TUI - costs of booking seats query

Baled

Hi

Could anyone advise me if TUI reduce the costs of their seats the closer you get to departure date? 

I've not flown TUI before - I checked the seat costs last week and standard seats were £17 each way. I checked again yesterday and it was £16.50 outbound, £16 inbound. 

I usually fly with Jet2 and don't pay for the seats as they give 28 days to check in regardless but TUI is only 48 hours for free seats and 14 days for paid seats. 

I was a little surprised to see the slight reduction in the seat prices. Does anyone know why this would be and is it likely the cost will reduce a bit further?

I fly out on 12th September and return 17th September. There's also a note that you can't check in for both flights at the same time? If I purchase my seats would I have to log back in each time to check in each way?

Thanks in advance!

la531983

Baled said:

 There's also a note that you can't check in for both flights at the same time?

Is this a flight only booking? Every package holiday Ive done with them Ive checked both flights in at the same time. Dont recall the price of seats getting cheaper.

Baled

la531983 said:

Baled said:

 There's also a note that you can't check in for both flights at the same time?

Is this a flight only booking? Every package holiday Ive done with them Ive checked both flights in at the same time. Dont recall the price of seats getting cheaper.

It's a package. I did find that note a bit odd or maybe I'm reading it wrong: 

"...or chosen the Select Your Seat option, online check-in will open 14 days prior to your departure. If not, it’ll open 48 hours prior to your departure*. Just so you know, in either case, you’ll need to check in for your outbound and inbound flights separately."

I've been spoilt with Jet2's 28 days check in as it gives me plenty of time to haul myself into the office to print off the boarding passes as a back up. 😂

strawb_shortcake

On a package deal if you haven't booked your seats your seats then yes you are limited to checking in 48 hours beforehand. 

I don't ever book seats but the last two years we've been sat together anyway. I'd rather have best part of £200 for us  as spending money.
Checking in whilst away wasn't an issue, we just had our boarding passes on our phones.

la531983

Baled said:

la531983 said:

Baled said:

 There's also a note that you can't check in for both flights at the same time?

Is this a flight only booking? Every package holiday Ive done with them Ive checked both flights in at the same time. Dont recall the price of seats getting cheaper.

It's a package. I did find that note a bit odd or maybe I'm reading it wrong: 

"...or chosen the Select Your Seat option, online check-in will open 14 days prior to your departure. If not, it’ll open 48 hours prior to your departure*. Just so you know, in either case, you’ll need to check in for your outbound and inbound flights separately."

I've been spoilt with Jet2's 28 days check in as it gives me plenty of time to haul myself into the office to print off the boarding passes as a back up. 😂

I always book seats well in advance (as need extra legroom as exceedingly tall) so maybe its different for me, but I can check into both flights for Feb two weeks in advance (although I have to do the process twice). I suspect BOTH flights will open 2 days before you go though.

Baled

strawb_shortcake said:

On a package deal if you haven't booked your seats your seats then yes you are limited to checking in 48 hours beforehand. 

I don't ever book seats but the last two years we've been sat together anyway. I'd rather have best part of £200 for us  as spending money.
Checking in whilst away wasn't an issue, we just had our boarding passes on our phones.

I always have the boarding passes on my phone but prefer the paper version for some reason.

Another thing that surprised me is that there's no option to pre-book in flight meals. I've only paid for meals with Jet2 a handful of times but it's nice to have the option before check in. 

I always buy a cup of tea on board. I presume it's roughly £3 with TUI?

la531983

Baled said:

strawb_shortcake said:

On a package deal if you haven't booked your seats your seats then yes you are limited to checking in 48 hours beforehand. 

I don't ever book seats but the last two years we've been sat together anyway. I'd rather have best part of £200 for us  as spending money.
Checking in whilst away wasn't an issue, we just had our boarding passes on our phones.

I always have the boarding passes on my phone but prefer the paper version for some reason.

Another thing that surprised me is that there's no option to pre-book in flight meals. I've only paid for meals with Jet2 a handful of times but it's nice to have the option before check in. 

I always buy a cup of tea on board. I presume it's roughly £3 with TUI?

See for yourself...

https://qrco.de/beoJTR

https://qrco.de/beoJYK - duty free

As for meals, not sure why you cant. My flight in February....



Not that I do, as plane food is generally garbage.

Exodi

strawb_shortcake said:

I don't ever book seats but the last two years we've been sat together anyway. I'd rather have best part of £200 for us  as spending money.

Likewise, my wife and I haven't ever paid to book seats. After maybe 10 or 15 holidays together, we have not been sat directly next to each other exactly once (she was in the seat in front of me instead).

So at least for us, it's been thousands saved for absolutely nothing (except the inconvenience on one flight sitting behind my partner - fortunately it was a short flight to Porto Santo).

Really on a forum like this we should promote this practice, booking seats seems like money for old rope.

Baled said:
Another thing that surprised me is that there's no option to pre-book in flight meals. I've only paid for meals with Jet2 a handful of times but it's nice to have the option before check in. 

How long is the flight? Flights under 7 hours (considered short-haul) don't include a meal. On flights longer than three and a half hours – excluding Morocco, Portugal, and long-haul, you can pre-order a meal.

la531983

Exodi said:

strawb_shortcake said:

I don't ever book seats but the last two years we've been sat together anyway. I'd rather have best part of £200 for us  as spending money.

Really on a forum like this we should promote this practice, booking seats seems like money for old rope.

How about if you are six foot six?  

Im not sitting in a normal seat for anything longer than a Manchester-Amsterdam hop, and even then I'm hoping there is nobody sat next to me.

Exodi

la531983 said:

Exodi said:

strawb_shortcake said:

I don't ever book seats but the last two years we've been sat together anyway. I'd rather have best part of £200 for us  as spending money.

Really on a forum like this we should promote this practice, booking seats seems like money for old rope.

How about if you are six foot six?  

Im not sitting in a normal seat for anything longer than a Manchester-Amsterdam hop, and even then I'm hoping there is nobody sat next to me.

For people that tall, I'd suggest your only option is laying in the gangway 

OK I'll caveat my post with 'excluding the 0.04% of the UK population that is 6'6"+'

https://www.gigacalculator.com/calculators/height-percentile-calculator.php

strawb_shortcake

I flew easyjet last week, I had the window seat, I had a stranger sat next to me and the aisle seat was free. I really thought he'd take advantage and sit in the free seat, but he never. 

On the plus side  perhaps I'm not as fat as I think I am 😆