Airline sells £35 window seat . . . without a window

BRITAIN’S biggest travel firm TUI is reviewing its airline seat booking policy after a passenger paid for a window seat that didn’t have a window next to it.

John Heslam, 66, and his wife Annette, 61, from Foxton, Cambridgeshire, had booked a two-week Caribbean cruise in March last year, starting in Barbados.

They’d paid £70 to guarantee seats together on the nine-hour flight from Gatwick and the return trip — £35 each.

John had deliberately chosen a window seat for himself, as he enjoys the view during take-off and landing.

But when the couple boarded, they discovered they were seated in a row on the plane with no window, and so John was sat next to a blank wall. It was the same on the way back. When they got home, the couple complained and asked for a £70 refund to cover the cost of booking the seat, but TUI refused.

John, who used to work in sales, says: ‘It’s so easily avoidable. Just make a note on the seating plan that row 37 doesn’t have a window. Then I could have chosen a different one.’ TUI has since agreed to refund the £ 70 seat booking fee. A spokesman for TUI says: ‘We’d like to thank Mr and Mrs Heslam for bringing this matter to our attention.

‘ In light of this issue, we will be reviewing our booking processes and procedures for customers who wish to select their seats.’