We arrived back Friday morning from Malaga after a cancellation from Wednesday morning (43hrs in total). Received e mail from TUI confirming £350 per person compensation and then a separate e mail stating they will also give us a £200 voucher per person if we book a package holiday with them again.
I would personally use TUI again but maybe after the summer when operationally they are hopefully in a better position then,..

A similar situation occurs with fly-cruises. We did one out of Malta during the first 2 weeks of April. The majority of the charters to get people to and from MLA from various points in the UK are operated for P&O Cruises by Tui (although they put us on Jet2 flights to and from BHX)

On 6am departure from BHX it seemed that the people on the Tui charter (which operated at the same time give or take 10 mins) faced a much longer queue for check-in than we did with Jet2. Our flight to MLA was full, with probably half of those onboard going to the ship. On arrival in MLA, several other flights arrived at the same time with pax all going to the ship (I estimate around 2000 people) but the operation was pretty good (with lots of Jet2 and P&O Cruises ground staff at the airport to smooth things along).

The real pinch-point was on return to the UK 2 weeks later. Around a dozen flights (mostly Tui and a few Jet2, Easyjet) all departing back to the UK within a few hours window, and the scene at the departure gates in MLA was chaotic, with people standing, sitting (if they were lucky) and lying around wherever they could. It seemed we were sent to the gate area (which is quite small and could not cope) way too early (well before the i/b aircraft had landed) with the resulting scene bordering on a health and safety concern for an hour or so.

Not sure how to solve this one, the flights have to be timed to get people to and from the ship at the right time (its on a 1 day turnaround in port), but the experience (at the end of a good 2 week holiday) was not good.

My family and I were due to fly to Menorca yesterday morning at 6.10 with TUI on a package holiday originally booked in 2020 and rolled forwards twice. Got to the airport at 3.15 and found I had received an email and a text at 1.45 am telling me that the flight and the whole holiday was cancelled. It says 350€ compensation and £200 TUI voucher per person, plus full refund. It was pretty chaotic in the terminal with very few staff and big queues building at 4.00 am. Ironically I'm still receiving texts and emails welcoming me to the hotel and warning me about the fire alarm test this morning.

And its evolved that way because its the cheapest way of doing it. Which tour operator is going to be brave enough to put stick their neck out and put their prices up for a more staggered process?

Yes, the "if its Wednesday it must be Tenerife" syndrome. It was always going to be like that back in the days when there were just departures on one or two days each week to the principal resorts. Today however the likes of TUI and Jet2, and Condor and Eurowings in Germany are operating daily to many destinations so surely it ought not be beyond with wit of companies, equipped with state of the art IT systems (???) to be more flexible with the IT operations. Of course another issue is that, by and large, working families want to travel some time between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon allowing them to maximise the benefit of the meagre (in UK) annual leave entitlement that most "enjoy", 3 or more days of which they are required to take in that dead period between Christmas and New Year (that was a real pain when I was office based).

We haven't availed ourselves of a package holiday for 20+ years now; and the idea of holidaying with a bunch of Brits frankly doesn't appeal anymore, if indeed it ever really did. Preferably we travel to destinations where Brits are hardly seen but that is a personal choice, and despite the ease of putting a holiday together for ones self these days, it is one that the majority would appear not to want to make.

Wow. TUI seem to have got this badly wrong. The airline MD (really good guy) put out a video yesterday asking for help from all the crews to get through this period. But unless there are people ready to go in the next few weeks it looks like a torrid summer season ahead. The other issue is third party suppliers. A lot of TUI flights are departing uncatered as their supplier has no staff. The same applies to ground handlers. The fact is that people found better jobs with better pay and without all the crap that is involved with working at an airport.

Do Jet2 self-handle at Birmingham, as they do at some other places ? I've previously been struck by their check-in area at Stansted, minimal waiting compared to the chaos all around. Everyone else has likely placed their handling contracts with ... yes, the bottom bidder. 90% checked in within 5 minutes is a given price. 90% checked in within 60 minutes is a discount. Which one does the beancounter want ? Jet2 do it the way that their chairman Philip Meeson wants.

Regarding flights concentrated on a destination day of the week, there is an upside here that with them coming from various UK start points on the same day, you don't need to assign the accommodation to given start points, so it can be used by those from Gatwick one week, Cardiff the next, Newcastle the next, etc.

Jet2 do self-handle at Birmingham, as well as Leeds Bradford, East Midlands, Manchester and Stansted. Their other UK bases are covered by handling agents (don't know which).

You make a very valid point, but 4 years ago I took a 3 day break in Barcelona with the family, we booked flights with a low cost, an apartment in the centre of town booked direct and used public transport, total cost for 2 adults, 2 kids £860, out of interest I looked online to see how much a tour operator would charge, Thomas Cook was £2400 (£599pp)and the accommodation was in a Travelodge. Make of that what you will.

Jet 2 self handle at GLA

No they don't.

It's a bit of a hybrid setup with jet2 branded steps but menzies are the ground handlers

Did a bit of digging on TUI website with regards to my flight (TOM748 BHX - AYT on 3rd June).

When I initially booked the flights some 5 months ago, the only "good daytime" flights to that region were on a Friday, and the same flight from BHX 0600 hours was consistent every Friday throughout Mid May and into July.

I have just checked the booking engine and this Friday's flight (my one) has disappeared, along with all AYT flights on a Friday for TUI.

However.... an extra flight to AYT has appeared on Saturdays, starting next Saturday 14th June departing BHX at 0600 (Exact same time as our Friday flight). This seems to be consistent weekly. When we booked this flight wasnt available.

So, surely that says that TUI have done away with the Friday flights for some unknown reason, and are running them on Saturday's, meaning that our flight this Friday is more than likely going to be cancelled, as surely the following Friday there will be no TUI aircraft to bring us home, as that wouldnt be departing from BHX until the Saturday morning?

Seriously, I dont know why they cant give assurances with only a few days to go. It really disrupts families, especially those with young children by telling them to come to the Airport at Silly O'clock and then sending them home!

Rant over.

mattjwood,

At the cost of an undoubtedly infuriating wait listening to hold music I would suggest that calling TUI for clarification might in the long run be worthwhile, for the sake of your sanity and blood pressure on Friday.

TUI’s timetable shows BHX-AYT weekly on Fridays at 06:00 from 10 June until end of September. Might just be that the flight on 3 June is full hence why it’s not showing? Either way, as suggested, I’d call them as their ops have been pretty chaotic lately so worth attempting to find out.

Yeh but their booking engine doesnt allow you to select BHX - AYT anymore for any friday.

I have spoken with TUI who stated that its still going ahead (Which I guessed they would say that regardless).

PS.... I have been humming that hold music since 9am this morning.

The flight isn’t showing because it’s fully booked. Why do you need assurance, if you haven’t heard anything then the flight is planned to go ahead as scheduled.

Calm down.

Because it’s full. Why would the booking engine allow you to select a flight if there’s no seats left?

I dont think you read my posts properly.... unless you mean that every single Friday flight to AYT throughout the next few months is full? It doesnt show on the website anymore, for any friday.

Edit:

Just checked the website again.... seems as though Friday's have re-appeared on their website!

I checked a random date in August and it was there. A lot of these flights sold out in January/February

Yeh Yesterday none were on the system for Fridays, so fingers crossed now!