lyndylou63 Posted March 4, 2019 #1 Share Posted March 4, 2019 I am going on a carribean cruise in December. At the moment we are booked on the Dreamliner. I have never been on this plane before so I was wondering where the disability seats are in relation to the toilets. I have always gone with Thomas cook but there disability toilets are at the back of the plane yet the disability seats are at the front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbug123 Posted March 4, 2019 #2 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Two comments... First, what exactly do you mean by "disability seats?" I've never flown Thomas Cook so maybe they have some kind of seat I'm not familiar with. Airlines sometimes have a section of the economy cabin (Delta's Comfort+ section for example) that has extra legroom. These seats cost a. bit extra and anyone can book them. Otherwise, there are bulkhead seats that often have extra legroom and are sometimes held back to be assigned to passengers who need them for one reason or another. (having a service animal, for example). But personally I'm not aware of a seat designated as a "disability seat" and/or what features it has that a regular seat doesn't. Second, all Dreamliners are not the same. As with any aircraft, each airline specifies to Boeing what kind of seating configuration etc. they want when they place their order for aircraft. They can choose whether or not to have a particular cabin of service, what style seats, how many seats in each cabin or row, etc. One would need to know what airline you are booked on to let you know exactly where the lavatories are, and where any "disability seats" are if such a thing exists on that airline. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6rugrats Posted March 4, 2019 #3 Share Posted March 4, 2019 (edited) You’re on TUI I’m assuming. Here’s a link from TripAdvisor.com. If you don’t find an answer, send a private message to Angelina52 on TripAdvisor. She’s the expert on all things TUI. https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1-i10702-k9778400-Wheelchair_access_on_Dreamliner_disabled_toilets-Air_Travel.html link to send Angie a message https://www.tripadvisor.com/Profile/Angelina52?tab=forum&fid=9ef4ce36-14de-441e-b175-66fa789932ae Edited March 4, 2019 by 6rugrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyndylou63 Posted March 4, 2019 Author #4 Share Posted March 4, 2019 The first three rows of the aircraft are usually reserved for passengers with mobility issues like myself. Yes it is the Tui Dreamliner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbug123 Posted March 5, 2019 #5 Share Posted March 5, 2019 23 hours ago, lyndylou63 said: The first three rows of the aircraft are usually reserved for passengers with mobility issues like myself. Yes it is the Tui Dreamliner. Wow, that must be something unique to Thomas Cook, which you said you normally fly. It is not standard for all airlines to reserve the first three rows of the plane, or even the first three rows of a particular cabin, for mobility-impaired passengers. Sometimes some bulkhead seats are not available to be assigned in advance, but certainly not three entire rows. On some aircraft, that would be over half of the first class cabin! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyndylou63 Posted March 5, 2019 Author #6 Share Posted March 5, 2019 The seats are the first few rows in economy . Obviously they are not going to give me a free seat in first class. All disability passengers have to notify the booking agent with any motability issues. I have to fill in a questionnaire from p and o who then pass it on to the relevant people to make sure I receive the help I need. unless you know someone with a disability you would not have come across this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klfrodo Posted March 5, 2019 #7 Share Posted March 5, 2019 2 hours ago, waterbug123 said: Wow, that must be something unique to Thomas Cook, which you said you normally fly. It is not standard for all airlines to reserve the first three rows of the plane, or even the first three rows of a particular cabin, for mobility-impaired passengers. Sometimes some bulkhead seats are not available to be assigned in advance, but certainly not three entire rows. On some aircraft, that would be over half of the first class cabin! Alaska Airlines has a couple of seats that are reserved for those with disabilities. 6C and D come to mind. When you are placing your booking and it comes to choosing seats, these seats have the wheelchair on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbug123 Posted March 5, 2019 #8 Share Posted March 5, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, klfrodo said: Alaska Airlines has a couple of seats that are reserved for those with disabilities. 