Rebooking Air Asia Flights

[DrDave]

Not seeing any information on Air Asia's website regarding the procedure for re-booking cancelled flights from/to Suvarnabhumi.

I'm currently in the USA, and have an itinerary (purchased Nov 24 - before the airport closure) for a BKK - HKT flight on Dec 1st, which was obviously cancelled. The "Check and Change" page on the website does not allow me to change the flight (probably because the original flight date has passed).

Does the re-booking have to be done over the phone, or at the airport? When re-booking, will I be charged for the difference between the original fare, and the current fare, or will they honor the fare originally paid?

Just asking if anyone has any info, as its difficult to contact them via phone from the US.

[ya5702]

Not seeing any information on Air Asia's website regarding the procedure for re-booking cancelled flights from/to Suvarnabhumi.

I'm currently in the USA, and have an itinerary (purchased Nov 24 - before the airport closure) for a BKK - HKT flight on Dec 1st, which was obviously cancelled. The "Check and Change" page on the website does not allow me to change the flight (probably because the original flight date has passed).

Does the re-booking have to be done over the phone, or at the airport? When re-booking, will I be charged for the difference between the original fare, and the current fare, or will they honor the fare originally paid?

Just asking if anyone has any info, as its difficult to contact them via phone from the US.

I am afraid that you may have missed the boat (oops, the plane)! You should have made the change before the travel date. Changes can be made Online 24 hours prior to the travel date.

[LivinLOS]

Although I have not yet got the actual cheque.. I am getting every indication that AIG seem to be willing to honor thier goinsure packages sold with each flight..

[DrDave]

I am afraid that you may have missed the boat (oops, the plane)! You should have made the change before the travel date. Changes can be made Online 24 hours prior to the travel date.

Right - that's the "normal" policy for making changes online. This is a different situation, I believe, with 100's of flights canceled due to the airport closure. Re-booking in advance of the canceled flight really wasn't a viable option because they didn't know when they would begin service again.

I was thinking (or hoping) that they would have a policy similar to other airlines, in which you have a certain number of days after the canceled flight in order to re-book at the same fare as was originally paid. At the very least, I would hope that they would credit you with the fare paid for the canceled flight when re-booking later.

As we're not able to get through to them on the phone, I was wondering how others have handled their re-bookings.

[thedivezone]

I am afraid that you may have missed the boat (oops, the plane)! You should have made the change before the travel date. Changes can be made Online 24 hours prior to the travel date.

Right - that's the "normal" policy for making changes online. This is a different situation, I believe, with 100's of flights canceled due to the airport closure. Re-booking in advance of the canceled flight really wasn't a viable option because they didn't know when they would begin service again.

I was thinking (or hoping) that they would have a policy similar to other airlines, in which you have a certain number of days after the canceled flight in order to re-book at the same fare as was originally paid. At the very least, I would hope that they would credit you with the fare paid for the canceled flight when re-booking later.

As we're not able to get through to them on the phone, I was wondering how others have handled their re-bookings.

Dave,

i changed my booking by phone several days after my original booking date had passed and it was done witout any surcharge.

They would have refunded also.

Having said that, i did hang in the loop for about half an hour before i got somebody, and making the call at 3 am doesn't help either,

so a bit costly when calling from the States.

I would just walk up to their counter when arriving in Bangers and get my refund, or booking change, there.

Hope that helps

Mike

[horizon]

Does anyone know if Air Asia domestic flights are back on schedule ? (BKK- CNX)

Like everyone else, cannot get through on the phone and there's no info on their website .

Not nearly as grim as the situation for international travellers, of course, but how on earth can one find out what is going on ?

[deptrai]

Would one be able to get a refund at their counter insdie Tesco (On Nut BTS)? I saw a huge line there 2 days ago and wasn't willing to wait.

[maccaroni man]

Does anyone know if Air Asia domestic flights are back on schedule ? (BKK- CNX)

Like everyone else, cannot get through on the phone and there's no info on their website .

Not nearly as grim as the situation for international travellers, of course, but how on earth can one find out what is going on ?

i was due to depart on the 14th dec in the am from bkk and recieved a text yesterday advising me to contact ASIA Air as the flight is cxl. I am not kidding when i tell you this took me more than 2hrs of phone time 1st the lines were busy; this took at least 40 minutes of using three phones calling 3 numbers before i connected to the computer operator. the next 60 min was spent waiting to speak with an agent and the last 10 min. was used with an agent to reschedule the flights, no extra charges but something i would not want to do again any time soon.

[horizon]

i was due to depart on the 14th dec in the am from bkk and recieved a text yesterday advising me to contact ASIA Air as the flight is cxl.

