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Original poster

Beware TUI holidays

57 replies

colourcode · 23/07/2018 18:27

We have booked a holiday in the October half term. In fact we booked the exact same holiday in the same week last year and decided to go back this year.

Booked it all and just paid last instalment due. Thought I'd log in to see when I can reserve seats etc. This is important to us due to various issues with kids and adults. Last year I could do this a good while beforehand and was all fine.

Log in to my account - no booking there. Strange, I eventually found the customer service telephone number, of course it takes a bit of digging around the website to find it.

Apparently (after speaking to two different departments...) the reason it's not on my account is because the fight is a different airline (Thomas cook). And because of this we can't check in until 24 hours before, or select seats. We can "if you want to pay an extra fee".

I know there is a lot of chat about the scandalous way that airlines get you to pay more for this, and had I been made aware of the fact that even though this was included last year (the flight happened to be with TUI) it would be extra this year, I wouldn't have booked it. I budgeted for this holiday, not for additional extras. Especially when I went on exactly the the same holiday last year!!

The person on the phone said "we don't put any information up" about this, but that people are welcome to ring up if they have a question. But why would you have a question if they don't mention it?? Especially if you're booking the SAME holiday, during the SAME WEEK, to the SAME place with the SAME company. Is it me?

OP posts:
wellBeehivedWoman · 23/07/2018 18:30

It's a tough one. I'm not sure you can rely on all the details being exactly the same year on year, even if it's the same holiday. If booking seats is important to you I think it's probably your responsibility to check it's possible. But that said I can absolutely see why you assumed it would be the same so I don't blame you. Is the fee for booking seats significant? And did she say whether you are likely to be seated together anyway as you're clearly a family? I think they tend to sit kids with parents anyway.

Seniorcitizen1 · 23/07/2018 18:31

If flight is with different airline then not same holiday. If sitting together is as important as you say it is then pay. We are just back from Italy and went with TUI and wanted seats together and paid extra - meant we could pick the seats 90 days before our return flight. Everything is extra these days.

WowLookAtYou · 23/07/2018 18:36

I just had this exact same issue with Tui yesterday. However, it's just me and dh this time, and we don't care if we sit together or not, so I'm certainly not paying for the privilege.

peoplearemean · 23/07/2018 18:45

I had this once with them. I am sure you can ring up the other airline to get out together. Same charges as they would have made.

Original poster
colourcode · 23/07/2018 18:48

The person said "we can't possibly put information from other airlines when you book". But it's easy enough to let the customer know that using another airline may incur more charges and to check before you book. But why would they do that Confused

OP posts:
XiCi · 23/07/2018 18:51

I travel alot. I have never paid to pre book seating and have never been sat apart from DH/DD or whoever I happen to be travelling with. Try not to worry about it.

BTW. I've booked with Tui this year and it's extra to book seats and you can only check in online 7 days before so it would have made no difference whether you flew with them or Thomas Cook

Bombardier25966 · 23/07/2018 19:00

You pay extra to select seats on TUI too.

www.tui.co.uk/destinations/info/travel-options/

Did you book online? If so, it tells you the airline and the seat booking policy as part of the booking process.

divadee · 23/07/2018 19:05

I have been on one flight years ago where they seperated me from my then 5 year old daughter. They asked for extra money to sit together. I declined and let them check us in with her sitting at the front and me in the middle. When we got on the plane, the air stewards were a bit surprised but then looked a bit worried when I said "now try and be nice and good and don't eat all the sweets" and then went and sat in my seat.

Surprisingly they moved us pretty quick (as I suspected they would) so we were all sat together. Although I was quite looking forward to a nice relaxing 1.5 hour flight. Sigh.

DollyPartonsBeard · 23/07/2018 19:08

This happened to us last year with TUI. I logged on the site ten minutes before the 24 hour window and refreshed the page until I could book my seats. There was plenty of choice and we got decent seats together. I was a total nerd about it and researched what planes flew that route and looked at their seating plans beforehand so I could choose precisely.

