Every time I travel from Mexico to Europe I end up choosing the same airline. That’s why after many times of using this airline I want to share my experience and review of TUIfly Belgium.
Pin it for later:
Airline TUIfly Belgium.
First I want to give you some information about this company. It was created in 2003 with the name of Jetair and renamed in 2005 as Jetairfly when it started operations. Its headquarters are in Ostend, and its flight operation center at the Zaventem airport, both in Belgium. It belongs to TUI Group (Touristik Union International) and TUIfly airlines
In 2009 the name of Jetairfly was changed to TUIfly. When I first flew with them in 2013 the flight was still announced as Jetairfly.
Destinations
They have a fleet of 33 aircrafts in service
It offers flights to several important cities in Italy, Poland, Croatia, Greece, Austria, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands. Also, they have many other destinations in France and Spain.
They offer flights to African cities such as Marrakech, Casablanca, Tunisia, and Zanzibar.
In America, destinations such as Miami, Santo Domingo, Varadero in Cuba and Cancun.
On the website TUIfly Belgium you can check the destinations and flights they offer, as well as book your tickets.
Aspects to consider for my review of TUIfly Belgium
The flight I take goes from Cancun to Brussels (Zaventem) and lasts approximately 11 hours. So far I have always bought a return ticket with the same company. For this review of TUIfly Belgium, I am going to break down the aspects to consider.
Services
These are the services offered on the flights I’ve taken. As I mentioned in this review of TUIfly, the flights I take are long-haul flights.
Meals
TUIfly offers onboard free and paid food services. On the 11-hour flight I take, they offer you two meals, a full hot meal and a breakfast type meal. Besides, they continually offer drinks such as water, coffee, tea
The meals are standard. Mostly they serve chicken with some salad or cooked vegetables, pasta or rice and bread. They also serve a small dessert. On my latest flight, they also offered a fish option besides the chicken one.
If you have special dietary needs it’s also possible to reserve a special meal when you buy your flight. They have a vegetarian dish, gluten-free, kosher, for diabetics and for Muslims for a price of €10.
On board, you can buy some snacks and hot meals such as pizzas and lasagna, as well as alcoholic drinks.
Note: On their site, they inform that since April 4, 2019, will no longer be possible to reserve meals in advance.
In this review of TUIfly, I’d say the food is good considering that it’s plane’s food; The taste is ok, it’s not abundant but it’s enough. You can take some dry snacks on board without problems (or at least I have never had them). If you take food, buy it after the security check or make sure that they don’t contain liquids.
Duty Free
It’s also possible to buy duty-free products such as perfumes, watches, wines, cigarettes, and souvenirs from TUIfly. The truth is I don’t use to buy anything on flights, so in this aspect, I can not give you a review of TUIfly products.
Comfort and entertainment
In all the flights that I’ve taken with TUIfly Belgium, they offer entertainment on board with VOD (video on demand) system. These are individual screens where you can choose movies, TV shows, music and games to entertain you.
They also provide you with flight information such as distance, and estimated time of arrival. The airline offers free headphones to use this service. It also has a USB input where you can charge your electronic devices.
The planes on intercontinental flights are large and have 3 rows of 3 seats each. Of course, the most uncomfortable is the one in the middle, and I’ve tried them all. You can book your seat online paying a fee, otherwise, you will be assigned when you check-in. The space for the legs is normal, neither very small nor very wide.
They provide a small pillow and on some flights also blankets. Although to be honest I haven’t been cold on any of the flights, the air con is quite pleasant. I do take a coat and a scarf or pashmina, so I don’t need a blanket.
Lavatories are small like all, clean and correct, with tissue paper, soap, there is not much to add about this.
It might interest you this post 10 reasons to use Booking.com
Other services
TUIfly Belgium also gives you the possibility to do check-in online and book your seat in advance, as I mentioned before.
You can also book an extra comfort service called Fly Deluxe or Premium Club/Deluxe. This costs between €50 and €60 per adult depending on the flight. Some advantages are priority lane, 25 kg checked-in baggage, separated check-in desk, better seats, and high-quality meals.
