TUI plane seat reservation

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daveleics
daveleics Posts: 7 Forumite
in Overseas holidays & travel planning
Am I the only one in thinking that TUIs plane seat reservation policy is a complete scam? For those who don't know, if you book a holiday with TUI, they give you the option of reserving your seat on the plane, way before travelling, to ensure you are sitting next to your loved ones. This, however, costs £20 per person (both ways) so the bigger your family, the more you have to pay.

The fear of not sitting next to your family is the driving factor here as everyone feels compelled to reserve their seats. also, not everyone has or can use a computer, so this policy discriminates against them because those who can, will always be able to reserve their seats first (TUI call every passenger asking them, but not until much later).

I have consistently refused to reserve my seat on principle and have still sat next to my family on the plane, so this just seems like a rather nasty emotional blackmail to squeeze money out of holiday makers based on 'how much their family is worth'. Disgusting. Are there any other airlines that do this? Shouldn't the consumer watchdog be looking into it? - I'm just surprised there's not more of an uproar about it.
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  • bradders1983
    bradders1983 Posts: 5,684 Forumite
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    edited 8 October 2018 at 8:59AM
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    Im sorry but almost every airline does this now with package holidays, it isnt really breaking news. You pay your money and take your choice, just dont moan if you get split up at the airport. I personally pay for extra legroom seats and have no issue continuing to do so.

    As for it "discriminating for those who cant use a computer", I have no idea what you are on about here. You can reserve seats at the point of booking and also when booking on the phone or in the shop as well. Quite frankly if you choose not to have Internet access in this day and age then that is your own fault, my 82 year old gran has an iPad and everything so absolutely no excuse.
  • onomatopoeia99
    onomatopoeia99 Posts: 6,964 Forumite
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    My mother, age 80, spends half the day bashing away at her ipad, and IT literate she is not. If she can manage, I struggle to imagine who cannot.

    As always, these extra charges are aimed at keeping the headline price down so things seem cheaper if you don't want the extra options. You need to consider the price in total rather than looking at the price without the extras you want.

    This has all been driven by comparison sites, switching sites and moneysaving sites like this one - this is the marketplace that sites like this have created.
    Proud member of the wokerati, though I don't eat tofu.Home is where my books are.Solar PV 5.2kWp system, SE facing, >1% shading, installed March 2019.Mortgage free July 2023
  • daveleics
    daveleics Posts: 7 Forumite
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    Jeez - thanks for the support guys!?
  • bagand96
    bagand96 Posts: 6,105 Forumite
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    edited 8 October 2018 at 9:33AM
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    Disgusting. Are there any other airlines that do this?

    I don’t know of any that don’t do it.

    You should definitely stay away from Ryanair or Jet2 (flight only) - you certainly wouldn’t like how they handle it.
  • daveleics
    daveleics Posts: 7 Forumite
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    BTW Thomas Cook doesn't do this, so stick that in your pipe.
  • bradders1983
    bradders1983 Posts: 5,684 Forumite
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    daveleics wrote: »
    BTW Thomas Cook doesn't do this, so stick that in your pipe.

    Erm, yes they do, Ive just booked a two week package trip to Malta with them and you have to pay for seats if you want to be guaraneed to be sat together. I also went with them last year and the same applied. Ive also just booked a flight only trip to Las Vegas with them and guess what?
    daveleics wrote: »
    Jeez - thanks for the support guys!?

    Maybe forums arent for you if you are looking for everyone to blindly agree with you.
  • daveleics
    daveleics Posts: 7 Forumite
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    Well I travelled to the Canaries earlier this year with TC and they didn't do it, so maybe you've been ripped off as well?
  • bagand96
    bagand96 Posts: 6,105 Forumite
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    BTW Thomas Cook doesn't do this, so stick that in your pipe.

    0_D51_A26_C_92_E4_4_DF7_9525_DF774_EC850_A6.png
  • Merlin139
    Merlin139 Posts: 6,860 Forumite
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    edited 8 October 2018 at 9:45AM
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    The wife and I had the same thing with JET 2 last month with 2 weeks in Cyprus. Did not bother to book seats on the way out got seat next to one another on a full 737.

    On the way back we asked when we checked in for isle seats preferably across from one another and were seated in 5 and 7D on a 757. When they closed the doors dear wife said that she was on her own with no one sat in 7E and 7F and asked me to sit next to her. I pointed out that I needed to sit where I was so the would know who's body it was if the plane crashed on take off!

    Once at cruising height I moved and we had loads of room. As it happened the flight had 2 empty seats

    The T&C's are there for you to see so you decide what you want to do and pay your money if you want or take your chance.

    A possible way to get seats next to one another is get to the airport early on flight day and be one of the first in the queue to check in.
    3.795 kWp Solar PV System. Capital of the Wolds

  • bradders1983
    bradders1983 Posts: 5,684 Forumite
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    edited 8 October 2018 at 9:56AM
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    daveleics wrote: »
    Well I travelled to the Canaries earlier this year with TC and they didn't do it, so maybe you've been ripped off as well?

    I havent been "ripped off" anywhere, Dave. As I originally said, I pay for EXTRA legroom seats and have no issue doing so. I can only just about manage a trip to Paris or Dublin in normal seating.

    I can assure you Thomas Cook do ask people at point of booking if they want to pay for a seat having booked 3 holidays/trips with them to various destinations over the past year, both as flight only and as a package. Proof of this has even been posted above.

    I would bail out now if I were you.
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