TUI Delay - Our experience

[Col&Ali]

Morning! What a journey home from Lanzarote which I thought I would share. The way things are with TUI and the travel industry at the moment we weren’t surprised to get to the airport to be informed of a delay straight away … it has happened in the past and will probably happen in the future but this time was certainly different.

As soon as we were at bag drop we were told that due to 2 planes in the UK being unserviceable - ours and the other destined for Tenerife - they decided to amalgamate both flights onto a Dreamliner but that would mean us flying via Tenerife after it had dropped off the Lanzarote passengers!

We were due to fly at 19:30 but all TUI flights were experiencing delays that day so it was very busy but I wouldn’t say chaotic. We watched as all the other regional airport flights left leaving us, Dublin and Bristol.

Bristol boarded but I heard later that they had to disembark after a fault was found and presume they were accommodated overnight in Lanzarote.

Dublin eventually left at around 11.30pm I think and then it was just us. Usually by then Lanzarote airport is pretty much shut but for once they re-opened a food outlet so there weren’t to many “hangry” passengers. It is bad that they don’t advertise food vouchers but I saw a of lads ask for them so did the same - €8 each which bought us 2 bottles of water and a baguette which we kept back in case of needing it later.

Our plane came in at 11,30pm but disembarkation of Lanza passengers and refuelling etc this time took ages so we didn’t board for a good while … we were very concerned at seeing passengers being removed from the front of the line and being held in a side bit. There was obviously not enough seats and these people were being told they couldn’t fly! This happened to the couple in front of us which was really upsetting to see and some of the others it had happened to were getting very angry. Communication was terrible but we got on the plane.

We were now very close to the Lanzarote 1am ruling were no flying is allowed but they relaxed the rule for us to take off at 1.15am - destination Tenerife!

It became apparent on the plane that those poor people already on board had been sat on the plane for 10 hours! They were tired, hungry and angry and some told me that they had only been given one cup of water and no apology whatsoever. They were even expected to pay for headphones/ jacks so many had no seat entertainment.

But at least we were on our way home … or do we thought!

Blimey, that was longer than I thought and I have to go out now so will post part 2 later!

Taffy1959 know where we ended up so can fill the gap if she’s around 😂

[Taffy1959]

Originally Posted by Col&Ali

Morning! What a journey home from Lanzarote which I thought I would share. The way things are with TUI and the travel industry at the moment we weren’t surprised to get to the airport to be informed of a delay straight away … it has happened in the past and will probably happen in the future but this time was certainly different.

As soon as we were at bag drop we were told that due to 2 planes in the UK being unserviceable - ours and the other destined for Tenerife - they decided to amalgamate both flights onto a Dreamliner but that would mean us flying via Tenerife after it had dropped off the Lanzarote passengers!

We were due to fly at 19:30 but all TUI flights were experiencing delays that day so it was very busy but I wouldn’t say chaotic. We watched as all the other regional airport flights left leaving us, Dublin and Bristol.

Bristol boarded but I heard later that they had to disembark after a fault was found and presume they were accommodated overnight in Lanzarote.

Dublin eventually left at around 11.30pm I think and then it was just us. Usually by then Lanzarote airport is pretty much shut but for once they re-opened a food outlet so there weren’t to many “hangry” passengers. It is bad that they don’t advertise food vouchers but I saw a of lads ask for them so did the same - €8 each which bought us 2 bottles of water and a baguette which we kept back in case of needing it later.

Our plane came in at 11,30pm but disembarkation of Lanza passengers and refuelling etc this time took ages so we didn’t board for a good while … we were very concerned at seeing passengers being removed from the front of the line and being held in a side bit. There was obviously not enough seats and these people were being told they couldn’t fly! This happened to the couple in front of us which was really upsetting to see and some of the others it had happened to were getting very angry. Communication was terrible but we got on the plane.

We were now very close to the Lanzarote 1am ruling were no flying is allowed but they relaxed the rule for us to take off at 1.15am - destination Tenerife!