Punctuality
In my experience, they have always (or almost) departed and arrived on time. Check-in and boarding have been on time, and the takeoff maximal has been delayed 20 minutes. The arrival is often punctual and many times I have arrived before the estimated time.
And I said “almost” because on one occasion it did have a significant delay. It was departing from the airport in Cancun. It was when I arrived at the airport that I found out that the flight had a delay of 3 hours. Then, no way, I had no choice but to wait. I had traveled by bus to Cancun to take that flight and I was very tired and sleepy.
They gave us a coupon to exchange at a restaurant. I don’t remember for which amount it was, but it was not much. I think it was enough for a coffee or something like that (as you know in airports everything is very expensive).
And thank God it was the only time the flight delayed. In my case there were no major complications, I was not in such a hurry and the only negative thing was having to wait for long.
In my latest flight, they changed the departure time, but they notified me a few days before. It was departing at 8 p.m and they reprogrammed it for 11 p.m. So in general, I can say in this review of TUIfly Belgium that their punctuality is satisfactory.
Staff
The staff, both at the time of check-in as on board, is very nice and friendly. They help you with any doubt or need that you have.
The check-in and boarding procedure is simple and fast. In both Brussels and Cancun, the airline’s procedures are fast.
But what takes time, especially in Brussels, is the security check and passports control. In another post, I will give tell you about my experience at the Brussels airport.
Value for money
The price is what gives more points to
The city of Brussels is well connected with the rest of Europe to organize a tour from there. For those of you living in the States, they also have an inexpensive flight from Miami to Brussels.
The prices of flights to the rest of Europe are also quite competitive so it’s also worth considering this airline when traveling in Europe. I have no experience with short flights, but I imagine the quality is just as good.
Check out this post about Pros and cons of traveling around Europe by bus.
Prices for Cancun-Brussels flights in TUIfly Belgium range from €199 to €400 approximately. In high season they tend to be more expensive, but having the flexibility of dates it’s possible to catch very good prices.
Normally my round flight in all this time that I have flown with them has cost me between € 500 and € 750. They used to include 20kg checked baggage, but like many other airlines, now they charge a fee for that.
They include 10kg of hand luggage and checked baggage is charged separately. For long haul flights, they charge € 23 for 20kg of luggage. For short haul flights, they charge €18 if you book in advance. At the airport will be a little more expensive.
Conclusion on the review of TUIfly Belgium
In general, my review of TUIfly Belgium is positive and I had a good experience when flying with them. Above all, as I mentioned, their prices are very convenient for the quality they offer. Although they began to charge the checked luggage, the price of flights has not risen much.
The airplanes look in good condition, offer entertainment and decent food. The staff is friendly and until now I haven’t had major setbacks with this airline, except for the occasion when the flight delayed. My suitcase and luggage have arrived on time and in good conditions.
In conclusion, TUIfly Belgium is a good option for when we are on a budget but we want a decent flight. The only negative is that they don’t have a frequent flyer program.
This is my review of TUIfly Belgium, I hope you find it useful. If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask in the comments section. Also if you’ve already traveled with this airline tell us your experience with them.
I hope you liked this review, if so, help me grow by sharing it with your friends on your favorite social media sites 🙂
As always, thanks for reading and bon voyage!
Featured Image by Mopje18 [CC BY-SA 4.0 de Wikimedia Commons
Note: I want to let you know that I haven’t been paid by the airline or got any compensation so this is an honest review of TUIfly Belgium based only in my experience.
Volerò con tuifly da Bruxelles a Zanzibar, il check-in in aeroporto è a pagamento?
No, check- in is free of charge. You don’t have to pay anything unless you exceed the luggage weight. Buon viaggio!
Gracias por éste post. Estaba indeciso con esta aerolinea ya que causa algo de misterio que esté tan barata; tienes razón, parece que no hay opción más barata que TUI. Me has ayudado a decidirme, gracias!
Hola! Que bueno que te ha ayudado. Es una buena aerolínea, no he tenido problema con ellos excepto un retraso en una ocasión, pero el personal es amable y por lo regular son puntuales. He buscado mucho otras opciones para viajar a Europa desde México y no he encontrado aerolínea más económica y con vuelos directos. Que tengas buen viaje!
We wish you more progress in your projects that you publish on the web pages.
wonderful article