Air Asia Changed Flights On Me

[MaxOz]

I booked some flights with Air Asia a few months ago from Chiang Mai to Singapore. On getting an email from Air Asia advising that the flight time had changed to an hour and half later, I contacted them to say that the time change didn't suit due to an international connection. They first said the best they can do was "you can change within one week of departure only". I stood my ground and they agreed to a credit less 1000THB x 2 passengers. <deleted> I am not cancelling why should I give them 1 THB. After 20 minutes of refusing to give in they offered me a full refund (albeit a credit to use in 3 months). My advice stand your ground with them.

[tonititan]

Interesting - I was in a similar situation a few years ago. Air Asia actually called me to make sure I had gotten their email, and to check whether the new flight time worked. I said no, so they offered me a full refund. I agree though...you deserve a refund if they reschedule the flight to a time that doesn't work for you!

[roamer]

You got lucky. They didn't have to refund you. You ticked that little box that said you accepted their terms and conditions. These are the terms that apply to your situation.

" Cancellation, Changes of Schedules: At any time after a booking has been made we may change our schedules and/or cancel, terminate, divert, postpone reschedule or delay any flight where we reasonably consider this to be justified by circumstances beyond our control or for reasons of safety or commercial reasons. In the event of such flight cancellation, we shall at our option, either:

carry you at the earliest opportunity on another of our scheduled services on which space is available without additional charge and, where necessary, extend the validity of your booking; or

should you choose to travel at another time, retain the value of your fare in a credit account for your future travel provided that you must re-book within three (3) months there from. "

If you have an international connection that is jeopardised by a 90 minute delay count yourself really lucky. I won't even fly AA on the same day as an international connection. Experience has taught me that cancelled flights and flights delayed by several hours are not uncommon on AA.

I appreciate that you ain't going to go through all the conditions before booking a flight, however they do make the point very clearly on all bookings that they are strictly a point to point carrier and if you miss your connection, hard cheese.

If you had chosen to fly on a regular airline and not an LCC then you would have been refunded with no questions. More importantly, if the flight was delayed and you had allowed sufficient time for your connection then reciprocal agreements come into play that will help you make the next flight at no cost. Not so if the cause of your delay was a flight by a point to point carrier.

You pays your money and takes your choice. My own choice is now only to fly AA if the price is a real bargain and/or it ain't going to throw me out if I get somewhere a few hours late or worse.

If I was you I would be counting my blessings. The flight might not have been rescheduled but could have been cancelled on the day (a not infrequent occurrence) or just delayed by a few hours and then you would have missed that connection. Then you would really be cursing AA.

Edited October 6, 2011 by roamer

[Kered]

You got lucky. They didn't have to refund you. You ticked that little box that said you accepted their terms and conditions. These are the terms that apply to your situation.

" Cancellation, Changes of Schedules: At any time after a booking has been made we may change our schedules and/or cancel, terminate, divert, postpone reschedule or delay any flight where we reasonably consider this to be justified by circumstances beyond our control or for reasons of safety or commercial reasons. In the event of such flight cancellation, we shall at our option, either:

carry you at the earliest opportunity on another of our scheduled services on which space is available without additional charge and, where necessary, extend the validity of your booking; or

should you choose to travel at another time, retain the value of your fare in a credit account for your future travel provided that you must re-book within three (3) months there from. "

If you have an international connection that is jeopardised by a 90 minute delay count yourself really lucky. I won't even fly AA on the same day as an international connection. Experience has taught me that cancelled flights and flights delayed by several hours are not uncommon on AA.

I appreciate that you ain't going to go through all the conditions before booking a flight, however they do make the point very clearly on all bookings that they are strictly a point to point carrier and if you miss your connection, hard cheese.

If you had chosen to fly on a regular airline and not an LCC then you would have been refunded with no questions. More importantly, if the flight was delayed and you had allowed sufficient time for your connection then reciprocal agreements come into play that will help you make the next flight at no cost. Not so if the cause of your delay was a flight by a point to point carrier.

You pays your money and takes your choice. My own choice is now only to fly AA if the price is a real bargain and/or it ain't going to throw me out if I get somewhere a few hours late or worse.

