Tui Flight Review on Long Haul
Trip Report on the Dreamliner! TUI Airways Boeing 787-9 London Gatwick to Aruba: Tui Airways Flight Review on long haul
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London Gatwick to Aruba LGW- AUA
Flight Number: TOM002
Route: LGW-AUA
Aircraft registration: G- TUIN (delivered Nov 2019)
Aircraft typer: 787-900
SOBT (Scheduled off blocks time):10:15
Flight time: 9 hours
TUI Airport Check In
Bag drop was so smooth at London Gatwick, well after some slight suitcase drama! Basically my suitcase broke on the train to the airport, the long handle would not manoeuvre downwards into its position and would only remain upright and sticking out, what do I do?
Leave it, hopefully the case will arrive in Aruba and will navigate itself through the automatic baggage system of converter belts behind the scenes at Gatwick or surely it would snap it off or knowing my luck get stuck and never be seen again?
Oh that reminds me if you need some suitcase packing tips n trick
So anyway, I panicked and ended up buying a monstrosity of a case from a left luggage outlet and spent my £100 new Rayban Sunglasses budget for Gatwick duty free on a hideous case!
I quickly re packed my smalls (nothing small about them!) on the tiled floor of the suitcase outlet and proceeded on to the next possible drama of the day.
Did you always wonder why they have suitcase shops at the airport? Well now you Know!
Cabin Max METZ 20L Under seat Bag (40 x 20 x 25 cm) is perfect for TUI economy personal bag size requirements
You can keep everything super organised, I love that it is really padded well so it's very comfortable on your back all day long and this comes in so many different colours.
Actually TUI are quite generous with their cabin baggage allowance,
TUI Hand Luggage Allowance
TUI's hand luggage policy is straightforward and designed to ensure a comfortable experience for all passengers:
Free Cabin Bag
Size: Maximum dimensions of 55 x 40 x 20 cm.
Weight: Up to 10kg.
The Cabin Max Anode 40L is perfect for TUI's hand luggage allowance.
Cabin Max Anode 40L Cabin Suitcase is 55 x 40 x 20 cm the exact requirements for TUI.
I've been using the Cabin Max Anode for over a year and it's the perfect fit for Tui carry on luggage item.
It is so light weight, it has 360 spinning wheels so I can push or pull it around the airport and place my small undereat bag on top of it. It has a well made lock to keep all my items secure. For the price as well it is excellent quality and comes in so many different colours!
Fancy visiting an airport lounge before your TUI Airways flight? Entrance fee's from just £24!
The lovely people from priority Pass have offered me a 30% discount code making it just £48! Be quick this won't last long!!
Priority Pass is the world's largest independent airport VIP lounge access program, with over 1,400+ lounges in over 600 cities across 148 countries! From just £69 for an annual pass.
Security at Gatwick airport was a breeze and before I knew it I was angrilly walking past the Ray-Ban concession at Gatwick on my way to Wagamama for overpriced poached egg on avacado toast. I should have booked an airport lounge it would have been a lot cheaper!
It was time to board the TUI 787 dreamliner, I took my seat on the plane and I noticed around 50 empty seats on board. The last few trickle of passengers boarded and I anxiously awaited to see if the row of three was just going to be for my partner and I and BINGO the cabin crew announced
"boarding complete."
We pushed back around 20-30 minuets late, no big deal here! It came in late from Cancun I believe.
So I dread to think how the flight would have felt totally full, I think next time I fly TUI (or if?!) I would be inclined to splash the cash for premium economy. Unfortunately when I booked the holiday there only seemed to be 2-3 premium seats and none together, so economy it was and I paid £21 each for two seats together in a row of 3 by the window.
Do Tui have USB cable ports on their planes?
I was very happy to see a USB cable port on my entertainment system, this meant I didn’t need to worry about my phone battery needing replenishing whilst listening to my audible account.
Plan Your Airport Parking: Booking in advance can make your journey more seamless.
Flying from London Gatwick North Terminal?
Check out this Airport Lounge Review
You also get a pair of headphones that fit into the port and the idea is you keep them for your return journey. After take off, drinks were offered by the cabin crew and again I was pleasantly surprised as I had assumed I'd have to pay for these with a holiday charter airline, but I was wrong! YAY!!
FREE DRINKS! YAY
The Food onboard Tui Airlines
Around 2 hours into the flight dinner was served, It was mushroom provincial pasta and I have to say it wasn’t too bad!
