Our outbound flight was from Gatwick to Chania on an A300 - which, apart from being delayed due to some minor technical faults (which, to their embarrasment the crew later admitted was the captain's seatbelt being broken - which is fair enough I suppose) was a fairly good flight. Legroom was appalling, but you get what you pay for & the crew were friendly and helpful.

The return journey was an entirely different story. Approximately an hour after or scheduled departure time, nothing had been announced - already suspecting full well the flight would be cancelled - off I went in search of a Monarch employee to talk to. I didn't find one anywhere in the airport & the handling agents seemed to be totally in the dark - I can accept Monarch not having anyone 'on-the-ground', but it would have been nice for the handling company to at least tell us something seeing as how glaringly obvious that we weren't going anywhere fast.

So, I returned to the departure lounge... and waited...eventually we were all herded back out of the gates to the check in area (no specific announcement was given) - where our tour operators were instructed inform us that our inbound A300 had ingested a few well fed & strapping young Albatrosses on finals. OK, so this can't be helped. This is where Monarch really stepped up a gear - we were all sent to various hotels in the local area. Our hotel was without a doubt, the WORST filth-ridden hovel I have ever had the misfortune to come within 100 miles of... thank GOD Monarch only made us stay there until 1am...which then became 2, 2:30 and eventually 3:30 at their whim. Upon looking at the last known tourist board checks - clearly displayed on the back of the room doors - I was interested to note that this hotel's certifications expired in 2000. Thanks Monarch! I've read that even Excel (a hot contender for 'the Michael O'Leary Prize for being the Worst Airline Ever' award this year) at least find reputable hotels to put their passengers...sorry, cargo, up in when the aircraft goes sick.

The flight - when we did board eventually - was fairly pleasant, better legroom in the seats than before and the crew (although clearly fatigued) were also very apologetic and nice. The aircraft did smell distinctly and fairly pungently of vomit, but at 4 in the morning after a sleepless half-night in purgatory I was too fed up to care... so I fell asleep and dreamed of first class on Singapore Airlines.

The landing was no greaser - way too fast and seemed a bit below the glideslope, but as I said -the crew were fatigued (my confidence soars) and to their credit Monarch's A300 & A330 crews are the best in the airline.

Still, my experience with Monarch reminded me that you do get what you pay for & why I generally go out of my way to pay for a non-charter product. I won't be flying with them again if I can help it, they handled our situation terribly and inexcusably.