It became apparent on the plane that those poor people already on board had been sat on the plane for 10 hours! They were tired, hungry and angry and some told me that they had only been given one cup of water and no apology whatsoever. They were even expected to pay for headphones/ jacks so many had no seat entertainment.

But at least we were on our way home … or do we thought!

Blimey, that was longer than I thought and I have to go out now so will post part 2 later!

Taffy1959 know where we ended up so can fill the gap if she’s around 😂

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I’m here 👍
Col&Ali ended up being taken to a hotel in Tenerife checking in at 3.30am and told they would be leaving Tenerife at 4pm yesterday
I might be wrong but from what I’ve seen on FB this morning I think they’re still in Tenerife

[Col&Ali]

Originally Posted by Taffy1959

I’m here 👍
Col&Ali ended up being taken to a hotel in Tenerife checking in at 3.30am and told they would be leaving Tenerife at 4pm yesterday
I might be wrong but from what I’ve seen on FB this morning I think they’re still in Tenerife

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I’m home sweetie! Got in at 10pm last night … will update this post later with a small trip report on the gorgeous Hotel Fantasia in Tenerife where we stayed for the night!

[darbs]

Blimey, that sounds like a journey and a half ... look forward to reading more later!

[Cinderellabella]

Just for info, we were with Tui a few year (2019) ago to Florida when the hurricane was heading that way. We had to fly home a day and a half early. The flight back was awful, we were sat for hours without any food, no blankets or pillows for an overnight flight etc .We got diverted via Aruba to pick up different cabin crew and were 6 hrs later back to the uk than should have been. We put a complaint in - which was around the service within the flight but they compensated us around £2k cos of the delay getting home.
Maybe worth trying the same.

[Taffy1959]

Originally Posted by Col&Ali

I’m home sweetie! Got in at 10pm last night … will update this post later with a small trip report on the gorgeous Hotel Fantasia in Tenerife where we stayed for the night!

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That’s good to hear but what a pain it’s been for you especially with the first holiday being cancelled

[marypoppins38]

That’s horrendous, I bet you are glad to be back.
Any company can have issues but if they are informative, helpful and go out of their way to make the best of it for the customer then people don’t mind as much. It’s when they act how TUI has that it really rankles.
I am just looking for a few days away, I think I will be giving TUI a miss!

[Col&Ali]

Part 2!

So, as I was saying, the passengers already on board were tired, hungry and thirsty - I saw a few people ask for water but they were told no. The person next to me then told me that they were not informed they were flying via Lanzarote until take off … and this was after hours of sitting on the pan in the aircraft waiting for take off.

We landed in Tenerife at 2am and then the announcement was made - the crew were now over their hours and it would be against the law to carry on with the flight. There were angry responses all round as passengers felt that this was known before embarkation in Lanzarote.

The decision had been made to keep us on the flight, get us to Tenerife and then put us up in hotels until the following day.

We disembarked and had to do the full security check in as they wanted to stamp our passports and then we had to wait for our luggage - thank god we were having our suitcases!

We were herded onto 3 buses with no idea where we were going. Everyone thought we were going to the same hotel but I thought surely not, so asked. I was right and we were told to ensure we got on the same bus as our luggage!

The bus set off and we still had no idea where we were going - communication was terrible and I mentioned to Col that I couldn’t imagine how young first time travellers and young families were feeling and thank goodness we were in Tenerife, not somewhere more unsafe!

After about 20 minutes, which felt much longer, we arrived at our designated hotel and we had lucked out! It was the relatively new Hotel Fantasia Bahia Principe!

We were given a bottle of water and then families with children were invited forward first - poor things, it was now 3am!

We checked in and I mentioned it was my birthday and god bless the little night manager! He allocated us a swim up room! It was absolutely beautiful and after falling into bed at 4am we were up again at 8am to make the most of the hotel 😂

We had been given All Inclusive wrist bands so had a lovely breakfast followed by a little walk along the coast then back for a dip in the swim up pool! We checked out at 12pm and I had a couple of glasses of nice cold white wine whilst waiting for the bus which arrived promptly at 1pm.