6C and D come to mind. When you are placing your booking and it comes to choosing seats, these seats have the wheelchair on them. That makes sense. But a couple of seats is very different from expecting or thinking three entire rows will be blocked as a standard across airlines. Edited March 5, 2019 by waterbug123 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyndylou63 Posted March 6, 2019 Author #9 Share Posted March 6, 2019 There may be only a couple of disability travellers booked on a flight.once the flight plan is available the disability and those booked extra legroom will be allocated. Then obviously the rest of the seats will be open to all passengers. i have only ever flown with Thomson or Thomas cook and both these do have seats blocked out . I do not see what the problem is with about how many rows are reserved. They get used in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbug123 Posted March 6, 2019 #10 Share Posted March 6, 2019 49 minutes ago, lyndylou63 said: There may be only a couple of disability travellers booked on a flight.once the flight plan is available the disability and those booked extra legroom will be allocated. Then obviously the rest of the seats will be open to all passengers. i have only ever flown with Thomson or Thomas cook and both these do have seats blocked out . I do not see what the problem is with about how many rows are reserved. They get used in the end. I didn't say it's a problem, per se, but if an airline blocks the first three rows in advance, only to assign them closer to the flight date to pax who bought tickets that don't come with advance seat selection, that's potentially a lot of lost revenue. It sounds like blocking that many may be unique to a couple of airlines. I don't doubt airlines block a couple of seats, (I mentioned that in my very first reply, re: bulkhead seats), I'm just surprised that any airline would block three entire rows because that's a lot of seats, and blocking that number doesn't appear to be an industry standard. I just looked at a Delta flight for next Jan, for example, since the booking window just opened for those dates, and exactly 2 bulkhead seats appear to be blocked. I suspect that's much more typical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2BACRUISER Posted April 8, 2019 #11 Share Posted April 8, 2019 Waterbug Tui and Thomas cook are European airlines that predominantly fly charter flights for people on their package holidays. The OP will be going on a Tui flight that is chartered to her cruise company so it's not unusual to have 3 rows for special needs customers as it's easier to get them in thro the front doors of the aircraft. They'll nearly all be flying the same class with a few premium seats that have extra leg room etc. Hth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbug123 Posted April 9, 2019 #12 Share Posted April 9, 2019 On 4/8/2019 at 9:47 AM, 2BACRUISER said: Waterbug Tui and Thomas cook are European airlines that predominantly fly charter flights for people on their package holidays. The OP will be going on a Tui flight that is chartered to her cruise company so it's not unusual to have 3 rows for special needs customers as it's easier to get them in thro the front doors of the aircraft. They'll nearly all be flying the same class with a few premium seats that have extra leg room etc. Hth So I was correct in that this is not typical of most airlines but seems to be unique in this case due to these being charter flights. I think we can move on now. 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klfrodo Posted April 10, 2019 #13 Share Posted April 10, 2019 7 hours ago, waterbug123 said: So I was correct in that this is not typical of most airlines but seems to be unique in this case due to these being charter flights. I think we can move on now. 🙂 More like Thank you for educating me on this. I wasn’t aware. I was mistaken earlier and now I know better. NOW, we can move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbug123 Posted April 10, 2019 #14 Share Posted April 10, 2019 7 hours ago, klfrodo said: More like Thank you for educating me on this. I wasn’t aware. I was mistaken earlier and now I know better. NOW, we can move on. My apologies. I acknowledged in my first reply that such airlines may have seating arrangements I wasn't aware of; thank you to BAcruiser for filling in the details. While I don't fly those two particular airlines, I'm sure the information will be helpful to others so I do appreciate him/her providing it. My main point earlier had simply been that the OP seemed to imply that perhaps that was an industry standard and it's not; I didn't want less experienced travelers to think it was. It was unclear if she was referring to a particular airline as she hadn't mentioned one at that point. (she subsequently did) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawaiidan Posted