The recent economic downturn, saw an increase in complaints towards budget airlines. Last year, CASE (Singapore) received 281 complaints against airlines, of this, 157 were for low-cost carriers. Most of the complaints were centered around the travelers’ inability to contact the airline, being overcharged, not informed of flight changes, last minute cancellations and refunds being promised but not given.
Recently my brother, decided to book a flight on a budget airline to Thailand. Unfortunately, due to work commitments he had to change the date of the flight. This should not have been a problem as he had adequate time to inform them before a penalty would be imposed. However, no matter how often he called the airline’s hotline, he was unable to reach them. After many a failed attempt, he had no option but to pay the penalty for not informing the airline within the specified number of days about any change in flight details. This would be funny, except for the fact that he was being penalized for the airline’s inefficiency and not his own.
Some folk may argue that this is what one expects with a budget airline. And I do agree with this up to an extent. Yes I do not expect to get an unlimited flow of alcohol on a budget airline, but bottled water would be greatly appreciated. Yes I understand that prettily wrapped hot meals are not practical, but surely a bread roll or two wouldn’t break the bank? I realize that the whole point of a budget airline is to fly at the lowest possible cost, but surely passengers still deserve some form of comfort and courtesy, or is that asking for too much when one travels on a budget carrier?
The horror stories about delayed and cancelled flights, luggage restrictions (more on this another time) make me glad that mobile services such as ArrivedOK exist. With ArrivedOK, my hotel, my host and my family will not panic if they don’t hear from me. I can be rest assured that my host in the country I am heading to, wont have to wait in the airport for a flight that has no intention of arriving, and instead, will only head out to pick me up when he receives my arrival message courtesy from ArrivedOK. This is just one reason, why I am glad such technological innovations exist. Another interesting thing I just discovered is aircomplaints.mobi a nifty service that allows you to rant about bad airline service as soon as the offending action takes place, using your mobile phone.
So the next time you fly, be it on a budget airline or not, register for ArrivedOK and be assured that your family and friends will know when you arrive at your destination.