TUI Airways

Not Verified | My wife and I flew from Birmingham to Palma and ten days later we returned with TUI. On both occasions we were pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of the planes, the cheerfulness & helpfulness of the crew, professionalism of the pilot and the overall flying experience. Gripes include poor sound over the PA, making pilot messages unintelligible; lack of legroom; and the usual hard-sell that economy passengers have to endure for much of the flight. Our return was marred by horrendous Swissport handling mistakes that centred on misplaced landing /e xit steps (a 25 minute delay while these were repositioned) followed by over an hour's wait for our luggage to be loaded onto carousel #6. They offered no explanation or apology for these failings.

Not Verified | Flew LGW to Naples to join cruise ship and vice versa. Very impressed with the efficient staff and service on board. Cabin crew and flight deck crew all informative and pleasant. Plenty of room on the Dreamliner, very quiet on take off compared to the average plane. Staff apologetic about the chaos at Naples airport seems it is quite usual! All in all a good experience with this airline.

Not Verified | Booked a holiday to Kos on a Boeing 787 with TUI. ended up saying it was switched to Norwegian which is fine but then a month before booking was told we would be on one of three other airlines which eventually was Smartlynx. The Smartlynx plane we were flown on was plain white, 25 years old and cramped more than ive ever experienced. The table when down literally gave you no space at all, I cant image what its like for taller/ larger people. I appreciate there can be some changes to the plane (as per T&C's!!) but to move us from a new bigger aeroplane when we also had extra legroom to help with two young children to a small old cramped plane is unacceptable. They just don't compare. I wont book with them again as you cant rely on them to just change what you booked and not even a fair like for like change!

✅ Trip Verified | Stansted to Tenerife. TUI has the worst customer service. We flew with them in July and our flight was delayed over 24 hours - we were never given an explanation and no one in Tui seemed to know what was going on - it was totally chaotic. We lost a days holiday and have tried to contact them to complain but it is impossible to get hold of them! We have phoned, emailed, even emailed the Chief Exec - nothing! We will keep going but seriously don’t fly with them they are rubbish.

✅ Trip Verified | Operated for TUI by Olympus, this was one of the shabbiest aircraft's I’ve ever flown on. The interior looked like it needed a good scrub, my seat cushion and that of my husband next to me kept coming away and the armrest to the left of my seat was missing making it very uncomfortable (the visible metal to which it should have attached had been covered with a bit of silver tape). One of toilets also had no water in the taps. We paid for and got extra legroom next to the emergency exit but the seats didn’t recline and were so thinly padded they were uncomfortable. As the flight wasn’t full some others were moved to similar seats across the aisle but cabin crew failed to explain to them(as they did to us) what to do in the unlikely event of needing to evacuate via that exit (surely a breach of safety regulations). The jump seat in front of us was filthy and what looked like old tissues fell out when the crew member opened it. The Olympus crew were reasonably friendly and smart unlike the Tui staff who were completely offhand, surly and seemed only interested in selling. They certainly didn’t understand customer experience. Definitely not recommended.

✅ Trip Verified | Manchester to Tenerife South. From check in to arrival at the destination, everything about this flight was awful. The staff at Manchester airport check in were unfriendly and gave the impression they were doing you a favour being there at all. The cabin crew spent the first 20 minutes having a gossip with each other and sharing drinks. They were surly and scruffy (one cabin crew member had a skirt with the hem coming undone) and were only interested in selling, food, drinks and scratch cards. There was nothing resembling customer service. We paid for extra legroom seats which offered no extra legroom at all because the aircraft type was changed before departure. We didn’t buy the on board food but those nearby who did ended up with something resembling a dish sicked up by a dog. This is truly the worst airline I have flown with and definitely won’t be repeating the experience

Not Verified | Cardiff to Palma. Had to pay extra £50 to sit next to relative which wasn't explained during booking. Flight delayed. Put on ASL Airline not TUI. Got diverted to Toulouse. TUI unable to get fuel there as no contract to do so. This led to further delay. All in all the experience was awful. I would not recommend TUI.

Not Verified | Larnaca to Manchester. I recently enjoyed a holiday with my family group of 7 consisting of 4 adults and 3 children. The first point is with regard to the online check-in service on the outward flight. My wife and I have always checked in via the normal procedure at the check in desk. My daughter preferred the online method. To my mind, our use of the unfamiliar touch screen procedure seemed no quicker than letting an experienced check-in desk assistant carry out the task. One of my daughter's cases was found to be 2.5kg over the modest 15kg allowance. There is every chance that a person may waive this minor indiscretion, but the online system is totally abitrary culminating in a £45 surcharge, this was later waived by a TUI assistant to be fair. Moving onto the flight itself there were no issues of note other than being on a dull as dishwater Boeing 757. Very basic. The week long holiday at Tofinis Hotel near Ayia Napa was great, enjoyed the food etc. No probs. On the return flight we found it to be delayed just prior to the return transfer. 2 hours on a late night flight but no major issues, these things happen. However, it was common knowledge amongst the passengers due to internet checks but on arrival, the TUI rep chose not to mention it. I sort of understand that because why would anyone make themselves the focal point of peoples frustration if you dont have to. Onto the flight and again we found ourselves on the rather tired looking 757. I suspect TUI are suffering due to the grounding of the 737 max of which they were the biggest customers and I understand the company's predicament. The flight was adequate and on landing at Manchester we found the airport was disorganised due in part to procedural disruption arising from the ongoing terminal expansion. We were held on the plane and kept informed over the tannoy by a clearly irritated member of the cabin crew who informed us that we needed to be bused from the tarmac to terminal and the airport hadn't been expecting us! Half an hour later we were disembarking and the journey was complete. The following day I felt as rough as sandpaper, cold symptoms and a sore throat. I cannot conclusivly put this down to the plane journey but it is known that changes in air pressure can cause physiological effects like toothache and joint pain. Having taken trips on the uber modern TUI Dreamliners with their humidified cabin air I had forgotten just how rough an old plane could leave you feeling. I hope for TUI's sake that their fleet problems can be resolved sooner rather than later.

✅ Trip Verified | I have holidayed in Corfu for the last 25 years and appreciate that the runway is short. The outbound flight landing has to be the worst I have ever experienced, to my mind we were approaching too high and too fast. We landed heavily with the aircraft lurching from side to side, hanging on for dear life - not a pleasant start to the holiday! The return flight started positively but on the approach to London Stansted we came down in fits and starts causing a lot of anxiety. Other passengers were also concerned about the roller coaster descent and there was huge relief when the plane landed and eventually came to a halt. However we were left onboard without the doors being opened for almost half an hour after the engines had stopped with no explanation as to why. One bad landing can be excused but if this is normal for Tui pilots I think we have identified a training need!

✅ Trip Verified | Thessaloniki to Birmingham. I had the worst customer experience with TUI services. I made the mistake to book a flight with them and they do not offer a check in online service (they advertise they do but their app, web page, customer support service is completely useless). I tried several times to contact them and complete my check in but no one was willing to help or even explain. Finally I arrived at the airport approximately 2 hours before my flight but I was not allowed to check in, although I didn't have any check in bags and my flight was delayed. As I result I missed my flight and I faced rudeness and sarcasm from TUI staff. Don't waste money or time to them.