Flights to Canada

norjen

Am thinking of flying to Ottawa in the Summer and the cheapest flight I found was with Fly Zoom. I've never flown with them before. Can anyone tell me how's the flight like. I will be travelling with 2 children aged 6 and 4 and 1 infant aged 6 months. The flight is Via Halifax. Is the waiting long there and do we have to change plane?
I have travelled with Canadian Affair before and didn't like it as I was travelling with an infant at the time and thought it was quite uncomfortable. Would you say that Zoom is better, the same or worse than Canadian Affair.
Thanks

Liz_the_Whizz

Hi norjen,

Can't comment on Zoom, but we went to Toronto last year with Canadian Affair and it was great.

Thing is, Canadian Affair is a travel company not an airline, so if you had a bad experience last time, it may have been because of the carrier, not Canadian Affair itself. I know they use Air Transat and have heard complaints before about AT's uncomfortable flights.

The flights we chose were with Thomas Cook. Now, short haul you would have to be a sardine to be a fan, but the 35 inch pitch FOR ALL PASSENGERS on their flights to Canada made it extremely pleasant. Our 5 year old son was so so good, I'm sure everyone is more relaxed when you're not all crammed in together.

So, you should not be put off looking at what Canadian Affair have on offer. The fares booked through them were cheaper than booking with Thomas Cook direct, and all the arrangements went very smoothly. The main thing is to check the seat pitch, whoever you consider - it's the difference between a nice flight and long haul misery.

Have a good trip!

colmil

We flew with Thomas Cook to Canada last year and the outward flight was very good,
comfortble, decent food.

The return journey was with MyTravel, part of the Thomas Crook group, and it was truly awful, cramped, food awful and so were the staff!

I cannot understand how the two journeys could have been so different, one thing is certain, if MyTravel are involved on any future holiday plans, I 'm not going, never again with that crowd!

angel

I book with Canadian Affair almost all of the time to travel to Calgary. I've only travelled with Thomas Cook once, last September, and the seat pitch wasn't 35 inches, it was the usual 31ish. I think that 35 inches is only to the East coast. Luckily I upgraded on the way there so it wasn't so bad.

Air Transat was horrible, probably the worst airline that I've ever travelled with. Having said that, none of the low budget airlines to Canada are very different from each other these days, including Zoom.

Air Canada and BA are a bit better but by no means a lot better IMO. They're prices can be quite good too depending on what time of year that you're travelling.

I just accept that it's going to be 9 hours of being crammed on a plane and try to chill out!

Taffyscot

Hi all I used to live in Calgary for many years and have used all the airlines. My son and dil just left to go back to Canada 2 days ago. Someone told me on this site to do a search for discounts and then look for ZOOM. I did and saved them 20% on their flight portion (not the taxes). Do not know if the offer finished in 2007. Hope it is still on and this helps someone. Also check out Globespan.
Taffy

dzug

I've used Zoom, but only once so it's difficult to generalise. Left Gatwick on time (due to go 1000, at 1001 we were airborne). As with your plan, there was a stop in Halifax. You do not change planes - in fact you cannot get off if you are in transit. (We were warned that if anyone did it could hold the plane up for hours whilst customs/immigration investigated). Arrived in Montreal an hour early.
Also punctual on the return. We would have left Halifax half an hour early had we not had to wait for some lobsters - not for us, but cargo....

On this basis I wouldn't hestiate to use them again.

skim

I went to Canada on Zoom 2 years ago & it's the best experience I've had with airlines - definitely recommend them

norjen

Thank you all for your advice and comments

wallacebob

I agree with previous posts, found ZOOM very good. We flew to Halifax from Glasgow, great flight and staff. We of course got off at Halifax, and people flying on to Toronto had to stay on, movie was on so not that hard!

I felt that the extra we paid for leg room seats wasn't worth it. We also paid for seat reserve, if travelling alone not worth it, but you will want to be seated next to your little ones! BUT I would have thought that you may not have to pay to sit next to your own infants? ask ZOOM.

niccih

Hi,

I live in toronto but am from the UK. I just fley with Zoom to Manchester (with a stop in Glasgow) over christmas. I have a 2 year old and thought they were very helpfull with children. I flew with Canadian Affair a number of times and they were good (thomas cook flights) and with Globespan this last summer. My best advice is to try and pre book seats and if you can afford it upgrade to the premium class as this would give you a lot more room. It is always difficult flying with children but Thomas Cook and Zoom have been the most helpful for me. The stop in Glasgow was actually a blessing on the way there as after the flight from toronto it was nice for my son to get up and walk around the plane for a while (you don't get off the plane and should only be an hour on the ground)

Hope this helps