If I was you I would be counting my blessings. The flight might not have been rescheduled but could have been cancelled on the day (a not infrequent occurrence) or just delayed by a few hours and then you would have missed that connection. Then you would really be cursing AA.

The relevant statement is:

where we reasonably consider this to be justified by circumstances beyond our control or for reasons of safety or commercial reasons.

I am not sure what a commercial reason is but I have also been affected by this change and I understand that it was a decision to change the schedule from 1st October and I guess that they forgot to update the reservation system. It was not beyond their control and not for safety reasons. I received a message stating that my flight number was also being changed but that was not true, my flight number remained the same.

Fortunately in my case it is merely inconvenient as I have an overnight stay in Singapore. Incidentally the return flight has also been delayed for the same reason.

[grumpyoldman]

Have to agree with Roamer, you choose to fly the budget airlines, you roll the dice a bit. Never book these types of airlines with a tight international connect. Recipe for disaster.

Nok Air story - Bangkok to Phuket, company secretary had booked my reservation months in advance, I get to the counter "sorry sir, the flight is fully booked". GOM response "yes, no problem, you have a reservation from me, so one of those booked seats is mine, you know, ""reserved"" " . "Sorry Sir, you need to wait for next flight". GOM (pretty perturbed at this point) "look, I'm heading for the gate, when I get there you better have a seat for me as I am not waiting two hours for the next flight, I have an appointment in Phuket I need to meet and your scheit company confirmed my seat for THIS flight".

Had to sign a waiver, then they put me in the stews jumpseat in the back of the plane facing the opposite direction. Gotta love the budget airlines !

[PattayaParent]

Interesting - I was in a similar situation a few years ago. Air Asia actually called me to make sure I had gotten their email, and to check whether the new flight time worked. I said no, so they offered me a full refund. I agree though...you deserve a refund if they reschedule the flight to a time that doesn't work for you!

Same with me, they changed the flight timings and offered me a full refund (credit) or a change in date for the flight free of charge so I just went the next day.

[keeniau96]

They changed a flight time for BKK->Hanoi but I had to connect from HKT so very bad. They gave me full credit usable within 1 year. No problem because I fly them often enough.

[impulse]

I like that catch all- "or commercial reasons". That pretty much leaves the door open for whatever reason they decide.

My bet- 4 out of 5 customer service reps would have given you the full credit without hesitation. You got the 5th (or the 4th on a bad day).

Glad it worked out for you.

[lensta]

You got lucky. They didn't have to refund you. You ticked that little box that said you accepted their terms and conditions. These are the terms that apply to your situation.

" Cancellation, Changes of Schedules: At any time after a booking has been made we may change our schedules and/or cancel, terminate, divert, postpone reschedule or delay any flight where we reasonably consider this to be justified by circumstances beyond our control or for reasons of safety or commercial reasons. In the event of such flight cancellation, we shall at our option, either:

carry you at the earliest opportunity on another of our scheduled services on which space is available without additional charge and, where necessary, extend the validity of your booking; or

should you choose to travel at another time, retain the value of your fare in a credit account for your future travel provided that you must re-book within three (3) months there from. "

If you have an international connection that is jeopardised by a 90 minute delay count yourself really lucky. I won't even fly AA on the same day as an international connection. Experience has taught me that cancelled flights and flights delayed by several hours are not uncommon on AA.

I appreciate that you ain't going to go through all the conditions before booking a flight, however they do make the point very clearly on all bookings that they are strictly a point to point carrier and if you miss your connection, hard cheese.

If you had chosen to fly on a regular airline and not an LCC then you would have been refunded with no questions. More importantly, if the flight was delayed and you had allowed sufficient time for your connection then reciprocal agreements come into play that will help you make the next flight at no cost. Not so if the cause of your delay was a flight by a point to point carrier.

You pays your money and takes your choice. My own choice is now only to fly AA if the price is a real bargain and/or it ain't going to throw me out if I get somewhere a few hours late or worse.

