My work involves a great deal of travel and I have been fortunate to fly with many different airlines around the globe. Some would say (and I have to agree) that in some cases I have had the misfortune to fly with a few airlines I would be happy never to fly with again.
This week on Twitter (follow me @lethers) and on Travel Unpacked’s Facebook page I will be posting links to airline reviews I have written on this blog. You will find them under the hashtag #AirlineReviewWeek.
Airline Reviews on Travel Unpacked
Aegean Airlines keeps winning awards. Most notably the World Airline Awards for Best Regional Airline. It’s an accolade it well deserves and it is one of my favourite airlines in Europe. They really make the flying part of travel a pleasure; something that cannot be said about many other airlines. You can find a full review of Aegean Airlines here.
Oman Air is a quietly understand national airline and, I think, reflects the hospitality of the Omani people. This is another multi-award winning airline with accolades for both its Business Class and Economy Class offerings. The food was good and the service great. As I say in my review of Oman Air there were times when it felt like business class service in economy.
I have had a number of bad and very bad experiences with Ryanair, the airline everyone loves to hate. I avoid travelling with them unless it is unavoidable. When I travelled to Poland I had to fly with Ryanair and decided that I would review them in an unbiased (as far as possible) manner. I was more than a little surprised when I had to write a fairly positive review proving that it is possible to have a decent flight with Ryanair.
I have twice flown Singapore Airlines and at present they are my preferred airline for flying to Australia. Their onboard service is one of the best in the world and has one numerous awards across all classes. When I wrote in the review that a particular meal was not up to the standard I had come to expect I was contacted immediately to address the situation. Now that is how customer service should be.
Finally this week I feature an airline who failed the one chance you get to make a first impression. My onboard experience with Air Canada was hugely disappointing. Their failure to address issues with the inflight entertainment and the food service were not great at all. Even the second flight with them did nothing to improve my view of the service. Read the full review here.
There are other airlines that I have flown that do not feature in this Airline Review Week. You can read reviews on this blog by clicking on the links that follow.
I flew on Singapore Airlines regional airline Silk Air from Singapore to Darwin in Northern Territory and had the same excellent service as on the flight to Singapore.
Flybe have a base in Southampton where I live and are convenient for a flight to Amsterdam or Dusseldorf and several UK destinations.
British Airways have always impressed me with what they offer and I feel that their inflight service has improved over the years I have been flying with them.
I was very impressed with the Portuguese Airline TAP Portugal when I flew to Lisbon and would rate it alongside Aegean Airlines as Europe’s top airlines.
Obviously I have not flown every airline, indeed there are many just in Europe that I still have to experience. However, the few I have reviewed here do give a flavour of what I have experienced, good, bad and indifferent. I will continue to add reviews when I travel and sometimes an airline will appear in my review posts more than once. You will then be able to see whether the excellent review is a one off experience or consistent across different flights.
Do my experiences with the above airlines reflect yours? Share your experiences in the comments below or if you would like to write a review for these pages contact me by following the link.
