• Welcome to the FREE TUGBBS forums! The absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 32 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 32 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 32nd anniversary: Happy 32nd Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    All subscribers auto-entered to win all free TUG membership giveaways!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $24,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $24 Million dollars
  • Wish you could meet up with other TUG members? Well look no further as this annual event has been going on for years in Orlando! How to Attend the TUG January Get-Together!
  • Now through the end of the year you can join or renew your TUG membership at the lowest price ever offered! Learn More!
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    Tens of thousands of subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Air Transat

T

travelplanner70

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2005
Messages
896
Reaction score
4
I have never heard of Air Transat since I live in the US. Can anyone tell me if this is a reliable airline and safe to fly? We might be flying from Toronto to Cancun non-stop in April. Thanks for your help.
 
If I'm not mistaken, Air Transat, is a charter airline, not a scheduled carrier.

I have flown with them in the past, always as part of a vacation package which included accommodation etc.

I've read no negative posts or rumours which would dissuade me from flying with them again.

Mike
 
I haven't flown Air Transat but

travelplanner70 said:
I have never heard of Air Transat since I live in the US. Can anyone tell me if this is a reliable airline and safe to fly? We might be flying from Toronto to Cancun non-stop in April. Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

Friends of mine have flown with the airline to Europe without any problems or complaints.
 
I have flown with them a few times, everything was fine. They have limited departure and destinations but operate those efficiently\ and cheaply.
 
It's OK

If you are used to the American cattle-car airlines, they will be fine.
 
We have flown with Air Transat many times, both to Cancun from Toronto and to Europe from Montreal..It is a charter airline, therefore things tend to be crowded. However, the meals were free as was the luggage, up to so many pounds...It is safe and reliable. They have a Club class option which gives you a larger seat up front, better meals, and priority boarding..extra dollars, of course. They fly non-stop to Cancun, pretty much every day, but leave around 7am. Air Canada has a direct scheduled flight to Cancun every morning around 9am. from Toronto, this may be another consideration..we have found however, that flights to Cancun from Toronto are more expensive that flights using US airlines thru gateways like Houston, Miami, or Atlanta.
 
You also have the option of taking Westjet to Cancun from Hamilton. Departures are every Saturday. Westjet has proven surprisingly competitive with the US carriers on certain routes during non-holiday periods.
 
We have taken it to Europe and back - no problems whatsoever. However, it has a limited number of planes and as with any small company, if something goes wrong then they would not have the flexibility of a large company re getting stranded travellers home, delays in flights etc. I have never heard of any issues with them but I would make sure that I have travel insurance just in case.
 
AKE said:
We have taken it to Europe and back - no problems whatsoever. However, it has a limited number of planes and as with any small company, if something goes wrong then they would not have the flexibility of a large company re getting stranded travellers home, delays in flights etc. I have never heard of any issues with them but I would make sure that I have travel insurance just in case.
Click to expand...

Air Transat has 23 widebody airbus planes. Comparably, Hawaiian has 21 widebodies (boeing and airbus), and I've never heard any complaints about schedule reliability on either airline.

Transat has been flying for 25+ years, and are perfectly safe. You will get slightly less legroom than on other airlines, so factor that into your decision. In terms of safety/reliability, they're as good or better than the US airlines, IMO.
 
Personal opinion but any airline wih 20 +/- planes does not have much spare capacity if a plane or two has to be taken out of service or a flight gets delayed as there is then a chain reaction. By comparison, if you are flying a large, regularly scheduled carrier then there are lots of options re being put on another plane or being rerouted with a partner airline. I don't see that flexibility with a smaller operation and I have experienced both scenarios (i.e. flying a small, charter airline which encountered unexpected delays and flying regularly scheduled, large-scale airlines where planes have had to be taken out of sevice because of maintenance issues). If you have lots of time and no connections at the other end then no problem, however, if you have to make a connection to another airline then I would be somewhat hesitant to book a small carrier, regardless of how good the fare is.
 
AKE said:
Personal opinion but any airline wih 20 +/- planes does not have much spare capacity if a plane or two has to be taken out of service or a flight gets delayed as there is then a chain reaction. By comparison, if you are flying a large, regularly scheduled carrier then there are lots of options re being put on another plane or being rerouted with a partner airline. I don't see that flexibility with a smaller operation and I have experienced both scenarios (i.e. flying a small, charter airline which encountered unexpected delays and flying regularly scheduled, large-scale airlines where planes have had to be taken out of sevice because of maintenance issues). If you have lots of time and no connections at the other end then no problem, however, if you have to make a connection to another airline then I would be somewhat hesitant to book a small carrier, regardless of how good the fare is.
Click to expand...

You should probably be hesitant to book tight connections to other carriers in any circumstances. I've been significantly delayed on all types of carriers.

If you have a job hanging on the line on a business trip, they might not be the right choice, but based on where they fly I doubt that's the case. The OP is looking to save money on a trip to Cancun, and I can't see any reason not to do that. They're perfectly safe.
 
bizaro86 said:
You should probably be hesitant to book tight connections to other carriers in any circumstances. I've been significantly delayed on all types of carriers.

If you have a job hanging on the line on a business trip, they might not be the right choice, but based on where they fly I doubt that's the case. The OP is looking to save money on a trip to Cancun, and I can't see any reason not to do that. They're perfectly safe.
Click to expand...

No hesitation booking larger carriers because they will put you on the next available flight which almost always is within an hour or two... with smaller, charter operations you may be looking at the next day. As well, if you are flying Air Transat to a location and then catching another carrier to go from there, you will be paying twice for luggage etc AND if Air Transat (or any other similar carrier flight) is late then you are out of luck with the connecting airline. If you are flying a regularly scheduled, large carrier then this is no issue. I have flown Air Transat without any problems but if I have to then change planes I also loose a lot of holiday time as I have to work possible delays into my schedule (thereby booking my connecting flight 6 - 8 hours later or even the next day).
 
AKE said:
No hesitation booking larger carriers because they will put you on the next available flight which almost always is within an hour or two... with smaller, charter operations you may be looking at the next day. As well, if you are flying Air Transat to a location and then catching another carrier to go from there, you will be paying twice for luggage etc AND if Air Transat (or any other similar carrier flight) is late then you are out of luck with the connecting airline. If you are flying a regularly scheduled, large carrier then this is no issue. I have flown Air Transat without any problems but if I have to then change planes I also loose a lot of holiday time as I have to work possible delays into my schedule (thereby booking my connecting flight 6 - 8 hours later or even the next day).
Click to expand...


Right. So you should always be careful booking connections with two different airlines on different tickets which is what I said. It doesn't matter who the first leg is on, if you were on a Delta flight and had a separately ticketed United flight after, and the 1st one was late you'd still be in trouble.

Also, as of April 1st Air Transat has 20+ kg of free baggage for all passengers, so you'd only have to pay for a bag if you chose to fly a US airline (assuming non-status)
 
Always be sure to use a licensed travel agent when travelling with a charter airline, or pay with a visa card that has a guarantee. A friend got fully reimbursed for their Airmexico tickets.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top