Monarch - Pre-check in COSTS!

PaulJM

This may not come as a surprise to some, but I don't fly too much...
Booked a flight to Cyprus with Monarch, and after going through all the usual added extras (Monarch seem worse than most for this), worked out about the same as everyone else.

Now we're 18 days before departure, we've been sent an email to say we can check in now, before departure, and not have to queue.
Seemed like a good idea, but just checked the website, and they want -
£8 each to pre-book seats.
£25 for extra leg room.

Eh? There's no way of pre-booking without paying this extra sneaky charge, so I thought we'd just wait to do it at the airport.
However they warn that you might not be sat together?
I presume they'd have to sit one of us with my 7 yr old daughter, but what happens with my 12 yr old son? I'd prefer him not to be miles away from us.
Apart from that, will they try to charge us to book seats if we check in at the airport?
This is a step too far in my opinion - must be the latest wheeze to get more money out of people?

aerostar

When you booked your flight all the information was on the website, luggage, seats, legroom, meals, it is not sneaky it is there. Extra legroom seats on airlines are a premium as there are only a certain amount of them. If you turn up without pre-booking seats you will not be charged, they will do their best to seat you together if possible, but of course it cannot be guaranteed, get to the airport as soon as the checkin opens, as that way you will have a better chance of sitting together.

withabix

Have a look at the current flight price on Monarch's website for your specific flight.

If it is low, then the flight will be fairly empty.

We have flown Monarch quite a lot and have only once pre-booked seats, as by doing the above, we could see that the flight was full because of the price. This flight was on the last day of the school holidays (for most of England) this summer. Other times we have not bothered and have always been sat together.

Either pay your £8/person or arrive at check in as early as possible. There is no charge at the airport, unless you want an extra-legroom seat.

£8 to sit together us much less than most (if not all) low-cost carriers charge, if they give you the option at all.

You may be sat apart if the flight is full or you turn up for check in quite late.

What do you think happens on airlines that don't give you the option to check-in online???? - first come, first served.

spiro

If you were on Easyjet or Ryanair it would be 1st come 1st seated with no option to book seats. Dont know what plane they use on this route but a lot are banks of 3 seats so if there are 4 of you travelling you'll need 2 lots of 2 seats or someone will have to sit on there own. This is the price you pay for cheap flights.

Pollycat

Many airlines similar to Monarch are charging for people to pre-book seats, and have been doing so for a long time - so if it is a "step too far" many airlines have beaten Monarch to that step.

If the charge for this is clearly visible, it can hardly be called 'sneaky', can it?

It's an optional chargeable service that you can choose to or choose not to pay for, in exactly the same way you can choose to pay for in-flight meals or to take hold luggage.

At Gatwick, Monarch have a generic check-in for all flights so the desks are usually open well before the 3 hour before departure they tell you.
The earliest we've checked in for a Monarch flight is around 5 hours before departure.
We were the first to check in and they had to open the flight for us.

We've never paid to pre-book seats on any airline and have never been separated (we are a couple) although we have been sat across the aisle from each other.
Be aware:
Even if you pre-book seats, sat across the aisle and even behind each other is classed as 'seated together'. Now THAT, imho, IS sneaky!

Monarch do not pre-allocate seats so if you turn up early you'll be more likely to be sat together.

Gloomendoom

As has been said, it's not really a sneaky charge.

If you turn up in good time you should have no problems checking in or getting a seat together.

If you need the extra legroom you will have to pay for it and, if you want to sit together, so will your companions.

I flew to Cyprus with Monarch a couple of months ago. It is not an experience I wish to repeat.

PaulJM

First come first served, as the above poster comments, is the best way to do this.
This is almost like yet another charge -
If you pay us 8 quid each, we'll sit you with your family.
Fair enough, if they've no seats left, and you're last in the queue, what else can they do, but charge for it?
I presumed the online check in was for a couple of reasons -
Saved the airline costs at the airport, and saved the punter time - you get there and drop your bags off. There is no option to just not pay, stick your details in, and print a boarding pass.
I have no problems with people paying extra for legroom - if that's how the airline want to operate, and that's how they want to present their corporate face, then so be it. However a member of my family has recently travelled on a less 'peak time' flight, and these seats were mainly vacant.
Finally - this wasn't a cheap flight, by any means. Unfortunately, if you want to go away with your kids, you pay an awful lot of money, as it's school holiday time.
I didn't have to option to choose a better carrier than Monarch from Manchester - so I didn't choose a budget airline, and at £1500 for 2 adults and 2 kids, it's hardly a cheap flight.

