Are Tui about to go bust?

[Afterfire]

I booked a holiday for 2023 this weekend. It’s our first “proper” holiday as a family and a huge amount of money to us. When I first booked it I was very excited and I did the usual things of checking trip advisor and google for reviews of the resort and overwhelmingly the reviews were really positive so went ahead and booked it all.

Since then I’ve joined a few Facebook groups related to Tui and the hotel itself (also Tui) and I’m starting to panic a bit because there are so many complaints - people being left stranded at airports for hours (literally 10 plus hours) without any communication, whole holidays being cancelled at the last minute etc etc. The actual Tui Facebook page itself it’s flooded with complaints and people being unable to contact anyone.

I’ve only paid the deposit so far and given the holiday isn’t till 2023 I’ve got time to work out what to do.

Several of the comments on Facebook suggest Tui is £600m in debt and owned by a Russian whose funds have been severed by the war sanctions…. No idea if that’s true or not?!

Do people still trust Tui? Are they as bad as they seem now? Would I be better to cancel or is this just a case of things being all a bit of a shit show after covid and it will get back to normal by the time we go do you think?

[Afterfire]

@CeeJay81

We are on a tui holiday. No problems at all. Infact found them good. My son wasn't well on the first night. Rang them up as they had a 24 hour contact number, they got intouch with the hotel reception right away. Dr came out very fast. Thankfully it was him just getting himself worked up and he only has a sore throat. Flight was problem free and reps seem nice.

That’s really good to hear - sorry your son was unwell. 💐

[hupfpferd]

Friend booked his June honeymoon a year ago. 3 weeks before travel TUI cancelled the flight. He was on hold with them for over 3 hours before someone answered.

I've used them a lot but I'm not sure now.

[uggmum]

I have had many holidays with TUI.
They were fab during the pandemic. I had various bookings they were cancelled and they refunded me within a few days.

They are having the odd issue at the moment with delayed flights but a lot of other operators are too.

They are usually good at keeping in contact with Customer's and people whose flights are delayed receive text messages. They are also quite prompt with paying compensation for delayed flights.

Saying that. Nothing is guaranteed. So I always pay by credit card to ensure I have extra protection if a company goes bust.

You would also be covered with abta/atol etc.

I have 4 holidays booked with various companies and I feel absolutely fine about it.

[BBQbeef]

This is the problem with looking things up on Facebook. People often only pipe up when things go wrong, and pissed off people have habit of exaggerating things. You probably won't see much from the thousands and thousands of people who have travelled with Tui totally problem free.
I've travelled to multiple locations with Tui since the first lockdown, with another booked for a few weeks and have nothing negative whatsoever to report. In fact, when we did have a drama down to a delayed covid test result Tui were absolutely fantastic. Despite the fact it was nothing to do with them, the TUI airport staff literally had the pilot holding the plane in the hope my results would show up and when he finally said he couldn't wait any longer and it took off without me, they transferred our holiday to the following week (during half term) at no extra cost.

[GlitterDragon]

I’m currently experiencing huge problems with TUI. Was at the airport for 7 hours where there was very little information regarding the ‘delay’ before the flight was eventually cancelled. Given a voucher for something to eat and drink for 15 euro though, which is more than some people had been offered.
We have been put up for the night in a hotel complex that’s shady as fuck. The food is edible at best. Bar doesn’t accept cards, and the cash machiene charges you a tenner for withdrawing and converting money.
Its a huge shame because before this problem with the flights this trip absolutely amazing (booked accommodation with Air BnB and had absolutely fantastic hosts)

I understand that planes break, and sometimes things go wrong, but from the news this is happening a lot. Besides that, I would not book a holiday with TUI due to the piss poor customer service. Got the lead passenger details wrong, and every single encounter I’ve had with them has been appalling. Call centre has you holding for hours on end, and even the online chat-bot service says you are 50th in the queue, asks if you are happy to wait, and when you say yes it just kicks you off anyway.

im sure they get it right on the majority of occasions, but when it goes wrong they just don’t want to know.

[Swayingpalmtrees]

snow I definitely was not suggesting anyone sets aside funds for a private JET home, but money set aside for alternative flights just in case!!! 😂

[Swayingpalmtrees]

puppy I have been overseas when a big travel industry went bust over night (Thomas Cook) long before covid, given the thousands of people stranded and waiting for assistance it is far easier to book your own flights home, as quickly as you can, and get reimbursed once you are home by ATOL. It was ridiculous, some people had literally run out of money and spent their last euro and had no access to funds at all even for drink, and were in dire straights. I can't believe established adults can be so irresponsible, we are not talking about kids here. So yes you need an emergency fund for a hotel, flights and some expenses just in case.

[Swayingpalmtrees]

*straits

[CupidStunt22]

I would take out extra insurance, make sure you have the funds to book private flights home and to stay elsewhere and be prepared for all eventualities if you are travelling with them. You can mitigate against some of the issues that way if they go to the wall whilst you are overseas

Yes plebs, don't book a holiday unless you have thousands of pounds put away to cover all eventualities.
FFS.

[megletthesecond]

Ours has been closed for a few days which did seem fishy to me.