Can I ask your destination, mac. man ?

I am not kidding when i tell you this took me more than 2hrs of phone time 1st the lines were busy; this took at least 40 minutes of using three phones calling 3 numbers before i connected to the computer operator. the next 60 min was spent waiting to speak with an agent and the last 10 min. was used with an agent to reschedule the flights, no extra charges but something i would not want to do again any time soon.

When was the earliest date you could reschedule to ?

Glad you got it sorted out.

I can understand that they cannot employ thousands of extra phone operators, but they could easily put something on their website .

[maccaroni man]

i was due to depart on the 14th dec in the am from bkk and recieved a text yesterday advising me to contact ASIA Air as the flight is cxl.

Can I ask your destination, mac. man ?

I am not kidding when i tell you this took me more than 2hrs of phone time 1st the lines were busy; this took at least 40 minutes of using three phones calling 3 numbers before i connected to the computer operator. the next 60 min was spent waiting to speak with an agent and the last 10 min. was used with an agent to reschedule the flights, no extra charges but something i would not want to do again any time soon.

When was the earliest date you could reschedule to ?

Glad you got it sorted out.

I can understand that they cannot employ thousands of extra phone operators, but they could easily put something on their website .

i had to move my fight to the 13th as they had dropped down to 1 departure per day from 2x my 1st leg of a trip to bali destination is jakarta hence they needed to rebook the connecting flight as well. in the end i get another day in bali so i am happy.

[pichai]

I am afraid that you may have missed the boat (oops, the plane)! You should have made the change before the travel date. Changes can be made Online 24 hours prior to the travel date.

Right - that's the "normal" policy for making changes online. This is a different situation, I believe, with 100's of flights canceled due to the airport closure. Re-booking in advance of the canceled flight really wasn't a viable option because they didn't know when they would begin service again.

I was thinking (or hoping) that they would have a policy similar to other airlines, in which you have a certain number of days after the canceled flight in order to re-book at the same fare as was originally paid. At the very least, I would hope that they would credit you with the fare paid for the canceled flight when re-booking later.

As we're not able to get through to them on the phone, I was wondering how others have handled their re-bookings.

I was caught in the same situation on 26 Nov when I received a text that flights were cancelled. I called many times but to no avail. Got thru on 28 nite the staff said I can keep the tickets for "3 months" to exchange for another date or wait for refund within 30 days, I opted for the refund.

If you plan to travel to Bangkok soon perhaps, you bring along your cancelled ticket and exchange at the airport counter.

[DrDave]

Dave,

i changed my booking by phone several days after my original booking date had passed and it was done witout any surcharge.

They would have refunded also.

Having said that, i did hang in the loop for about half an hour before i got somebody, and making the call at 3 am doesn't help either,

so a bit costly when calling from the States.

I would just walk up to their counter when arriving in Bangers and get my refund, or booking change, there.

Hope that helps

Mike

Thanks Mike, that's exactly the info I was looking for.

I'll take your advice and sort it out once we get to BKK. I think trying to contact the call center from the US would be an exercise in futility.

- DrDave

[horizon]

in the end i get another day in bali so i am happy.

Every cloud has a silver lining ?!

Anyone else booked BKK - CNX or CNX - BKK ?

They must have cancellations (from international tourists) but on the other hand there could still be a backlog.

Also, if anyone has done this trip in the last few days with AirAsia, are they using Suv. airport for it ? (no wish to take a 3 hour bus trip to U-T for a 1 hour flight)

[thedivezone]

I had my original flight booked HKT to BKK on dec 1st, return the next day.

After hanging on the phone for about an hour managed to get it changed to tomorrow,

dec 9th, return on 10th.

Today received SMS that both my flights are cancelled, HKT - BKK at 9:20 and BKK - HKT

at 18:30.

Calling their "helpline" now i can't even get a ringing tone anymore !

Had enough of this and now booking Thai at 1500 Baht more.

[DrDave]

I had my original flight booked HKT to BKK on dec 1st, return the next day.

After hanging on the phone for about an hour managed to get it changed to tomorrow,

dec 9th, return on 10th.

Today received SMS that both my flights are cancelled, HKT - BKK at 9:20 and BKK - HKT

at 18:30.

Calling their "helpline" now i can't even get a ringing tone anymore !

Had enough of this and now booking Thai at 1500 Baht more.

Same for me. I had a change of heart and booked us on a Thai flight Don Mueang to HKT.