Pollycat

PaulJM wrote: »

First come first served, as the above poster comments, is the best way to do this.
This is almost like yet another charge -
If you pay us 8 quid each, we'll sit you with your family.
Fair enough, if they've no seats left, and you're last in the queue, what else can they do, but charge for it?
I presumed the online check in was for a couple of reasons -
Saved the airline costs at the airport, and saved the punter time - you get there and drop your bags off. There is no option to just not pay, stick your details in, and print a boarding pass.
I have no problems with people paying extra for legroom - if that's how the airline want to operate, and that's how they want to present their corporate face, then so be it. However a member of my family has recently travelled on a less 'peak time' flight, and these seats were mainly vacant.
Finally - this wasn't a cheap flight, by any means. Unfortunately, if you want to go away with your kids, you pay an awful lot of money, as it's school holiday time.
I didn't have to option to choose a better carrier than Monarch from Manchester - so I didn't choose a budget airline, and at £1500 for 2 adults and 2 kids, it's hardly a cheap flight.

You will not be charged at check-in for being seated together.
It's an optional extra.
If you choose not to pay for it, you won't be charged - even if you're the last to check-in and the only seats left are 4 together.

PaulJM

Pollycat wrote: »

Monarch do not pre-allocate seats so if you turn up early you'll be more likely to be sat together.

The point is, they DO prebook seats - I'm being offered an online check in, 18 days before dept (and same for coming back) of the above prices.

And I'm not allowed to benefit from online check in, to save time and queuing, if I do not pay to pre book.

I agree, we've never been sat apart, and I also agree that they should be allocated on a first come, first served basis, and that if there's none left together, there;s not a lot they can do.

But the point of what I'm saying here, is that as they're now offering to pre-book, at 8 quid each way each person, this could mean that if you don't want to pay, and just go to the airport, the seats might already have been prebooked by people who have paid.

Pollycat

PaulJM wrote: »

The point is, they DO prebook seats - I'm being offered an online check in, 18 days before dept (and same for coming back) of the above prices.

And I'm not allowed to benefit from online check in, to save time and queuing, if I do not pay to pre book.

I agree, we've never been sat apart, and I also agree that they should be allocated on a first come, first served basis, and that if there's none left together, there;s not a lot they can do.

But the point of what I'm saying here, is that as they're now offering to pre-book, at 8 quid each way each person, this could mean that if you don't want to pay, and just go to the airport, the seats might already have been prebooked by people who have paid.

Pre-booking seats and pre-allocating seats are not the same thing at all.

Your airline is offering you (at a price e.g. £8 per person) the choice of pre-booking seats together (and the added advantage of being able to check-in on-line which seems to be what you are most interested in).

Some airlines (definitely Thomas Cook from Stansted) pre-allocate ALL the seats on a plane (taking into account those passengers who've paid extra extra to choose a specific seat and those who've paid extra to be 'seated together') and then best-fit the rest of the passengers who've not paid any extra at all.
So if you turn up at check-in as the first passenger and ask for a window seat, if a window seat has not been pre-allocated you won't get it.

What I'm saying is that Monarch do not pre-allocate seats so getting to the aiport early gives you a better chance of being seated together.

It's your choice - either pay the £8 per person to pre-book seats or don't.
Of course you run the risk of being the only passengers on that particular flight who've not pre-booked (albeit very doubtful) and may be separated.

Gloomendoom

PaulJM wrote: »

The point is, they DO prebook seats - I'm being offered an online check in, 18 days before dept (and same for coming back) of the above prices.

And I'm not allowed to benefit from online check in, to save time and queuing, if I do not pay to pre book.

I agree, we've never been sat apart, and I also agree that they should be allocated on a first come, first served basis, and that if there's none left together, there;s not a lot they can do.

But the point of what I'm saying here, is that as they're now offering to pre-book, at 8 quid each way each person, this could mean that if you don't want to pay, and just go to the airport, the seats might already have been prebooked by people who have paid.

The best thing about my last trip with Monarch using was the check in. We just walked up, checked in and walked off. No fuss, no queues and no extra charges.

Edit: I've just remembered one extra charge. They charged us extra for a pre booked meal... which, on the flights, they then gave away free to anyone who wanted one.