If I was you I would be counting my blessings. The flight might not have been rescheduled but could have been cancelled on the day (a not infrequent occurrence) or just delayed by a few hours and then you would have missed that connection. Then you would really be cursing AA.

The relevant statement is:

where we reasonably consider this to be justified by circumstances beyond our control or for reasons of safety or commercial reasons.

I am not sure what a commercial reason is but I have also been affected by this change and I understand that it was a decision to change the schedule from 1st October and I guess that they forgot to update the reservation system. It was not beyond their control and not for safety reasons. I received a message stating that my flight number was also being changed but that was not true, my flight number remained the same.

Fortunately in my case it is merely inconvenient as I have an overnight stay in Singapore. Incidentally the return flight has also been delayed for the same reason.

Commercial Reasons = plane not fully booked

[PattayaParent]

Commercial Reasons = plane not fully booked

A favourite trick of British Airways out of Kuwait and Saudi.

[Gonsalviz]

My advice on AA is to find another airline. The prices are just not worth it. You will never get the ticket for the first quote you see anyhow. More will be added.

[grumpyoldman]

My advice on AA is to find another airline. The prices are just not worth it. You will never get the ticket for the first quote you see anyhow. More will be added.

I'm going to politely disagree here. AA 95% of the time fine, they sometimes get behind on their schedule but otherwise of the 50 or 60 flights I have had with them the past 5 years, no problems.

[PattayaParent]

My advice on AA is to find another airline. The prices are just not worth it. You will never get the ticket for the first quote you see anyhow. More will be added.

So exactly the same as all other airlines then.

[johnlk]

They've just done exactly the same to me for next week, BKK to Ubon.

They sent me a text message, and an e-mail, but they don't give a reason for rescheduling.

Now, instead of a bad enough 12 hour wait after arriving from the UK, I have to wait 24 hours until the new flight time.

It's wrong if my original flight was cancelled just because it wasn't full.

[roamer]

They've just done exactly the same to me for next week, BKK to Ubon.

They sent me a text message, and an e-mail, but they don't give a reason for rescheduling.

Now, instead of a bad enough 12 hour wait after arriving from the UK, I have to wait 24 hours until the new flight time.

It's wrong if my original flight was cancelled just because it wasn't full.

But that is not the reason for the cancellation. With those sort of cancellations (not full) you don't get a text message because you will be in the airport when they decide to cancel. If its a week later then they are rescheduling. Doesn't make it any better I know but also another reminder why you should never rely on AA when you have to make an international connection, even if that is not so in your case.

[grumpyoldman]

They've just done exactly the same to me for next week, BKK to Ubon.

They sent me a text message, and an e-mail, but they don't give a reason for rescheduling.

Now, instead of a bad enough 12 hour wait after arriving from the UK, I have to wait 24 hours until the new flight time.

It's wrong if my original flight was cancelled just because it wasn't full.

Oh no! A mandatory night out in Bangkok, hate when that happens. See you on Cowboy !

[johnlk]

Well, I've just called AirAsia on their UK number (the Thai number kept cutting me off after I pressed the "number 9 for English" option), and the guy first tried to offer me a credit valid for the next 3 months, and for the same flight, ie BKK to Ubon.

I said it was no good, and after a few exchanges he offered a full refund.

He did say it would be made back to the original card that I paid with, and in the next 30 to 60 days, so if he keeps his promise, it will have turned out alright.

I have read several similar threads to this with differing outcomes, so I guess it depends on luck who you talk with if you do need to cancel.

It is a shame how they can cancel flights, without needing to give any reason, and then expect the customer to lose out.

Anyway, I just now need to find an alternative means of getting to Ubon, but I'll do that on another thread.....

Best of luck to anyone else in the same situation.

[Gonsalviz]

My advice on AA is to find another airline. The prices are just not worth it. You will never get the ticket for the first quote you see anyhow. More will be added.

I'm going to politely disagree here. AA 95% of the time fine, they sometimes get behind on their schedule but otherwise of the 50 or 60 flights I have had with them the past 5 years, no problems.

Have they changed the insurance option that is not an option? Have they changed the fee increase if you want to change the flight the same day? Everything you want or need to to do with this airline leads to a price increase.

