Gatwick to Melbourne TUI May 21st

[TestTrack]

Hi all,

This may be moved to trip reports but just landed in Florida yesterday and already up at 3am on the first morning so just wanted to give a quick overview of yesterday's TUI experience flying from Gatwick to Melbourne:

- Arrived at Gatwick at 8am for 10:40 flight. Even though we had done online check in the night before which said go straight to bag drop, we were still told to queue in the main check in queue with everyone else.

- About 30 people in front of us but only took about 25 minutes to get to the front.

- At check in, just asked for passports, covid test certificates (we used Qured, smooth experience) and vaccination proof. I will say that our friends at another desk were asked for their address they were staying at in Florida so have that to hand just in case.

- Security was an absolute breeze, loads of empty lanes and through in less than 5 minutes.

- Wetherspoons breakfast and WHSmiths for water and snacks (which we didn't eat anyway!)

- Got gate number at 9:40, went straight to the gate which was a 5 minute walk.

- Gate was busy but plenty of seats. Didn't start boarding until 10:10 and everyone on board and doors closed on the plane at 10.35. Flight seemed nearly full

- In the air at 11:20. Flown to USA dozens of times and this was the smoothest flight I've ever had. No turbulence whatsoever. A couple hours into the flight we had chicken and pasta, chcocate orange pot and crackers and cheese. Also a couple of rounds of soft drinks. 2 hours before landing we had a cream cheese roll and a cookie dough chocolate brownie.

- 45 minutes before landing, pilot said he had been given permission for a quicker route to Melbourne so shaved 15 minutes off the intended arrival. Touched down at 15:05pm local time. Total flight time was just under 9 hours.

- We flew economy. We've been before with TUI and find the dreamliners to be great. I'm 6 foot 2 and still had legroom. Cold air fans were strong too and seats were comfy enough. We wore masks on the flight as we're going on a Disney Cruise on Monday and decided to not chance catching it before having to test at the Cruise terminal. We flew to LA at Christmas with masks so knew to expect extra dry mouth but it wasn't too bad. Luckily 99% of you won't need to wear them any more and I can say that apart from our party of 5, only one other couple wore masks out of the whole flight. We won't be wearing them on the way back thankfully.

- 1 minute walk to baggage claim, waited about 5 minutes for bags to start coming through and ours were out soon after. Another 30 second walk to security. 8 stations open and only a few people in front of us. Immigration officer was chatty, laughing and so welcoming (as were all staff at the airport). A lot different from our LAX experience in December I can tell you!. As you get luggage first here, it staggers people coming through security I think so queues shouldn't get too long.

- Then you come outside and feel the warm, humid, sticky air of a late May Florida. Everyone gets a goody bag with some snacks and a water and you're then pointed to where you need to go next. We saw the buses lined up but we had a car hire with Alamo so went to the the car hire tent a 5 second walk away. Took 5 minutes to get the keys, 30 second walk to the car and then we were off to our Melbourne Airbnb (staying a couple nights before our cruise, then on to Disney World next week!).

- So from landing to getting in the car it was about 30 minutes! Never had it that good and can't say enough good things about the people and airport experience. Now it is under construction as you may know so maybe down the line when more flights may come in and it's a lot busier it may lose the personal touch they can currently give you but for now it's fantastic.

- I'm now off to try and get another hour or two of sleep before an early Walmart run, for those planning to come here through Melbourne I hope this outlines the experience. Any questions I'll try and answer them over the next day or so.

[Rozie]

This is very helpful thank you. Doing the exact same route on Saturday with Tui as long as covid tests allow. Thanks for sharing and have a super holiday!

[Essex Benjy's!]

Thanks for sharing. Been seeing the new TUI Melbourne flights and would be jumping on one of these were it not for having chemotherapy treatment for cancer at the moment.
Hoping to go later in the year!
I didnt know you have to get tested. Is that even if you’ve had four vaccine jabs?
Do you need certificates to enter the parks?
Wish we could come now!
Have a fantastic time!

[col1968]

are drinks free in economy?

[TestTrack]

Just finished our Disney Cruise (absolutely fantastic and will post a trip report in that forum soon) but in answer to the above - drinks are indeed free in economy and they provide full cans of soft drinks, beer and wine multiple times throughout the flight so no worries there!

[TestTrack]

Sorry for the delay in reply but only just got access to WiFi again!

You still have to get tested (rapid-antigen) the day before your flight to the US at the moment. If you do go later in the year this may be gone but if it is still required then I recommend Qured as you go on a webcam call on your computer with someone who watches you swab your nose and then you show a photo of your result 15 minutes later - it has to be supervised, hence why you can do this webcam option. You then get a certificate sent you your email address soon after.

You don't need to test for the parks at all any more.

I'm sorry to hear about your health issues, I've had my own over the last couple of years and so Disney vlogs and reading of menus, restaurant reviews etc really helped me in the darker times so I really hope all goes well for you and you get to travel out here soon!

[Disney Planning]

A great update on Melbourne airport. Thanks for posting your experience, it sounds great.