TUI 737-800 Seat Map & Best Seats (2026)

TUI Group operates well over a hundred 737s across five subsidiaries, and the 737-800 is still the backbone of the short and medium-haul fleet. At 189 seats it is a dense cabin with no premium section and no seatback screens, so the only lever you have is where you sit.

There is one genuinely unusual thing about this aircraft, and it costs nothing to exploit. For the first few rows, the right-hand side of the cabin has more legroom than the left, in the same numbered rows, at the same price.

The left/right split: rows 4, 5 and 6

Row 1 exists only on the left-hand side. There is a 1A, a 1B and a 1C, and nothing at all in the D, E and F positions — that is where the three "missing" seats go in a cabin that would otherwise hold 192. The right-hand triple therefore starts one row earlier, at row 2, and the whole D/E/F column sits progressively forward of A/B/C through the front of the cabin.

The slack has to go somewhere, and it goes into legroom on the right:

Row	A / B / C (left)	D / E / F (right)
2	Standard	Bulkhead row — extra legroom
3	Standard	Standard, but 3F has the best window in the front cabin
4	Standard	About 31in — roughly 4cm more
5	Standard	About 31in — roughly 5cm more. The best of the three.
6	Standard; 6A has a misaligned window	6D and 6E still carry about 31in; 6F does too, but its window sits behind the seat
7 onward	Standard	Standard — the two sides have converged

By row 7 the advantage is gone. But rows 4, 5 and 6 on the right-hand side give you nine seats with measurably more room than their neighbours across the aisle, and nothing on the booking page marks them out. 5D, 5E and 5F are the pick, with 5F also getting a well-aligned window.

The exit rows: 14, 15 and 16

The overwing exits sit behind rows 14 and 15, and the three rows involved are priced similarly and are not remotely equal.

Row	Legroom	Recline	Verdict
14 A, B, E, F	Standard	Restricted	The worst seats you can be charged extra for. 14A and 14F also have a misaligned window.
14 C, D	Standard	Full	An ordinary aisle seat
15 A, B, E, F	Extra	Restricted	Fine awake, poor for sleeping
15 C, D	Extra	Full	Excellent aisle seats
16 all six	Extra	Full	The row to buy.

Row 16 is the only row on the aircraft with extra legroom and full recline at all six seats. If a seat fee is going to be paid, this is where it should go.

Windows: this aircraft has a lot of bad ones

The 737-800 window spacing does not line up neatly with a 189-seat pitch, and TUI's layout leaves an unusual number of window seats looking at the wrong thing.

• 11A — no usable window view at all; the window sits well behind the seat.
• 12A and 12F — the window sits forward of the seat, so you lean ahead rather than back.
• 6A, 9A, 9F, 14A, 14F, 17A, 17F, 22A and 22F — window set behind the seat.
• 31A and 31F — misaligned and against the lavatory.

The window seats that do line up properly are 3F, 5F, 10A, 10F, 23A, 23F, 25A and 25F. If the view matters, those are the eight to aim for. (32A and 32F also have good windows, but the whole of row 32 sits against the rear lavatories.)

Seats to avoid

• Rows 31 and 32 — immediately adjacent to the rear lavatories. Every seat in both rows is rated poor, and 32B through 32E back onto the galley as well.
• Row 30 — not against the door but squarely in the queue for it, across all six seats.
• 14A, 14B, 14E and 14F — standard legroom, restricted recline, and a misaligned window at A and F.
• 11A — a window seat with nothing to look at.
• 1A, 1B and 1C if you are noise-sensitive — extra legroom, but a lavatory immediately ahead.

Cabin features

Feature	Detail
Configuration	189 seats, single class, 3-3
Rows	1 to 32; row 1 has only A, B and C
Extra-legroom rows	1 (left), 2 (right), 15 and 16; plus 4, 5 and 6 on the D/E/F side
Restricted recline	14 and 15, at A, B, E and F
Seatback screens	None
Wi-Fi	None recorded on this type
Lavatories	Forward, ahead of row 1; rear, behind row 32
Also flown by	TUI fly Belgium and TUI fly Deutschland, in the same layout

737-800 or 737 MAX 8? It makes no difference to your seat

TUI flies both, both at 189 seats, and the two share an identical cabin layout: the same 32 rows, the same three-seat row 1, the same left/right offset through rows 4 to 6, the same exit rows at 15 and 16, and the same lavatory positions behind row 32. Even the misaligned windows fall in the same places.

That is worth knowing mostly as a relief. Unlike the airline's two Dreamliner variants — where the smaller 787-8 has three rows of 35-inch economy that the 787-9 lacks entirely — there is no short-haul version lottery to worry about. If your aircraft changes from a -800 to a MAX 8 after you have chosen a seat, your seat has not changed.

Quick-pick summary

If you are…	Take
Tall, and not paying a premium	5D, 5E or 5F
Tall, and paying for space	Row 16, any seat
Want to sleep	16A or 16F — space, recline and a wall to lean on
Want the view	5F, 10A, 10F, 23A, 23F, 25A or 25F
A couple	5E+5F, or 25A+25B
A family of three	5D+5E+5F, then 4D+4E+4F
Off the aircraft fastest	2D, then 1C
Paying as little as possible	Rows 18–21 or 26–29 — nothing flagged against any of them

Comparable guides

• TUI 737 MAX 8 seat guide — the same 189-seat cabin on a newer airframe.
• TUI 787-8 seat guide — the long-haul fleet, and where the real TUI version lottery lives.
• Jet2 737-800 seat guide — the closest UK competitor, 189 seats laid out differently.
• Ryanair 737-800 seat guide — 189 seats again, and a much harsher cabin.
• KLM 737-800 seat guide — the same aircraft with a European business cabin.

Frequently asked questions

Which seat has the most legroom on a TUI 737-800 without paying extra?

5D, 5E or 5F. Because row 1 exists only on the left-hand side, the D/E/F column sits forward of A/B/C through the front of the cabin, and rows 4, 5 and 6 on the right end up at about 31 inches against roughly 29 to 30 on the left. Row 5 has the largest margin.

Is TUI extra legroom worth paying for?

Row 16 is — it is the only row with extra space and full recline at all six seats. Row 15 is worth it at 15C and 15D. Row 14 is not: it has standard legroom and a restricted backrest at the window and middle seats.

Why does row 1 only have three seats?

The right-hand side of the forward cabin starts at row 2 to clear the forward galley area, so there is no 1D, 1E or 1F. That is what takes the cabin from 192 to 189 seats, and it is also the reason the two sides of the aircraft are offset from one another for the next few rows.

Does the TUI 737-800 have screens or Wi-Fi?

Neither. There are no seatback screens and no Wi-Fi recorded on the type, so download what you want to watch before you fly and bring a battery pack.

Is the TUI MAX 8 different inside?

No. Both are 189 seats in an identical layout — same rows, same exit rows, same lavatory positions, same window quirks. An aircraft swap between the two does not change your seat.

Which seats should families avoid?

Rows 30, 31 and 32 at the back, which are all affected by the rear lavatories, and the exit rows 14 to 16, where children under the minimum age cannot be seated at all. Rows 18 to 21 and 26 to 29 are the cleanest blocks for a group.