OlennasWimple · 23/07/2018 19:08

TUI and Thomas Cook are part of the same group, so it's odd that they don't have the same policy. Though TUI do charge for pre-reserved seats - maybe they have changed that since you flew last year?

DailyMailReadersAreThick · 23/07/2018 19:10

That's really odd. I've booked with Tui for several years in a row (always shop around but they always turn out best value...) and never had any problems like this.

blackteasplease · 23/07/2018 19:15

I've booked with them for next year and paid to reserve seats

Xenia · 23/07/2018 19:19

I have never paid extra to sit near family (most of us are more than happy not to have to endure each other.... although of course it's different if you ahve toddlers with you) yet we always seem just about to be seated near each other by the airline.

LadyRussell · 23/07/2018 19:20

We went on honeymoon with Tui and had to sit at opposite ends of the plane and they refused to do anything about it.

Fuckers

BlitheringIdiots · 23/07/2018 19:21

As previous poster said, when you get the confirmation email it details who is the flight carrier. Didn't you notice it said Thomas cook on there? I always scrutinize mine to ensure it's all correct - lesson learned OP

BlitheringIdiots · 23/07/2018 19:22

We always pay the extra to sit next to each other and choose our seats very early. We treat it as part of the cost of the holiday

LIZS · 23/07/2018 19:24

Policies can change from one season to next even with same carrier. You should have checked if it was potentially such an important issue.

allmycats · 23/07/2018 19:25

If it is so important that you sit together then you pay the fee. You should budget for it in the holiday costs, and always read the small print.

gillybeanz · 23/07/2018 19:25

we paid for the seats to be sure.
I thought it was common practice to book seats early if you wanted to be together and last 24 hours if you weren't bothered.

Shortstuff08 · 23/07/2018 19:25

It's not unusual to fly with a different carrier. And every carrier has different rules.

Just one of those things. Make sure you log on 24hours before a reserve your seats. Easy enough.

CheekyRedhead · 23/07/2018 19:26

Tui and Thomas Cook are not owned by the same people. Tui and first choice are together
I worked for tui for ten years in the upland overseas. Shared airlines are not a new thing. It's happened for 30 years. It used to sayings brochure who your carrier was.
Often this happens in quieter places so that a full plane is guaranteed eg rather than tui and cooks send two plane's Santorini and over a season run on half full capacity then agree 1 plane and half half the seats each.
Or in a busy resort eg Majorca it means they can offer almost daily flights.

purplecorkheart · 23/07/2018 19:26

I am guessing it is covered in the terms and conditions and that is why they did not contact you. Sadly never assume that one year will be like the last.

DropZoneOne · 23/07/2018 19:30

TUI and Thomas Cook are part of the same group
They most certainly are not! Think you are confusing Thomas Cook with First Choice.

First Choice is a brand name for TUI all inclusive holidays. Was a separate company until 10 years ago. TUI is the largest UK tour operator.

Thomas Cook is a different company altogether. 3rd biggest UK tour operator.

I booked TUI last year with different flights. It was clear during the online booking process that flights would be booked separately and seats would be allocated, and usual pre-booking options didn't apply.

JamesBlonde1 · 23/07/2018 19:33

We booked with Tui and airline was Neos. Could check in one week before. Didn’t pay extra for seats and the ones offered were all next to each other. It’ll be stressing you but you’ll probably be ok. Just get ready to check in 24 hours before (in the middles of the night if you want that assurance). We wanted aisle seats and 5 people together and got it a doddle.

Original poster
colourcode · 23/07/2018 19:38

To be honest it's the fact that it's all come about after the booking was made. Say you book with tui and you need to pay to reserve seats, this comes up before you actually book so you have the information first. It's the fact they don't flag it up to you, meaning there is then a charge which wasn't anticipated.

I know seat charges are a thing, but I expect to be able to make my decision based on the facts... and I'm not sure you can even find or potential charges at an airline without having a booking...

It's just a backdoor way of charging even more money, without even having the decency to tell you first!!

I know I can book 24 hrs in advance, but this isn't that reassuring. I've got quite a few kids and we need a couple of rows free to make it work, can't believe there will be these seats free 24 hours before.

OP posts:
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