[PaddingtonBearStareAgain]

@CharlieLo

People spent all day in an airport yesterday waiting for a TUI flight only for it then to be cancelled until the next day, on a smaller plane so some people’s holidays just got completely cancelled.

As did a load of Easy Jet customers. They aren't going bust either.

[Swayingpalmtrees]

Easy jet computer systems crashed.
I don't remember hearing anything about Tui IT systems.

[Afterfire]

Thank you for all the comments. There’s been a fair few news articles about various delays today but it seems like a combination of computer glitches and not enough staff being recruited to cope with an under estimated surge of post covid holiday makers. I think…?!

I guess I have a long wait to see what happens between now and my holiday. So we will see!

Sad for those who have had their holidays ruined.

[TizerorFizz]

@Afterfire
Unfortunately no posters read the financial
pages. TUI have huge debts. Their costs in keeping aircraft serviceable whilst not being used and other costs mean their finances are dire. I read £350m pa in loan interest. So a good summer 2022 is very much needed. Whether they have sufficient staffing is another matter. However although they might be big, they are not immune from financial woes. Who knows if they will collapse - they are struggling on at the moment. No company is too big to fail.

[CeeJay81]

@Afterfire where is it your going?

[OversBo]

@CupidStunt22

I would take out extra insurance, make sure you have the funds to book private flights home and to stay elsewhere and be prepared for all eventualities if you are travelling with them. You can mitigate against some of the issues that way if they go to the wall whilst you are overseas

Yes plebs, don't book a holiday unless you have thousands of pounds put away to cover all eventualities.
FFS.

That’s sensible advice. We have a new booking with them and I have taken out a good quality travel insurance policy whereas I would normally have gone for the cheapest.

[Afterfire]

@CeeJay81

@Afterfire where is it your going?

Ibiza. I’ve never been before and wanted somewhere fairly close just incase my medical issues flare up and I know the Spanish healthcare system is generally very good. Because Ds and I have such complex needs between us we will have the top tier type insurance we can find, so at least that’s something.

Its the thought of the flights being delayed for hours and hours and having to wait about endlessly at the airport that is giving me serious anxiety. I really don’t think either of us could cope with that, we’d probably just have to go home.

[Roastonsun8]

The airport issues are surely a generic problem and not just with TUI.

I have never had a bad holiday with TUI I've been using them over the last 5 years. I had 2 holidays cancelled and eventually managed to fly last August and they gave me the £500 extra to spend too.

[Ramsbottom]

Tui are fine op, they made it through Covid, they are now seeing a massive surge in bookings, it’s Anglo German, the Russian shareholder has transferred his shares to his wife, who is not sanctioned. They are the largest travel company in the world. This years performance will see them back on track and then some. Most travel companies struggled during the pandemic.

[YetAnotherNameChange111]

Friend of mine had their holiday booked for ages. TUI cancelled it 3 weeks before they were due to go, with no reason given.
Then advertised it for a much higher price
Awful company

[Marriott5star]

I have a family friend who works for TUI. They aren't going bust - the issues are due to the fact that the airline industry was shut down for two years and it takes months to get everything back up an running - crew need training, they can't get airside passes due to a backlog with that, suppliers such as the airport handlers like Swissport are understaffed and that all results in flight delays. Flight delays mean crew can go out of legal hours to operate safely for their next flight and things knock on.

Their debt is German government debt - so it's not bad debt.

So TUI aren't going bust, they are struggling like all the other travel companies and airlines. BA, easyJet etc. all experiencing similar problems.

[MrsPnut]

@TizerorFizz

@Afterfire
Unfortunately no posters read the financial
pages. TUI have huge debts. Their costs in keeping aircraft serviceable whilst not being used and other costs mean their finances are dire. I read £350m pa in loan interest. So a good summer 2022 is very much needed. Whether they have sufficient staffing is another matter. However although they might be big, they are not immune from financial woes. Who knows if they will collapse - they are struggling on at the moment. No company is too big to fail.

Which financial press are you reading because I haven’t seen anything in the FT.

[Readtheroom]

theyll be in debt cos of all the cancelled holidays and refunds over covid

[Crazycatlady83]

If you go on Facebook sites about BA and EasyJet, for example, you will hear the same thing. It's just teething problems in an industry trying to ramp up that has been essentially shut down for 2 years.

We went away with TUI in April and it was great. Great flight, lovely crew, fantastic hotel, sailed through the airport. My son has a disability and I contacted them before the holiday. They sat us altogether on the flight at no extra cost (would normally charge for seats together), boarded us first and was very lovely to my son on the flight. Same on the return journey. But none of these things make headlines. The media only report the bad stuff.

It's German government debt (very cheap money)

TUI didn't "fire and rehire" like BA or make mass redundancies like Virgin or Jet2 did in the pandemic so it's reported that they are better placed than most with their crewing (they aren't cancelling for example on the scale of BA or easyJet). I personally wouldn't travel with companies that treated its staff this way. But They aren't immune to the pressures of staffing in the hospitality industry generally (their ground staff, catering, cleaning for example is outsourced),

[Watapalava]

You are covered toe all refunds if company goes bust for package holiday

you are not covered for flight only and have to access travel insurance

so much misinformation on this site