THE LOWDOWN ON FLYING BUDGET AIRLINES

Image of Eeyore. Photo Credit

This is an account of a personal experience with a budget airline and does not in any way intended to put some other budget airlines in a bad light. As with all experiences (traveling or not), there are lessons that can be learned, both ways - I always hope.

Every year, my sister and her family come to visit us in Singapore - this is more or less a trade off for my mom, who stays with us, to take a break for a month and go back to Manila. They have been doing this for almost four (4) years and thankfully, without any problems. That is, until this year.

Like in their previous trips, I am always in charge of finding the cheapest available flight and eventually book them using my personal card. And if we talk about travel with a party of three or more, the cheapest would be to go and book a budget airline. For the last four years, they have flown via Cebu Pacific, Tiger and Jet Star. And as I've said, we had no major problems until this last recent trip.

A "physical" credit card image. Photo Credit

Perhaps it was my mistake not to read the fine prints (who does, right?) - in any case, I had sent them a scanned copy of the credit card I used to book the flight because in their previous flights, airlines at check-in normally request for it. My sister and her family were bound to fly to Singapore from Manila on a Tuesday. One good thing was that they were early at the airport - their flight was at 8:45 in the evening. While cuing up at the counter, they were asked to "physically present" the credit card that was used to purchase the flight. To their defense, they showed a scanned copy of my credit card but to their dismay this was not accepted and were told that this is a new airline ruling which was only implemented late last year. They were even asked to verify certain information about me (where do I work, where do I stay in Singapore, etc. - as if I was doing something illegal). Forgive my arrogance for saying this, I do understand certain procedures, but when asked in a rude way, then it is a totally different story. They were not offered any alternative except to pay the same flight in cold CASH, otherwise, they will not be allowed to enter Singapore OR the credit card owner needs to run all the way to the airport to show and have the credit card at their counter before the close of the check-in. 

It was fortunate that I came early from work that day and had no other important appointments, otherwise we will all be caught surprised of not seeing my sister and her family arrive. And so, I rushed to the airport just to physically present my credit card at the airport counter in Singapore - again, I do not know if "customer service" is part of their training but for some obvious reasons, the same people were also rude and unhelpful. Without even looking at your face, they just got my card and confirmed that it was okay and that's it. When I asked where I could lodge a complaint, they just handed a piece a paper. When I was there, another couple was there doing the same. Apparently, a lot of people were not able to get into the flight because of this so called "ruling". I only left the airport when I was assured that my sister and her family were able to check in.

The day after, I called the numbers that were given to me to lodge the complaint - again, for some reason any of the numbers I called didn't work. I had to go to their website and just sent them an email regarding my concern and experience. There was a note after that the airline will respond in 15 days - and so after 10 days, I got a call. I re-told the same story, while the guy on the other line was more apologetic - I still asked them that perhaps, they should review their rulings. While I understand there are a lot of fraudulent card charges and the airline is protecting themselves from possible thieves, the convenience is just one way. There are no other alternatives being offered - for example, what if the rightful credit card owner is traveling, on an emergency, sick or hospitalized, in another important meeting, etc. The other problem is that you only have two (2) options to have the card verified. Either you go to Manila airport (or the MIESCOR) office OR at the Changi airport where they have a customer service counter. How convenient is that? There was no OTHER alternative being offered. Not even documents that you can provide to show proof of relationship with traveling parties. 

I did hope with the conversation that I had with the customer service and the bad experience we had, these suggestions will be taken into consideration. With this "bad" experience, I was offered SGD 50 travel voucher to be used on any of their flights - thanks but no thanks! Again, forgive the arrogance but I will be more than happy instead if my suggestions will be taken into consideration rather than compensate me for it. The customer service did promised to raise the concerns to upper management as the conversation we had was recorded.

I felt some relief after the call but then again, it made me think twice of recommending this budget airline to anyone at all. 

Later on, after telling my colleagues about the incident, I was told that this "ruling" pertains only to Manila-Singapore flights (how discriminating could that be?). Again, this just re-confirmed my promised to myself not to have any of my family or myself use this particular airline. I will leave it up to you dear readers to decide. Again, for those of you who are flying budget airlines, some precautions:

(1) If you booked your own flight using your own credit card, be sure to have it with you when you fly.

(2) If you are not one of the traveling parties but have used your credit card to book the flight, check the fine prints in the itinerary - you will never know what new rule is written there!

(3) Think twice about booking a budget airline. Cheaper flights equals cheaper, low quality service.

(4) Keep calm but do not hesitate to stand your guard and express your rights as the customer.

You will always have our support on this one. How about you? Any experience with budget airlines, bad or otherwise? Do not hesitate to leave your comments below.