First TUI flight to MLB Florida

[clanmacbeath]

Quick review of our flights with Tui. We returned yesterday. We flew man to Melbourne. Check in at Man was chaos. Staff initally telling us to queue at one side of the departures desks then moving us to the other side. Only 2 staff to check in everyone in economy. Tui dont use verifly so lots of people turned up not knowing what paperwork was required. This resulted in a very long drawn out check in. Luckily we had everything ready so were only at the desk a few minutes.

Security line was long but moved quickly. Flight delayed 2 hours. Staff onboard the flight were lovely, food was dreadful. Not that I was expecting much but the chicken pasta was disgusting. There was some sort chocolate brownie for desert...not nice at all. Alcohol was free...maybe they hoped people would drink and not worry about the food!

Arrived 2 hours late into melbourne, bagage was off loaded fairly quickly but ours was last. We were last through security and the staff were knocking the lights off as they did our checks! Lol.

Car hire with budget through andy at dfch. Great little suv. No hard sell by budget.

Long journey to the villa on H27. Nearly 2 hours which was hard going for DH after a long flight and the delays. Plus it was dark. I wouldnt want to do this drive if I hadnt driven in florida previously.

Return flight delayed an hour. Nothing apart from a bar and a dunkin donuts at melbourne. Dunkin donuts closed as they ran out of donuts! The place was packed as all 3 flights with tui were in the departures lounge due to delays. Found a seat though!

Sorry should have mentioned check in at melbourne was the quickest Ive ever experienced! So was security.

Flight home was a bit meh. The plane was dirty and the food was even worse than on the way out. Sweet and sour chicken. My son described it as cat food. A small hard roll and frozen butter. 2 tiny crackers with soft cheese...the only thing I ate. Plus another chocolate brownie thing...decided not to risk it. Breakfast was a tiny muffin and a fat free yoghurt. Definitely the worst food ever on a flight.

Arrived at Manchester and was through security quickly and our bags in true form were some of the last off. 😆

Overall, would we use tui to fly to florida again? Tbh I think they would need to up their game to make it worth while. At the end of the day we normally go with which airline has availability on our dates, followed by price. The flight is only a small part of the holiday but Tui fell very short of what we expected. The long drive was probably the bit we disliked the most. If you're staying at a hotel and have a package then it probably wont be too bad as you will get a shuttle bus.

*sorry this wasnt as quick as I thought it was! 🤣

[*cath*]

Originally Posted by clanmacbeath

Quick review of our flights with Tui. We returned yesterday. We flew man to Melbourne. Check in at Man was chaos. Staff initally telling us to queue at one side of the departures desks then moving us to the other side. Only 2 staff to check in everyone in economy. Tui dont use verifly so lots of people turned up not knowing what paperwork was required. This resulted in a very long drawn out check in. Luckily we had everything ready so were only at the desk a few minutes.

Security line was long but moved quickly. Flight delayed 2 hours. Staff onboard the flight were lovely, food was dreadful. Not that I was expecting much but the chicken pasta was disgusting. There was some sort chocolate brownie for desert...not nice at all. Alcohol was free...maybe they hoped people would drink and not worry about the food!

Arrived 2 hours late into melbourne, bagage was off loaded fairly quickly but ours was last. We were last through security and the staff were knocking the lights off as they did our checks! Lol.

Car hire with budget through andy at dfch. Great little suv. No hard sell by budget.

Long journey to the villa on H27. Nearly 2 hours which was hard going for DH after a long flight and the delays. Plus it was dark. I wouldnt want to do this drive if I hadnt driven in florida previously.

Return flight delayed an hour. Nothing apart from a bar and a dunkin donuts at melbourne. Dunkin donuts closed as they ran out of donuts! The place was packed as all 3 flights with tui were in the departures lounge due to delays. Found a seat though!

Sorry should have mentioned check in at melbourne was the quickest Ive ever experienced! So was security.

Flight home was a bit meh. The plane was dirty and the food was even worse than on the way out. Sweet and sour chicken. My son described it as cat food. A small hard roll and frozen butter. 2 tiny crackers with soft cheese...the only thing I ate. Plus another chocolate brownie thing...decided not to risk it. Breakfast was a tiny muffin and a fat free yoghurt. Definitely the worst food ever on a flight.

Arrived at Manchester and was through security quickly and our bags in true form were some of the last off. 😆

Overall, would we use tui to fly to florida again? Tbh I think they would need to up their game to make it worth while. At the end of the day we normally go with which airline has availability on our dates, followed by price. The flight is only a small part of the holiday but Tui fell very short of what we expected. The long drive was probably the bit we disliked the most. If you're staying at a hotel and have a package then it probably wont be too bad as you will get a shuttle bus.

*sorry this wasnt as quick as I thought it was! 🤣

See more...

Sounds awful. Hoping a lot is teething troubles!

[garryboy11]

Originally Posted by clanmacbeath

Quick review of our flights with Tui. We returned yesterday. We flew man to Melbourne. Check in at Man was chaos. Staff initally telling us to queue at one side of the departures desks then moving us to the other side. Only 2 staff to check in everyone in economy. Tui dont use verifly so lots of people turned up not knowing what paperwork was required. This resulted in a very long drawn out check in. Luckily we had everything ready so were only at the desk a few minutes.

