beavington flew Monarch Airlines Premium (short-haul), on a A321 (13/10/2012 17:16)

Checkin was fast and efficient and quickly through security at Gatwick

Flight boarded on time and priority boarding was a welcome surprise. Flight departed on time even with everyone taking ages to get to their seats

Plenty of leg room and seat comfortable enough. Crew were friendly and efficient

Arrived early in alicante

CraigMunnerley flew Monarch Airlines Premium (short-haul), on a A321 (16/09/2012 02:03)

On Arrival at MAN i was greeted by a letter informing me of a 9 hour delay for my flight to TFS, within 20 mins it was 14Hrs. We were given the option to take advantage of a nearby hotel as we were due to fly at 16.00 and now being told its going to be 06.00 the next day. All in all not bad and was swiftly taken to the Hilton for the night.

Next morning arrived at Check-in and was told flight was departing at 07.30 due to an aircraft change. at 07.15 boarding commenced and to be fair to MAN it was done in rows ie 11-20 10-1 etc but the announcements not very audable. on the aircraft warmly greeted by happy crew and the aircraft looked clean and was very spacious. i was seated in row 1C which i was given free at checkin as i was travelling alone and it was going spare apparently.

07.45 Capt welcomed us and apologised for the long delay it was due to portugal 's strike and the aircraft having a few technical issues missed its slot when the ATC closed, so not really Monarchs fault. 08.10 we were airbourne smooth flight and was offered breakfast fairly early on. drinks followed by a duty free run, halfway through the flight 1st officer gave us a warm 10 min talk about the flight the route and obersations from the windows. This was followed by another drinks run and a last minute duty free run and by this time i was tempted to make a purchase of my allowance of 200 cigarettes and some aftershave.

We began our decent at 11.40 and we seemed to approach TFS very quickly and we touched down shortly after 12.10 ahead of schedule as well apparently. Exiting the aircraft was very quick and the baggage collect was all done by 12.45.

Return Flight back to MAN was also delayed by 6hrs but TFS staff were very knowledgeable and friendly were given a 7euro voucher for a drink and snack. again the flight was uneventful cabin crew friendly and the same pilots on return as outbound which i thought was strange as i never really had a return flight with the same crew this time i was seated in row 11B great seat as its an exit seat only draw back was the fact that its very cold by the door but its to be expected and a cup of coffee soon warmed me up. Arrived back in MAN 7 Hrs later than scheduled and was not happy at the way the UK boarder agency take so long in processing British passport holders e-gates were not working. then the infamous MAN wait for luggage 1hr after landing the bags slowly dribbled through.

Monarch have there good and bad points but this flight was good even though i lost 1 days holiday due to delays They have compensated me very quickly. Im due to fly again on 13th October to LPA so i will place a review after i get back.

anthony37 flew Monarch Airlines Premium (short-haul), on a A321 (08/03/2012 09:15)

Travelled on Monarch A321 premium economy twice to Larnaca in Cyprus last year. 34" pitch was very comfortable for a short haul flight and Priority check in was a nice touch too. Recommended if you can add this too your booking for under £75

frequentflyer1969 flew Monarch Airlines Premium (short-haul), on a A321 (25/02/2011 16:53)

Travelled with my family on a Monarch Schedule service from Manchester to Lanzarote. Booking on line was easy - but the price first displayed is not what you pay. As with many budget airlines you have to pay for all the extras - seat selection, food and checked baggage. This added another £400 onto the basic price of the flight. Monarch have a good thing with check in though as the flight is open up to 18 days before departure meaning you dont have to queue and can use the fast baggage drop meanign the wait time at the aiport in minimsed. Upon arrival at check in though we were stung for 'excess' weight in our checked baggage even though we were still well under on our hand luggage. Note to self for future is make use of the hand luggage allowance and reduce the hold luggage weight. Boarding was prompt and the flight left on time. We were travelling on an Airbus A321 with a 2 class interior. Standard travel class and Premium. We opted for the second as I didn't fancy 4 hrs in a seat with only a 29" seat pitch. The Premium seats are located in rows 1-8 on the plane and give you an extra 5" of leg room and are well worth it. The cabin of the aircraft was clean and we sat in seats 2A,B,C & D. Not all flights on Monarch have entertainment but ours did. It is called the 'On Air' system and plays a selection of TV programmes. I found the selection not that suitable for children and the sound quality in my seat was particularly bad. Therefore, we didn't bother watching the TV and played on my ipad instead - making me pleased we hadn't paid the £2.50 that they charge for the headsets. Shrotly after take off we were presented with our meal which we had pre-booked when I booked the flight. This consisted of a hot breakfast, muffin, fruit and a drink. The meals when pre-booked are £6.50 per leg but are actually quite decent when you consider the preice of food in the airport terminal. The cabin crew were quite pleasant and catered to the needs of the customers well. Our flight arrived into Lanzarote 25mins early and the landing was excellent. The return journey was very similar though the TV entertainment was alittle better than the outbound flight. All in all - the service offered by Monarch isn't bad. The 'scheduled' service sits somewhere between the budget airlines and the mainstream airlines. I have booked to travel with them again - so it must be OK.