The rest of the journey went smoothly but some of the stories I heard on the plane were awful - one family with 4 young sons were turned away at the first hotel (they weren’t on our bus) as there were only 20 rooms and nobody let them check in first 😢 They were told to walk up the hill to the next hotel and they told me that they eventually crashed into bed at 5am!

I don’t know what to say really. Col & I are both ex military and being a bit mature now just got on with it. Easy to say when we ended up in a nice hotel I suppose as others really weren’t as lucky!

Others were really kicking off but what could the cabin crew do?

We will apply for the compensation which I am glad is in money and not vouchers and will put towards next year’s holiday. We are already booked with EasyJet for October so let’s hope that goes more smoothly!

If anyone would like to see some pictures of the Fantasia let me know and I will add them here 😃 I felt it was my little bit of pixie dust at then end of a frustrating day … ironically that was also the name of the plane! Pixie Dust 😂

[Loulou127]

Originally Posted by Col&Ali

Part 2!

So, as I was saying, the passengers already on board were tired, hungry and thirsty - I saw a few people ask for water but they were told no. The person next to me then told me that they were not informed they were flying via Lanzarote until take off … and this was after hours of sitting on the pan in the aircraft waiting for take off.

We landed in Tenerife at 2am and then the announcement was made - the crew were now over their hours and it would be against the law to carry on with the flight. There were angry responses all round as passengers felt that this was known before embarkation in Lanzarote.

The decision had been made to keep us on the flight, get us to Tenerife and then put us up in hotels until the following day.

We disembarked and had to do the full security check in as they wanted to stamp our passports and then we had to wait for our luggage - thank god we were having our suitcases!

We were herded onto 3 buses with no idea where we were going. Everyone thought we were going to the same hotel but I thought surely not, so asked. I was right and we were told to ensure we got on the same bus as our luggage!

The bus set off and we still had no idea where we were going - communication was terrible and I mentioned to Col that I couldn’t imagine how young first time travellers and young families were feeling and thank goodness we were in Tenerife, not somewhere more unsafe!

After about 20 minutes, which felt much longer, we arrived at our designated hotel and we had lucked out! It was the relatively new Hotel Fantasia Bahia Principe!

We were given a bottle of water and then families with children were invited forward first - poor things, it was now 3am!

We checked in and I mentioned it was my birthday and god bless the little night manager! He allocated us a swim up room! It was absolutely beautiful and after falling into bed at 4am we were up again at 8am to make the most of the hotel 😂

We had been given All Inclusive wrist bands so had a lovely breakfast followed by a little walk along the coast then back for a dip in the swim up pool! We checked out at 12pm and I had a couple of glasses of nice cold white wine whilst waiting for the bus which arrived promptly at 1pm.

The rest of the journey went smoothly but some of the stories I heard on the plane were awful - one family with 4 young sons were turned away at the first hotel (they weren’t on our bus) as there were only 20 rooms and nobody let them check in first 😢 They were told to walk up the hill to the next hotel and they told me that they eventually crashed into bed at 5am!

I don’t know what to say really. Col & I are both ex military and being a bit mature now just got on with it. Easy to say when we ended up in a nice hotel I suppose as others really weren’t as lucky!

Others were really kicking off but what could the cabin crew do?

We will apply for the compensation which I am glad is in money and not vouchers and will put towards next year’s holiday. We are already booked with EasyJet for October so let’s hope that goes more smoothly!

If anyone would like to see some pictures of the Fantasia let me know and I will add them here 😃 I felt it was my little bit of pixie dust at then end of a frustrating day … ironically that was also the name of the plane! Pixie Dust 😂

See more...

What an absolute nightmare, I think you handled it very well considering, as you said what some families with children went through was awful, I’d love to see some photos of your hotel x

[gemms2000]

Oh wow! That’s horrendous.
We left Lanzarote on Thursday, got to the airport to be told a 2 hour delay and they sent an empty plane for us as the crew hadn’t been able to fly out with passengers on board due to their hours. God knows what happened to the people who were meant to be flying to Lanzarote.