Thai allows 20kg/person baggage, as opposed to Air Asia's 15kg. I also get another 20kg free with my Star Alliance gold card, so a total of 60kg free versus 30kg. Important this time, since we'll have about 50kg with us. Saves the hassle of excess baggage charges, and/or sending the excess home to HKT via EMS.

Total cost was only about 1,700 baht more for both of us.

Not looking forward to the hassle of getting the refund from Air Asia though.

[deptrai]

Would one be able to get a refund at their counter insdie Tesco (On Nut BTS)? I saw a huge line there 2 days ago and wasn't willing to wait.

Yes.

I went back to the Air Asia counter inside Tesco and there was no line at all on Tuesday. They processed my refund in less than 2 minutes.

[ozfarang81]

lol horizon, plenty of low cost airlines enforce the check-in time. tiger do it, jetstar do it, easyjet do, ... etc etc. this has been going on for years now with LCC's and if people dont get it by now, then they deserve to have to pay for the flight again. LCC's have less staff working for them, so when the flight closes they finalise the paperwork for the trip, including load/fuel calculations and once its done its done. Latecomers will change all those calculations and require more work! If you arrive 35 mins before a domestic flight at BKK, then you didnt give yourself enough time, too bad!

Air Asia are currently charging 1000 baht for flights in January BKK-HKT, compared to 2670 for thai airways. that fare on thai airways does not allow date changes either! if u want to pay 2970 u can have the ticket that allows date changes on Thai (but it will cost you 500 baht!) so if u pay 2970, then 500 baht to change it your up to 3500 baht already. 3.5x the current Air Asia cheapest ticket prices on the route! and both of those fares no longer earn you frequent flier miles ! (they used to earn 500 miles minimum per domestic sector)

The cost of onboard snacks on Air Asia are actually very reasonable (compared to other LCC's) also. Why don't you just carry a jacket with you when you know you are going to be cold in the airport?

All in all, I'd say Air Asia are a great option for thai domestic flights, save a few thousand baht and spend more at your destination:)

[horizon]

lol horizon, plenty of low cost airlines enforce the check-in time. tiger do it, jetstar do it, easyjet do, ... etc etc. this has been going on for years now with LCC's and if people dont get it by now, then they deserve to have to pay for the flight again. LCC's have less staff working for them, so when the flight closes they finalise the paperwork for the trip, including load/fuel calculations and once its done its done. Latecomers will change all those calculations and require more work! If you arrive 35 mins before a domestic flight at BKK, then you didnt give yourself enough time, too bad!

Air Asia are currently charging 1000 baht for flights in January BKK-HKT, compared to 2670 for thai airways. that fare on thai airways does not allow date changes either! if u want to pay 2970 u can have the ticket that allows date changes on Thai (but it will cost you 500 baht!) so if u pay 2970, then 500 baht to change it your up to 3500 baht already. 3.5x the current Air Asia cheapest ticket prices on the route! and both of those fares no longer earn you frequent flier miles ! (they used to earn 500 miles minimum per domestic sector)

The cost of onboard snacks on Air Asia are actually very reasonable (compared to other LCC's) also. Why don't you just carry a jacket with you when you know you are going to be cold in the airport?

All in all, I'd say Air Asia are a great option for thai domestic flights, save a few thousand baht and spend more at your destination:)

.....

Ozfarang, thanks for your comments and thanks for explaining the rationale.

I was completely unaware that this policy enforcement happened with Air Asia and other "LCC" 's (and clearly quite a few other people were, too). As I said, it has not been my experience/observation with any airline in the past.

Please note that I would have been late for a flight no more than 2 or 3 times in my entire life and then only a little late; mostly due to late arrival of connecting flight. Personally, I prefer to leave plenty of extra time and am usually (and tediously, for me) very early.

I don't care about the snacks. I have not often been extremely cold on a plane and, again, it simply never occurred to me that I'd need to buy a "comfort pack" to keep warm or carry a jacket. I am posting so that others will know, too.

The "service" of the Air Asia staff was really pretty poor, too. Perhaps it was because they have had a bad time recently, but most were barely concentrating on the clients and some were borderline rude. I don't like or expect obsequiousness but I do expect staff to be somewhat alert for at least half the time . That doesn't cost anything. Nor would a few messages on their website to give people some idea of what was going on.

In coming months particularly, further disruptions are quite possible, so keep flexibility in mind when you choose your airline.

[horizon]

Note to Ozfarang and others: this discussion is now continuing in a separate thread titled "Air Asia vs. Thai Air" (or vice-versa !). The moderators created the new thread at my request as my post here was largely off-topic and I thought we might all benefit from a thread discussing the pro's and con's of the various domestic airlines, and our experiences with them.