[Gonsalviz]

Well, I've just called AirAsia on their UK number (the Thai number kept cutting me off after I pressed the "number 9 for English" option), and the guy first tried to offer me a credit valid for the next 3 months, and for the same flight, ie BKK to Ubon.

I said it was no good, and after a few exchanges he offered a full refund.

He did say it would be made back to the original card that I paid with, and in the next 30 to 60 days, so if he keeps his promise, it will have turned out alright.

I have read several similar threads to this with differing outcomes, so I guess it depends on luck who you talk with if you do need to cancel.

It is a shame how they can cancel flights, without needing to give any reason, and then expect the customer to lose out.

Anyway, I just now need to find an alternative means of getting to Ubon, but I'll do that on another thread.....

Best of luck to anyone else in the same situation.

I rest my case. Everything to do with AA is a hassle.

[Thailand]

Very few problems with AA, traveled many times for very low prices.

Also got an email 2 weeks ago cancelling a flight that was meeting an overseas connection on 29th November, pleanty of time to book with another airline and AA have confirmed they are making full refund of the cancelled flight.

OK for me.

[PattayaParent]

My advice on AA is to find another airline. The prices are just not worth it. You will never get the ticket for the first quote you see anyhow. More will be added.

I'm going to politely disagree here. AA 95% of the time fine, they sometimes get behind on their schedule but otherwise of the 50 or 60 flights I have had with them the past 5 years, no problems.

Have they changed the insurance option that is not an option? Have they changed the fee increase if you want to change the flight the same day? Everything you want or need to to do with this airline leads to a price increase.

Never let the facts get in the way of a biased opinion!

[grumpyoldman]

My advice on AA is to find another airline. The prices are just not worth it. You will never get the ticket for the first quote you see anyhow. More will be added.

I'm going to politely disagree here. AA 95% of the time fine, they sometimes get behind on their schedule but otherwise of the 50 or 60 flights I have had with them the past 5 years, no problems.

Have they changed the insurance option that is not an option? Have they changed the fee increase if you want to change the flight the same day? Everything you want or need to to do with this airline leads to a price increase.

Ha, ha, they sucker you into this mate? That's funny, there is a button option to cancel that, sorry you are not able to navigate the site.

Changing flights the same day? I think most if not all airlines will ding you there.

[PattayaParent]

My advice on AA is to find another airline. The prices are just not worth it. You will never get the ticket for the first quote you see anyhow. More will be added.

I'm going to politely disagree here. AA 95% of the time fine, they sometimes get behind on their schedule but otherwise of the 50 or 60 flights I have had with them the past 5 years, no problems.

Have they changed the insurance option that is not an option? Have they changed the fee increase if you want to change the flight the same day? Everything you want or need to to do with this airline leads to a price increase.

Ha, ha, they sucker you into this mate? That's funny, there is a button option to cancel that, sorry you are not able to navigate the site.

Changing flights the same day? I think most if not all airlines will ding you there.

Exactly!!

But if he's happy overpaying to fly on anopther airline then all the more seats available for us!

[johnlk]

I had paid 2114.31 for my cancelled flight with AA, which included a checked-in bag (and no insurance), which is definitely going to be refunded, they've e-mailled be an official refund letter, with a case number so I can keep a check on the progress.

Last night I booked a flight with Thai Airways, which leaves on the same morning, and it has cost 2360 baht.

The only difference with the booking process was that the Thai Airways price was the same throughout the entire process, it didn't increase after every page.

I would have thought a "budget" airline would be much more than about 10% cheaper than others, but obviously not in this case.

[mahksomtum]

Oh yes, Air Asia is wonderful. They will gladly let you change your ticket if you don't want to go swimming in flooded areas. Just pay 1200 baht extra for an 1800 baht ticket, and everyone will be happy, right? How many people read the terms and conditions to find out a seemingly reputable company cares about the money and not about the customer? That's right, it is the customers fault, until they are treated like this and decide not to be a customer anymore. Nok Air has a policy to allow changes without fee for the current flooding situation. Air Asia? They'll stick to policies that let them keep the money today, but no more tomorrow (or ever).