

Also lots of free soft drinks and water throughout the flight.
Full size cans and bottles too were given out several times.

Only thing was it didn�t have seat back TVs only the central ones but really didn�t bother us.
People did clap when we landed at Glasgow just 30 mins later than we were due to arrive,
Which we could fly with them regularly .

Just to add we had booked TC premium but this plane only had economy , we were given our upgraded luggage allowance though but can�t believe we never used it lol.

[Rotonda Bound]

My son and his girlfriend flew back home on Wednesday with Omni Air.
Check in was easy and there were plenty of helpful & cheery officials around to guide you to the right place.
On this particular flight they did not give out seat assignments saying it wasn't a full flight and passengers could choose their own seat after boarding.

Well! That caused a free for all at the gate. The flight was delayed 4 hours. Everyone had gathered at the gate and started to queue 3 hours before boarding. The staff kept asking poeple to sit back down but that didn't work. Apparently there were frayed tempers, arguments and some female to female screeching at one point. 😳
Brits at our best!

My son & girlfriend sat the whole time and hung back at boarding. They got seats together (row of 3) and said the plane was very comfortable, seat back screens, full access to the entertainment system, nice food & great crew.

The worst part of the journey was returning to temps of 9degrees 🤣

Hope nobody gets a delay but don't worry about the flght as it sounds like it will be fine.
😎

[Syjen]

Thanks for all these reassuring posts. We are due to fly back tomorrow evening into Manchester
We've been hearing that depending on the airline that flies you home, snacks and drinks may not be available on the flight. So we can prepare with a final little shopping trip if required, has anyone experienced this?

[Smife]

We flew home Wednesday on atlas and has been said The whole thing was pretty easy. Went to the Thomas cook desk. Checked in fine. Was a little delayed leaving about hour n half, nothing major, We got the two meals they even came round asking after if we wanted another of the hot meals. the inflight entertainment was screens in the aisles up top. Three films was shown. The flight wasn�t full either, we got three seats for the 2 of us,