Security line was long but moved quickly. Flight delayed 2 hours. Staff onboard the flight were lovely, food was dreadful. Not that I was expecting much but the chicken pasta was disgusting. There was some sort chocolate brownie for desert...not nice at all. Alcohol was free...maybe they hoped people would drink and not worry about the food!

Arrived 2 hours late into melbourne, bagage was off loaded fairly quickly but ours was last. We were last through security and the staff were knocking the lights off as they did our checks! Lol.

Car hire with budget through andy at dfch. Great little suv. No hard sell by budget.

Long journey to the villa on H27. Nearly 2 hours which was hard going for DH after a long flight and the delays. Plus it was dark. I wouldnt want to do this drive if I hadnt driven in florida previously.

Return flight delayed an hour. Nothing apart from a bar and a dunkin donuts at melbourne. Dunkin donuts closed as they ran out of donuts! The place was packed as all 3 flights with tui were in the departures lounge due to delays. Found a seat though!

Sorry should have mentioned check in at melbourne was the quickest Ive ever experienced! So was security.

Flight home was a bit meh. The plane was dirty and the food was even worse than on the way out. Sweet and sour chicken. My son described it as cat food. A small hard roll and frozen butter. 2 tiny crackers with soft cheese...the only thing I ate. Plus another chocolate brownie thing...decided not to risk it. Breakfast was a tiny muffin and a fat free yoghurt. Definitely the worst food ever on a flight.

Arrived at Manchester and was through security quickly and our bags in true form were some of the last off. 😆

Overall, would we use tui to fly to florida again? Tbh I think they would need to up their game to make it worth while. At the end of the day we normally go with which airline has availability on our dates, followed by price. The flight is only a small part of the holiday but Tui fell very short of what we expected. The long drive was probably the bit we disliked the most. If you're staying at a hotel and have a package then it probably wont be too bad as you will get a shuttle bus.

*sorry this wasnt as quick as I thought it was! 🤣

See more...

Re the long drive. Can I ask what route you took?

We fly into MLB in July and staying near the 27 too. Currently pondering best route - cheers!

[WDocW]

Originally Posted by garryboy11

Re the long drive. Can I ask what route you took?

We fly into MLB in July and staying near the 27 too. Currently pondering best route - cheers!

See more...

You've basically got a choice of 192 all the way over or take I95 north then 528 west (once on 528 I'd then take 417S rather than going all the way to I4 as that looks like it's worse even than normal at the moment (the bit of I4 from where 528 joins down to LBV is always rubbish).

The 192 has a lot of lights as you go through St Cloud so currently I'm thinking of doing I95/528/417. But I might change my mind depending on our arrival time!

[garryboy11]

Originally Posted by WDocW

You've basically got a choice of 192 all the way over or take I95 north then 528 west (once on 528 I'd then take 417S rather than going all the way to I4 as that looks like it's worse even than normal at the moment (the bit of I4 from where 528 joins down to LBV is always rubbish).

The 192 has a lot of lights as you go through St Cloud so currently I'm thinking of doing I95/528/417. But I might change my mind depending on our arrival time!

See more...

Yep. That’s exactly the route I’m planning. Have gone the 417 last few times I flew into MCO and it’s much quieter than 528/I4.

Come off at Celebration and onto 192 (still ish towards the 27 much not as bad as coming all the way along it).

[garryboy11]

Originally Posted by WDocW

You've basically got a choice of 192 all the way over or take I95 north then 528 west (once on 528 I'd then take 417S rather than going all the way to I4 as that looks like it's worse even than normal at the moment (the bit of I4 from where 528 joins down to LBV is always rubbish).

The 192 has a lot of lights as you go through St Cloud so currently I'm thinking of doing I95/528/417. But I might change my mind depending on our arrival time!

See more...

PS. Meant to say, looking forward to your car hire report - think you also have a full size suv booked at Melbourne (sad I know these things!).

Hope you have a great flight and get a cracking car. Have a great holiday.

[Dancingducks]

Any tips as to where could get some change for the tolls if needed ? Won't use them bar to and from MLB

[deanobrown]

Originally Posted by Dancingducks

Any tips as to where could get some change for the tolls if needed ? Won't use them bar to and from MLB

See more...

I know there's a little shop/cafe in the airport... You could always buy a little something and ask for change in coins?

[WDocW]

Originally Posted by garryboy11

PS. Meant to say, looking forward to your car hire report - think you also have a full size suv booked at Melbourne (sad I know these things!).

Hope you have a great flight and get a cracking car. Have a great holiday.

See more...

We do have a full size SUV, good memory! Fingers crossed our flight on Friday isn't as delayed as some of them have been

[clanmacbeath]

Originally Posted by garryboy11

Re the long drive. Can I ask what route you took?

We fly into MLB in July and staying near the 27 too. Currently pondering best route - cheers!

See more...

We took to the 192 which was the slower route due to the traffic lights. But most direct. Dh wasnt keen to be driving on roads he didnt know in the dark tbh. It took 1hr 50 mins from getting into the car to arrving at the villa at Davenport. It took 1hr 40 on the way back. Heavy traffic everywhere there at the minute and we avoided the I4 as much as possible due to the amount of rtcs we saw and the fact it moves at a crawl.