mcbg1

I'll be flying to Rome from Montreal on Air Transat in September and I was wondering if upgrading to the Club class was worth it? The upgrade is 700$ return while my ticket in economy cost 828$. It seems like a lot of money but I'd be willing to splurge if it guarantees a relaxing flight.

Machdiamond

$700 extra is a little steep, but if you balance $1528 with the level of service you will receive, it is outstanding value.
I have flown Club once or twice a year to Paris and the Caribbeans for the past seven years, and many times in the front with AC to other destinations. In my experience the quality of service of AT Club is really a couple of notches above AC business class.
What struck me most about AT Flight Attendants in Club is that they anticipate your needs and desires (I don't want to bore you with specific stories but I have been amazed more than once).
Two drawbacks though, you are asked to check in two hours in advance in Club - my pain threshold is 10-15 minutes with OLCI and no bags so the primary reason I am not flying AT is that particular constraint. They will not tell you what the check in cutoff time is either, unlike AC who is honest and says 30min.
One good thing, generally most passengers will have the same seat on the return flight, and AT systematically starts meal service clockwise outbound and counterclockwise inbound (I think it is the other way around), so the salmon, chicken or beef drama is only going to hit you once.
Anyway, in my experience the extra cost is well worth the money. Keep also in mind that the seat pitch in economy with AT is barely adequate for kids.

tcook052

No longer true:

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/a.../14/c2239.html

As of this coming May, Air Transat will also be enhancing passenger
comfort by increasing the seat pitch - legroom - in Economy class on all of
its aircraft. The change will see the space between each row of seats increase to 32 inches on average from 30. As a result, beginning in late May, all Airbus A310s in the fleet will feature a 249-seat configuration: 229 in
Economy and 20 in Club class. Air Transat also operates 4 Airbus A330 that
will feature 342 seats next summer.

mcbg1

Thanks for the quick reply. I've flown with AT in economy class twice before to go London and Rome and I did feel cramped (I'm 6 feet tall). I wasn't able to sleep at all and since they were overnight flights, I was exhausted when I landed. I think the upgrade would be worth it, if only for the possibiliy of being able to sleep! ^

ricktoronto

WOW! 2 inches. You are right ! It is now totally adequate for children and remains inadequate for everyone else. Pay for Club Class.

sadiqhassan

While, on paper, a 2" increase doesn't seem like much, it is a lot. I am 5'10 and at 30", my knees bang against the seat in front while at 32" this no longer happens.

Cheers,

mcbg1

Well I ended up buying my ticket last night and got a free upgrade to Club class using points I had accumulated with my Visa card. We'll see how nice it is.

shiframeir

How was it? i'm thinking about flying in Club Class on Air Transat on their 737, any idea on the quality? Cant find good info online as to whether the seats are bigger etc.

mcbg1

That was almost 10 years ago LOL. To be honest, I can't even remember. I guess it was a good experience.

shiframeir

thx, i got info from air transat, seems the 737 is a much weaker club compared to their intl flights on airbus, no special seat, just an empty seat with table in between normal seats.