April 22, 2019 #15 Share Posted April 22, 2019 On 3/4/2019 at 4:17 AM, lyndylou63 said: The first three rows of the aircraft are usually reserved for passengers with mobility issues like myself. Yes it is the Tui Dreamliner. Caution...This is maybe for what ever carrier "Tui "???? is ( never heard of it) On all carriers the first 6 to 12 rows are designated premium economy and are an extra cost Disabled will have to pay like anyone.... Dont think there is an industry wide policy for disabled. Many times the sit in the back of the plane by the bathrooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FlyerTalker Posted April 22, 2019 #16 Share Posted April 22, 2019 1 hour ago, Hawaiidan said: Caution...This is maybe for what ever carrier "Tui "???? is ( never heard of it) On all carriers the first 6 to 12 rows are designated premium economy and are an extra cost Disabled will have to pay like anyone.... Dont think there is an industry wide policy for disabled. Many times the sit in the back of the plane by the bathrooms. No. No. No. First off, every single airline configures their aircraft according to their own specification. Next, there are many airlines that do not have "premium economy". Nor the oft-confused marketing variants of an "economy plus" type seating. Finally, extra costs for particular seating is again at the individual airline's choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawaiidan Posted April 22, 2019 #17 Share Posted April 22, 2019 14 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said: No. No. No. First off, every single airline configures their aircraft according to their own specification. Next, there are many airlines that do not have "premium economy". Nor the oft-confused marketing variants of an "economy plus" type seating. Finally, extra costs for particular seating is again at the individual airline's choice. Thought I covered that in" This is not industry wide" I said just what you said, but differently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted April 22, 2019 #18 Share Posted April 22, 2019 3 hours ago, Hawaiidan said: Thought I covered that in" This is not industry wide" I said just what you said, but differently Your post reads a bit like "All cars are made by Rolls-Royce, although this is not true of every car". Anyway, if you've never heard of TUI, then perhaps you might like to read up a bit about the largest leisure, travel and tourism company in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawaiidan Posted April 23, 2019 #19 Share Posted April 23, 2019 6 hours ago, Globaliser said: Your post reads a bit like "All cars are made by Rolls-Royce, although this is not true of every car". Anyway, if you've never heard of TUI, then perhaps you might like to read up a bit about the largest leisure, travel and tourism company in the world. 6 hours ago, Globaliser said: Your post reads a bit like "All cars are made by Rolls-Royce, although this is not true of every car". Anyway, if you've never heard of TUI, then perhaps you might like to read up a bit about the largest leisure, travel and tourism company in the world. I reiterate... reserving in the first three rows for disability is not industry wide... and something you can count on.. AA/One world/ Star Alliance, are all a bit larger by the way I am sure it is a big deal in UK for UK customers. Thats fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globaliser Posted April 23, 2019 #20 Share Posted April 23, 2019 15 hours ago, Hawaiidan said: On all carriers the first 6 to 12 rows are designated premium economy and are an extra cost Disabled will have to pay like anyone.... Dont think there is an industry wide policy for disabled. 4 hours ago, Hawaiidan said: I reiterate... reserving in the first three rows for disability is not industry wide... But you did say that "On all carriers the first 6 to 12 rows are designated premium economy". Perhaps you can help us with whether your "not industry wide" qualification is intended to cover the "On all carriers" sentence? Is that supposed to mean that the first rows are premium economy on all airlines, except not on every airline? Or did you really mean to assert that the first rows are premium economy on every single airline? And if so, what about those airlines that simply don't have premium economy of any kind, or any extra-legroom seats at the front of the aircraft? What about those airlines whose first few rows are first class or business class? Anyway, I'm sure that if you were asking about a flight on American Airlines, you'd be very happy to be advised by someone who claimed that they'd never heard of American Airlines. Which is the equivalent of what you were offering to the OP, someone in the UK who's flying on a TUI aircraft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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