Review of Transavia flight Lyon Heraklion in Economy

Airline Transavia
Flight TO4820
Class Economy
Seat 18A
Aircraft Boeing 737-800
Flight time 03:05
Take-off 02 Sep 21, 15:40
Arrival at 02 Sep 21, 19:45
TO   #10 out of 22 Low-cost airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 343 reviews
ChrisB
By GOLD 531
Published on 8th September 2021

Crete: coming back to our first holidays


Hello all,

You might be surprised but besides aviation, I am also in love with my +1 and I could be romantic..! I organised a nice trip to where we spent our first holidays about 5 years ago, I thought it would be nice to refresh our memories and going back on the roots of what we became :-)

Passed this non-aviation introduction, today will the first day I fly Transavia… I haven't flown low-cost in a while, but the airline is part of AF/KLM so I thought of trying it, and also because it was the only company offering:
a) a direct flight 
b) at convienent times where you don't take off at 6am nor land at midnight.. 

The fare was really acceptable for the distance : 89Euros…Now let's see if it worth it… 

Even though I am a gold skyteam member, this doesn't give you any freebes that you normally get: free seat selection, luggage checked in in the hull, lounges etc…  


Flying blue Miles earned with this flight: 250
Status earned: 0 XP
Why? oYu don't get XP with TO with a light fare..



The app is easy to use but lacks of information and menus, unlike the parent company. 


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It was also impossible to check in on the app, but possible on the website and from there recover the boarding passess..


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One fun thing at checkin is that there is a small animation of the plane and the background…


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AT LYON - SAINT EXUPÉRY AIRPORT


We arrived at the airport dropped by my parents..
Terminal 1 is as busy as pre-covid 


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I really like the architecture of the TGV - High Speed Train service station.


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We arrived at the checkin counter and were greeted by a lady who - not only was professional - but seemed to be in a superb mood - even cracking jokes. Is that the sunny day effect or an instruction of AF?KLM?


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In case there is still some clarification needed, Air France is almost the only airline operating from Terminal 2… I let you guess which screen is T1 and which is T2!!


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Easyjet still seems to be operating from the low-cost building extension of T1: T3…


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The hall of Lumieres, usually packed… Or else it was privatised today?


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And we were heading towards the C gates, where you need to pass passport controls again.. Today two B737-800s of Transavia… I looked on flight radar and they seem to be based at Lyon.


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The problem with the new T1 at departure level is that it is almost designed to be mean for Avgeeks and spotters!


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However the good thing with this terminal is that the waiting areas next to the gates are really well designed I find.


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A tentative to see our bird…


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Again you can't see much, even on the jetway… Is it to try and keep the place cool to limit sun exposure? Or just to be in the long tradition of "no photos!!"


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onboard the B737-800


Hello pilots!!


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Aircraft: Boeing 737-8K2
Registration: F-GZHR
Engines: 2x CFM56
Age: 6 Years
Layout:  Y189
Observation: Fitted with mood lighting like the vast majority of B737s of Transavia.


And push back started, after a funny announce made by the captain - I didn't hear what he said but the whole cabin laughed… unless they were making fun of me? XD


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Speaking of the very green cabin… You can see it is still very fresh (and curly on the foreground), the seats are actually ok but the pitch a bit too small. The enlarged luggage racks, coming from the B777, and the mood lighting are a real plus.


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And after the safety demonstrations done by the cabin crew, we were off taxiing… This was concluded reminding everyone Transavia is a member of Air France KLM group… This was surely placed a few times…

The safety card… You notice than in a case of an emergency, the tobogans will inflate only on a nice green grass


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Align…


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and take off!


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Over the Alps, when the seat belts sign got switched off..


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Alright then, how much is it?

I want to take this opporunity that I heavily condemn By on Board food, because this is another hidden way of making an extra source of income, and the argument that you can skip, you don't have to buy food is ridiculous : of course you are going to want to eat onboard… It is just like saying you can go to a restaurant but just order a coffee. Come on let's be serious!

In the case of transavia, I will be a bit more indulgeant because it has never pretented to be a Major airline but shame on the legacies going this way … Yes IB, BA and LH I am talking about you! 


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I must say the price was fairly reasonnable so a good point for Transavia… In comparison BA charges for more for not as good.


