TUI changed flight 4 days before holiday

jayneb98

Hello, as you can see from the title, we were due to fly 6am Tuesday the 5th of June.

Our flight has been changed to 10pm at night, we paid extra to fly earlier in the day, when we booked we selected the earlier flight as were travelling with a baby and wanted the full day on the Tuesday.

Now we will not arrive to our hotel until the Wednesday early morning, despite paying for the hotel Tuesday night?!

All I have been offered is a full refund.. this holiday was booked nearly a year in advance. We will never find a holiday for the same price and there is s 7 of us travelling! So we can not take any more of work, plus I doubt we are going to find anything such short notice.

I have asked for some kind of money back since I!!!8217;ve paid for a nights hotel that I will not be able to use now!

TUI have been truly awful. No apology. Just told its in their terms in conditions and they can do it. I haVe evidence of his as I used their online chat! I tried ringing their helpline and they were just as bad. How can they change my flight by such an amount that I am loosing a days holiday?

Any advice would be appreciated

bagand96

If it's in their T&Cs then they can do this. Under TUI's own T&Cs then this is considered as a major change to your holiday as your flight has changed by 12 hours. (Point of note - they are allowed to change your flights by upto 12 hours without it being a major change!)

When they make major changes you are entitled to a full refund which they have offered you. Their T&Cs also state that because you've been notified of this change by less than 7 days notice, you are entitled to £40 compensation per person. So as a minimum ask them for this. For reference, TUI Terms and Conditions are here: https://www.tui.co.uk/destinations/booking/tandc?ptype=PDP

European Legislation EU261 may well apply here too, which might mean your are entitled to compensation by the airline. Does your changed flight have a different number to your original one? If so it might suggest your flight has been cancelled, which would trigger compensation. I'm not 100% on this though, there are some very clued up people on this forum, it might be worth posting again in the "Flight Delay Compensation" forum to get some better advice on this issue.

peachyprice

One thing to be wary of, if you push for a refund for the Tuesday night you won't have a room until 2-3pm Wednesday afternoon, not ideal when travelling with a young child.

NoodleDoodleMan

Is TUI the carrier, or another airline ?

They've been using Thomas Cook and EasyJet flights to service some package holidays in recent years.

If it's another airline then I suspect TUI don't have much option but to accept changed flight times etc.

Would be worth considering the full refund plus compensation and looking for a late deal with TC or Jet2 etc.

If TUI is the airline - have they offered an explanation as to why the changes, and the short notice ?

jayneb98

Thank everyone for your replies

The flight is through TUI! Wel when I booked it was Thomson! But the flight number is still the same. I asked for a reason why and was told they can just do it under their t&cs.. great customer service !!!55357;!!!56834; haven!!!8217;t even had a sorry for your inconvenience..

jayneb98

peachyprice wrote: »

One thing to be wary of, if you push for a refund for the Tuesday night you won't have a room until 2-3pm Wednesday afternoon, not ideal when travelling with a young child.

That’s what I’m worried about but we’ve paid to use theme park tickets on the Tuesday.. which we obv can’t use now as w arrive Wednesday. Just seems ridiculous that they won’t offer anything

Westin

As bagand96 remarked in post #2, you should get £40 pp compensation. Some recompense.

zagfles

jayneb98 wrote: »

Hello, as you can see from the title, we were due to fly 6am Tuesday the 5th of June.

Our flight has been changed to 10pm at night, we paid extra to fly earlier in the day, when we booked we selected the earlier flight as were travelling with a baby and wanted the full day on the Tuesday.

Now we will not arrive to our hotel until the Wednesday early morning, despite paying for the hotel Tuesday night?!

All I have been offered is a full refund.. this holiday was booked nearly a year in advance. We will never find a holiday for the same price and there is s 7 of us travelling! So we can not take any more of work, plus I doubt we are going to find anything such short notice.

I have asked for some kind of money back since I!!!8217;ve paid for a nights hotel that I will not be able to use now!

TUI have been truly awful. No apology. Just told its in their terms in conditions and they can do it. I haVe evidence of his as I used their online chat! I tried ringing their helpline and they were just as bad. How can they change my flight by such an amount that I am loosing a days holiday?

Any advice would be appreciated

Are assuming that or have you actually looked? Last minute packages are usually much cheaper than booking a year in advance. Although very last minute aren't always such a good deal. But it's worth looking - you could end up getting a holiday at a much lower price and save yourselves a fortune! Or get a much better holiday for the same price.

Eg check here: look like some very cheap deals around your dates: https://www.tui.co.uk/holidays/last-minute

jayneb98

I have got the £40 per person back! Thank you to the users who informed me of this!! I will tell every single person on the plane to claim this back - seen as their staff offered me nothing until I told them their own t&cs.

Now been told they are unsure if my seats are the same, we paid extra leg room. I said well they better bloody be..

cubegame

jayneb98 wrote: »

I have got the £40 per person back! Thank you to the users who informed me of this!! I will tell every single person on the plane to claim this back - seen as their staff offered me nothing until I told them their own t&cs.

Now been told they are unsure if my seats are the same, we paid extra leg room. I said well they better bloody be..

Have you checked late prices as an alternative?

As others have said you very likely overpaid anyway if you booked a year in advance for a non peak date.

jayneb98

Jet 2 saves us a bit of money, but by the time you get the 40pp back it’s not worth the hassle. Plus, we want to sit together and I don’t think the chances of us all getting that with 7 of us will be slim? If we fly Tuesday. The flight time is a lot better with Jet2, flying midday instead of night time. We’re travelling with a 4 month old so want to be close to pass him around haha!