Item: TUI Dreamliner To Orlando Review - Is It Worth The Compromises?
Rating: 4
Author: MFTUK

This is our review of the TUI flight from England to Orlando on the 787 Dreamliner. We go over the reasons we chose them, why we don't choose them anymore, and the overall flight experience.

TUI used to be our go-to choice for our Walt Disney World trips. That was mainly because they flew from Bristol airport - which is our closest airport as we're situated in the Devon. This was usually offset by the fact TUI flew into Sanford Airport (now Orlando Melbourne International Airport) instead of Orlando International Airport. Some people quite like the fact TUI fly into Melbourne because it's quieter and customs is usually much quicker. The downside is that it's 80 miles from Walt Disney World - for comparison Orlando International Airport (MCO) is 22 miles away. At Melbourne, you're pretty much stuck with the coach service TUI provides or hiring a car. At MCO, you have so many more options including Mears Connect. It's not just the options, after that long flight the last thing I want to do is add another hour of coach or car travel.

The customs argument - while never swayed my opinion - is almost nulled since British Airways and Aer Lingus now fly into MCO's new Terminal C where getting through customs is super fast. Due to TUI flying from an airport close to me, I often overlooked this, but now they've cancelled all their Bristol flights, for me, there's no reason to choose them unless they're discounted in any way. That being said, let's dive into our flight experience.

TUI Flight To Orlando

We flew from Bristol and upgraded to premium economy on the 787 Dreamliner. I'm quite tall at just over 6 foot and had no issue with even the economy leg room. The Dreamliner premium economy legroom was plentiful. However, it's only plentiful if the person in front does not put their seat back, which happened on the way back, which I'll get into shortly.

TUI Seat Back

If you've not experienced the Dreamliner before it offers better air cabin pressure, mood lighting, quieter engines, bigger windows and more. While overall the Dreamliner is better in some regards, it's not perfect. The in-flight entertainment system can be slow at times and there were two other customers in my area who's screens were not working for the first part of the flight. The flight crew had to reset them over 5 times to get them to work - which took an hour.

The flight crew were pleasant and the food was no better or worse than other flight operators. It was a relaxing flight across the Atlantic. When we landed, we got through security pretty quickly, as no other flights were coming in at that time. We grabbed our luggage and headed towards the coaches. We were greeted by a couple of happy American TUI reps and were directed to our coach. About 20 minutes go by and the coach is almost filled up. At that point, nobody else was coming onboard, and the driver was standing outside smoking all the cigarettes he could before the drive. Another 20 minutes go by, and nobody else has come aboard, yet we're still here. It wasn't until an hour had passed (40 minutes after everyone was on board) that a TUI rep arrived. It's things like this where if we were at MCO we'd have been gone by now. When the rep - who was nice and friendly - came on board and started to talk to us about what the journey would entail.

Sadly, the rep had to do some upselling and told us how good Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party is and that we should buy the tickets through TUI. After we got moving, the rep made her way through to see if anyone had any questions to answer privately, which I think is great and should be praised. A lot of people can be uncomfortable about something - especially first-timers - so this is a great way to ask any questions you might have. When she got to us, we didn't have any questions so she asked if were we going to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party, we said no, we went the previous year and said it was way too crowded to fork out another $200. She gave us a sheepish grin. We got dropped off at our hotel and had a magical time!

The TUI Return Flight

TUI now use their app to tell you your return pick-up times, which become available near the end of your stay. We were outside and the coach turned up right on time! The rep on the way back was fantastic. He was happy, cheerful and trying to lift the spirits of all the depressed people heading back to the airport.

The flight back was less pleasant than the flight out there but to no real fault of TUI per se. I've never given it all that much thought because I don't often have anyone put their seat back in front of me, at least not to a point where it bothered me, but it did bother me on the Dreamliner. I have flown with Virgin, British Airways and Aer Lingus and it's never been an issue. While discussions around this topic can get a little heated, I do firmly believe that you have paid for your seat and you are free to put your seat back because it's part of the function of the seat. However, I am a firm believer of don't do what you don't want done to yourself, so I never put my seat all the way back. My issue is the plane seats are designed where the extra money I have paid for premium economy legroom is completely gone when someone puts their seat back, leaving me with little to no room and an uncomfortable flight.

TUI Leg Room

The guy in front fell asleep as the drinks came around, and I asked the flight crew (nicely) if she thought that these seat designs were "acceptable" while paying the extra money for premium economy when that extra room is gone when someone puts their seat down. She replied "It's worse back there" pointing to the economy.

Arriving Home

I did whatever sane Brit would do and complained/gave feedback to TUI when I returned, this standard copy/paste response I received:

We are concerned when a customer has cause to complain and we are sorry that you were disappointed on this occasion. I've taken the opportunity to read through your complaint and have noted all the points you have raised.

I am sorry to read that you found the flight seats not up to your standard. I am sorry for the inconvenience caused to you on this occasion. I would like to inform you that aircraft may change due to unforeseen circumstances which leads to changes in the seating arrangements as well as the seats may vary from one aircraft to the other. Please be assured that I am sharing your feedback with relevant team for future improvements to be made.

We take customer feedback very seriously and use all of the comments we receive to actively improve the service we offer on future holidays. I do hope that despite your experience on this occasion you will not be deterred from considering TUI when making future travel plans.

I can fully understand that you've felt disappointed on this occasion, and would like to reassure you that all customer feedback we receive is monitored and shared with our relevant teams, both overseas and in the UK, for considerations and improvements to be made.

Finally, may I thank you once more for getting in touch and for sharing your experience with us. I do hope you will still consider TUI when making future travel arrangements so we have the opportunity to restore your faith in us once more.

TUI Experience Conclusion

With TUI no longer flying from Bristol or to Sanford (which wasn't too bad), the room you lose when the person in front puts their seat back (even in premium economy seats) just doesn't get me excited to fly with TUI. While I love the Dreamliner plane, there's not much that TUI offer that negates the negatives. While I wouldn't say TUI are bad, if you have booked a Walt Disney World TUI package for a good price then you've got nothing to worry about. I would just personally choose to fly into Orlando International Airport if I have to drive all the way to London or Manchester anyway. While we have no desire to personally fly with TUI again for all the reasons listed above, we might give them a shot in the future to update this review for a more up-to-date take on things are going now.

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Our other UK to Orlando Airline Reviews

TUI Dreamliner To Orlando Review - Is It Worth The Compromises?

We booked a TUI package and flew with TUI on their Dreamliner plane to Orlando, here's our review.

TUI Flight To Orlando

The TUI Return Flight

Arriving Home

TUI Experience Conclusion