TUI - Special Assistance

[TigerB]

 

I would be interested to hear from anyone who has, or has travelled with someone that had, special assistance with TUI to or from the Caribbean in the last couple of years, or is about to fly, but only those that were/are in the premium cabin.

What was your experience like and where were you, or are to to be, seated? I'm particularly interested in hearing from those with or travelling with someone with severe mobility problems or using a wheelchair.

Thanks 🙂

[Seaside maid]

Hi there.  Although  I don't match up with your criteria for requesting a reply.  I thought I would give you my general opinion.  I regularly travel with a disabled relative on Tui flights/cruises.

Are you aware that you are entitled to free seats on the flight.  If I use a TA they ring special assistance and request whatever I need, plus the free seats.  If I book myself online I send an email to special assistance and do the request myself.

Never been let down by them yet.  Maybe of some help hopefully 

[TigerB]

Thanks for the reply.🙂

We've flown many times since my wife has been a full-time wheelchair user and some airlines are better than others.

From your response, it looks like whenever you or your TA deal directly with TUI it has been a reliable service.

We though are cruising with P&O and flying back with TUI; I've had recent contact with both and so far, am not impressed with the former.  For our cruise, the Carnival 'flight team' deal with special assistance requests and seat allocations for the flight.

It has always been our experience that the bulkhead seats are blocked for special assistance and babies. Given her limited mobility, those seats are best suited to my wife's needs.

When the seat booking facility opened up the other day, there were pairs of seats blocked out in the premium cabin, but it appeared that the bulkhead seats had been sold to other passengers.

When I queried this with Carnival, the response was that row 2 was blocked for special assistance but all other seats, including the bulkhead seats, were available to be reserved by any other passenger. She also said that the bulkhead seats were not suitable for wheelchair users as they don't have sufficient legroom; we are on a Dreamliner. Not so from our experience! 🙄

I get the distinct feeling that Carnival are more interested in generating income from folk prepared to shell out £38 each to reserve their seats, including offering the bulkhead seats, with the extra legroom, as an incentive for them to part with cash. 

 

[Seaside maid]

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.  That all sounds absolutely disgraceful to be honest.

[TigerB]

Yes it is, but quite typical of some organisations who put profit ahead of the needs of some of their customers. 😐

[oscarshep]

Friends of ours recently travelled on the TUI Dreamliner with similar needs to the one you describe. They were seated in row 11 which had the extra leg room usually found at the front on smaller aircraft. Maybe you could mention this to your agent.

Hope this helps.

[TigerB]

Thanks for the reply.

From my research, it appears that, if dealing directly with TUI, they would usually seat special assistance passengers with mobility problems in the bulkhead row; for us that is row 1. However, the problem appears to lie with Carnival who deal with seat allocations for charter flights. The agent that responded to me said row 1 did not have sufficient room for wheelchair users as it was a small cabin. What an absolute crock of 💩! 

It seems to me that Carnival are more interested in 💷 than vulnerable guests, and could shoot themselves in the foot, giving the buying power of the purple pound.

Anyway, I'm in touch with the President's office.