What I did notice as an ex airline employee about the Tui flight review on long haul, so many things had been cut, taken away, cleary in some kind of cost saving objective.
No salt and pepper in the cutlery
No pretzels, snacks served with drinks
No inflight magazine
No starter on the meal tray set up
Crackers and cheeses- no butter
No bread roll
No chick fillet sauce (that ones a joke)
It was just a very basic meal, the minimum, a hot part (what we called a hot bit or entree in airline language), cheese, cracker, plastic fork knife, tiny pudding.
Certainly nothing fancy on TUI! gone are the days of Britannia Royal Service (perhaps your also British and In your 40's and recall this?) Oh the influence of low cost airlines and global economics have resulted in huge consumer shifts since 1990 in the airline industry!
Ugh even the carpets looked really worn! Its sad as this aircraft was delivered in 2019! but looked like a travelodge built in 1997, nothing dreamliner about it!
A few hours later another drinks round was offered, then around 2 hours before landing an egg roll with a chocolate brownie, tea or coffee.
Not the most amazing flight I’ve had, but it got us there safely!
TUI DELAY TIPS
Have you been delayed by TUI? Are you flying with them soon? If you're delayed don't forget to save screen shots of any departure screens, app updated, receipts for expenses, make a note of the times.
You could be owed up to 600 Euros per person!
AirHelp will help you make any claim and make it super easy to get any flight delay money back.
Ok so now for the inbound flight from Aruba to London Gatwick on TUI 787 Dreamliner
Aruba to London Gatwick AUA-LGW
Flight Number: TOM003
Aircraft registration: G- TUIJ (deliveredJun 2016)
Aircraft Name: Pixie Dust
Aircraft typer: 787-900
Flight time: 8 hours 40 MINS
Once again we struck gold and after an anxious wait we had a row of three between us!
On TUI Long Haul flights back to the UK you do get
Fleece blanket (people are feeding back that they don't have any blankets now!)
Cushion
Bottle of water
I had this epic inflatable travel pillow I bought for the flight and I loved it, it really helped me to get a few hours sleep, leaning on it then shifting to relaxing my head on it! Those ones around the neck just don’t do it for me!
TUI 787 LONG HAUL FLIGHT REVIEW GATWICK
It looks strange but worked a treat!
Anyway I will leave a link to it HERE, it was really cheap and you blow it up, so it takes up no room at all if you are trying to travel light.
Entertainment onboard TUI Long Haul flights
I watched a brilliant movie, the selection was quite decent! They also have the moving map, which is always a winner!
I then had a few hours sleep thanks to the pillow above :)
After a drinks service a crew member dropped off my meal before everyone else. I ordered a vegetarian meal, which was really easy to do with Tui, but what a shame, it actually had meat in it! Not great service!
Around an hour and a half before landing the lights were turned on full bright to be given this pathetic excuse for a breakfast, 4 cubes of melon and an orange juice.
Come on TUI this is dire you can do better, how much is a croissant or a danish? My last impression of TUI was this.....
So unfortunately I didn’t eat anything on the flight, the food was not acceptable at all, I got off the flight feeling hangry and tired.
Now luckily I had thought ahead at Aruba airport and bought myself a slice of Margarita pizza although it set me back close to £15!
A few days later I decided to email TUI about the poor catering, do they not know who I am? I have 250 subscribers to my Youtube channel!!! BIG MISTAKE! HUGE… I am a travel blogger hun, an Influencer and they will regret this! HA!!
I got a simple robotic generic response, thanks for your feedback we don’t give a flying f….. and know passengers book holidays based on cost and not wether they get a chunk of melon on the flight home!
to be honest i did put a TikTok out about this which so far 50k plus have viewed so there TUI!!!
Take a look,
Follow me Here on TikTok
The Verdict, Flying Long haul with TUI
I would fly with them again but I would have to fly premium and when you factor in that cost its probably better value to fly with Emirates or Qatar or a full service airline!
Summary
Flights on time
OK entertainment
Lots of room (thanks to a few empty seats)
Dreadful food
OK crew
So that was my experience and Tui flight review on long haul.
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Travel and flight expert Paul has spent over 15 years giving first class service with a London based airline. This travel and flight expert has been crossing the Atlantic sometimes 10 times a month!
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