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And here is my selection… Together for us both, we were charged 13 euros so not as bad as expected.
See How I was reasonable? Fruits and soft drinks… I knew I was going to stuff myself with some great food and wine a few hours later!! 


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And now the discovery of the magasines… Which was the only entertainment available for the next 2h30 of flight.. With again another mention that this airline is part of AIrFranceKLM… In case you haven't followed!


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It is unfortunate but there is a lot of advs in this magasine…


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And some more about the onboard boutique..


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Interestingly this article explains how you can collect miles: 0 or +5euros fee for a light fare and more and more miles with the upper tariffs. You can even get XPs with the Max tarif. What the article didn't  mention though is why you can collect miles and XP but why the Skyteam/Flyingblue priorities don't apply!!


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The fleet page… not very diverse (that is the principle of a low-cost airline mind you!)


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And how transavia has litteraly canibalised Hop!


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Hello Italy


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And Tuscany


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A few hours later the approach on beautiful Crete..


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Align…


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Approach…


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Getting closer to the water…


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And phew here is the runway!


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at heraklion - Nikos Kazantzakis airport


And leaving the runway


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We desembarked from the rear door, we were closer to it and what a beautiful picture of this tail!


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We had a paxbus to transfer to the arrivals, so while waiting for it, here is a last shot of our plane


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At arrival, just a policeman vaguely checked our vaccination paper, but not really the Passenger Locater Form asked by the Hellenic government.

At luggage reclaim… 


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And the next mroning breakfast…


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See more

Verdict

Transavia

6.9/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Buy-on-board menu4.5

Lyon - LYS

7.9/10
Efficiency8.0
Access7.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness9.0

Heraklion - HER

7.4/10
Efficiency7.5
Access9.0
Services6.0
Cleanliness7.0

Conclusion

In one wordReally pleasantely surprised

Seats were surprisingly comfy but the pitch really low for a 3hours flight.
Entertainment Ok magazine but that is it.
Food ok BoB but was really reasonable in terms of price, still for me any BoB is by essence less than 5.

The big plus is almost a feeling that Air France isn't that far off: the crew is professionnaly trained you can tell they have a sense of service and they need to get the credit for that, this is not so common for a Low-Cost.
They have also adopted some of the "cool" and "fun" mindset you can encounter on British Low Costs like Easyjet or former Joon..

Ultimately the price difference (40euros cheaper) with AF on the way back and connecting via CDG wasn't that much, I am not so sure if Transavia is really worth to give away all your skyteam status/priorities...
For me it was more the fact that TO was direct that is really an added value.

Information on the route Lyon (LYS) Heraklion (HER)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 4 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Lyon (LYS) → Heraklion (HER).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Aegean Airlines avec 7.6/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 3 heures et 2 minutes.

  More information

2 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 580190 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6656 Comments
    Cool report on a unique route! I've never had the opportunity to fly Transavia and I can't say I've made much effort to try as I'm not a huge fan of LCCs; however, I will say that these kinds of routes are very appealing. Certainly much more convenient to have a nonstop flight rather than connecting at CDG or AMS...especially from LYS, where that would entail back-tracking!

    Overall looks like a pretty decent BOB offer and seat comfort. But like you say, tight pitch and no IFE at all for a 3h flight isn't super pleasant. It would really be nice if Transavia installed a streaming IFE service...even if it were for a small fee, as is often the case on LCCs.

    Thanks for sharing!
    • Comment 580292 by
      ChrisB GOLD AUTHOR 3360 Comments
      Hi Kevin!
      Thanks for your comment!
      There used to be a time where I was more budget-constrained and so like most of us I was flying a lot LCC, and since I became gold member with Flying Blue, I must admit this was the first time in 4 years I think I flew LCC! Even to the point to be seen like a "snob" when the crew stood there awaiting for me to get my credit car out after giving us food XD

      Yes the IFE would be a plus, or at least some sort of Streaming on your device like Air Canada Rouge or former Joon used to offer... Overall I was nicely surprised by TO, I wasn't expecting as bad as RYR (SkyWest for you!) but I found that TO is even better than U2..
      Another Criticim I have for TO is that you can claim miles, and even XP on the higher fare but your flying blue status isn't of any use on this flight...

      Thanks again!
      Chris

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