Everyone who has traveled by plane has a story about an uncomfortable flight. Maybe the cabin crew were too slow with the free drinks, the in-flight entertainment options were lacking, or there was a disgruntled baby sitting nearby. But for one British family returning from a summer vacation last year, all these minor inconveniences pale in comparison to the nightmare flight they experienced traveling with TUI airlines. Read More: United Airlines paraplegic passenger Ffrced to "scoot down aisle" of plane on his rear end When the Taylor family—from the southern British town of Alcester—boarded a plane to fly them back home from the Spanish island of Menorca in June 2018, they were told they did not have seats, the BBC reported. Paula Taylor, 44, her husband Ian, 55, and their daughter Brooke, 10, had been assigned seat numbers 41 D, E and F, but once onboard could not find their seats. Instead, they said cabin crew offered them flip-up "jump" seats for take-off and landing, leaving the family to slum it on the cabin floor for the duration of the flight. Paula told the BBC that the family had even arrived at Menorca's Mahon airport "three hours early… to check in early just to make sure we got seats together." Speaking to the broadcaster for its Rip-Off Britain: Holidays program, Paula explained that as they boarded the plane, "We went straight to the front and we were very excited by the fact we had managed to sit together." They searched for their seats but to no avail. "We all just looked at each other as if to say 'where's our seats gone?' There are no seats where our seats should be." Cabin crew explained there was only one vacant seat left, and suggested Brooke could use it while her parents sat up front in the flip-up chairs normally only used by crew members. Though they agreed, Paula and Ian were soon asked to move to the floor so staff could access the food and duty-free items stored nearby. They were soon joined by Brooke and even the plane's co-pilot, who Paula said thanked the family for their "cooperation and understanding" in difficult conditions. But despite the efforts of staff to minimize their discomfort, the family still spent the flight on the floor. "It's hard and it's uncomfortable and it's just filthy," Paula recalled. "It's just not an experience I ever want to repeat." TUI told the BBC it had offered the family a $1,667 refund. A spokesperson explained to Newsweek that the mix-up was caused by a "last-minute aircraft change" that meant the seats which family were originally assigned "were unavailable as the alternative aircraft had a different seating configuration." The spokesperson added, "We're also sorry for the way the situation was initially handled and we'll be investigating this. We will also be contacting the customers directly to apologise and will be offering a full refund." But Paula said the company was unhelpful when she first complained, even after she sent them photographic proof of what had happened. Paula said she was only offered a "goodwill gesture" of $38.50 for her family's troubles. The Telegraph explained that the British Civil Aviation Authority is looking into the incident to see whether any flight regulations were breached. The newspaper explained that passengers must not be without a seat during any point of a flight, though they can use cabin crew seating in some situations.<doc-sep>A family was forced to sit on the floor for their entire flight home as the seats they paid for did not exist, they claim. The Taylors forked out £1,300 (AU$2362) on their family holiday to Menorca, but they say they had to spend the two hour flight back on the “filthy” floor. Paula, 44, and husband Ian, 55, were offered “jump” seats by the flight attendants on the TUI flight for takeoff and landing, while daughter Brooke, 10, was given the last spare seat. Paula, from Warwickshire, told BBC One’s Rip-Off Britain , Holidays, said: “It’s hard and it’s uncomfortable and it’s just filthy. “We just couldn’t believe it when we realised that there genuinely weren’t any seats for us.” The family were offered £30 (AU$53) by TUI as a ‘goodwill gesture’ and they offered to refund their tickets. TUI airlines said a ‘last minute aircraft change’ caused the issue. The Civil Aviation Authority said passengers are not allowed to be left unseated at any stage of a flight and they are probing TUI for answers. The family will feature on an upcoming episode of the BBC program Rip-Off Britain: Holidays. This article originally appeared on The Sun and has been republished with permission.<doc-sep>A family on board a TUI flight from the island of Minorca, Spain to Birmingham, England, is claiming they were made to sit on the floor of the plane after paying $1,675 for three seats that did not exist. DELTA AIR LINES PLANE SKIDS OFF TAXIWAY DURING LANDING Passenger Paula Taylor was traveling home with her husband and their 10-year-old daughter back in June after a holiday vacation when they discovered their seats – 41 D, E and F – were not on the plane, BBC reported. "We all just looked at each other as if to say 'Where's our seats gone? '," Taylor said to BBC. INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT MOCKS TERRIBLE AIRPLANE FOOD According to Taylor, after all other passengers had boarded, there was one seat left that was given to her daughter, Brooke. Taylor and her husband were both reportedly given flip-up seats in the crew section of the plane. However, as Taylor told BBC, once the flight started and the attendants needed items stored behind the seats, she and her husband allegedly had to move to the floor. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS The family reportedly alerted TUI about the incident after the flight landed, and were eventually offered about $39 from the airline. The BBC reported that Taylor contacted "Rip Off Britain," a television program dedicated to helping consumers, after TUI would not refund the couple’s fare. After contacting the television show, Taylor said her family was refunded for the full fare of the tickets. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP TUI confirmed the incident to Fox News that a “last-minute aircraft change” was to blame for the missing seats and that the airline offered to rebook the family on another flight, though they refused. The Civil Aviation Authority and TUI is investigating the matter.<doc-sep>A family were forced to sit on the floor of an aeroplane during their flight home from Menorca after being told that their allocated seats did not exist. Paula Taylor, 44, her husband Ian, 55, and their daughter Brooke, 10, from Alcester, Warwickshire, arrived early at Mahon airport in June last year for their flight with TUI airlines. They were given the seat numbers 41 D, E and F, but when they boarded the plane they could not find their seats and cabin crew instead offered them flip-up 'jump' seats tucked into the crew station. They were later forced to the floor because flight attendants needed access to food and duty free items. "We made sure we were three hours early at the airport to check in early just to make sure we got seats together," Mrs Taylor explained to BBC One's Rip-Off Britain: Holidays. "We went straight to the front and we were very excited by the fact we had managed to sit together."<doc-sep>
Three flyers were forced to sit on the floor of a TUI Airlines flight when their assigned seats were missing from the airplane. The German airline said an unscheduled plane change meant the family's assigned seats were missing. The family was seated in jump seats normally reserved for the flight crew, for takeoff and landing. When Paula Taylor and her family boarded their TUI Airways flight home to Birmingham, England from Menorca, Spain, they said they were shocked to find their assigned seats did not exist, according to a BBC report. The three flyers were accommodated in the crew's jump seats during takeoff and landing, the BBC first reported from its show "Rip Off: Britain," but when the flight crew needed the galley space to provide drink service during the flight, there was nowhere for the family to sit except the empty space where their seats should have been. Blaming the incident on a "last minute plane change," the German airline refunded the family's fares and added a 30 pound ($38.19) "goodwill gesture," the BBC reported. "We made sure we were three hours early at the airport to check in early just to make sure we got seats together," Taylor said on the show, which aired Tuesday, per The Telegraph. "We went straight to the front and we were very excited by the fact we had managed to sit together." Britain's Civil Aviation Authority is investigating the incident, according to the BBC. TUI Airways did not immediately respond to a request for comment. TUI operates the roughly 2.5-hour flight between Birmingham, England's third-largest city, to the Spanish holiday island of Menorca on a seasonal basis, from May to October, according to its published schedules.