Those poor girls, now they'll have to get to Bangkok at connection at Phuket.

/bonus points for the above actually being true

Subby, the airline going bankrupt didn't cause these people to miss their flight; the airline's decision not to fly to Darwin anymore did.
Tiger Airways hasn't gone bankrupt.

Sympathizes

A while ago the old Ontario, CA airport was shut down and a new one opened up a few miles down the road. The old airport was used as a remote parking lot for the new one. One day we were waiting out front of the old terminal for the shuttle bus when all of a sudden a guy races in the lot with his car, parks it, runs past us and up to the terminal doors trying to catch his soon to be departing flight. The look on his face was pretty funny when we told him his departing airplane was a few miles down the road. Yah, I guess it was funnier back then. Or maybe not.

Erm, as best I can tell the airline is still in business... they just decided to stop flying that route, and didn't tell the customers that had already bought tickets... from the sounds of their demand for a complaint letter, they don't seem like they feel too obligated to give the customers money back, even though they clearly had no intent on delivering on their end of the deal.

Was the Darwin thing in the headline supposed to be a crack about natural selection? Because even if the airline had gone bankrupt, it wouldn't have caused any inferior humans to die.

Subby is a failure.

"I'm disgusted that an airline would do this to paying customers," Ms Tawagi said. "They have just left us stranded."


Have they NEVER flown before?

It's so nice when airlines do stuff like this and don't bother to tell anyone. Back in the day, my wife was flying between her home and where she went to college for winter break on ATA. The flight home and back was more or less the same thing, there was a layover at Chicago Midway.

Over the month she was at home, ATA stopped service between Midway and the airport by her college. To their credit they booked her a new flight on a different airline. Not to their credit that new flight was at O'Hare and there was only 45 minutes between flights. They also didn't provide transportation between airports, or even provide any information on finding transportation between airports. Not that it would have mattered, it's 38 minutes (says Google maps) between the airports and she had to pick up her checked baggage at Midway and had to go through security again at O'Hare.

Let's look at this rationally, people. They were flying back to Canberra, so aren't they actually better off?

drdingo21: "I'm disgusted that an airline would do this to paying customers," Ms Tawagi said. "They have just left us stranded."


Have they NEVER flown before?

That. And....FTFA:

The girls estimate that the delay has cost about $4000 for new connecting flights - via Singapore and Phuket - international phone calls, accommodation they had already paid for at the resort, accommodation in Darwin and Singapore and travel from Phuket.

Welcome to the world of flight confirmation first girls. And backpacking? OZ and Asia have their own versions of the TSA concerning luggage. Might want to check that too. Make sure your shots are current.

Chinchillazilla: Was the Darwin thing in the headline supposed to be a crack about natural selection? Because even if the airline had gone bankrupt, it wouldn't have caused any inferior humans to die.

I think it was just a crack about the town. I know I wouldn't want to be stranded there.

phalamir fails reading comprehension.

Fuller: I think it was just a crack about the town. I know I wouldn't want to be stranded there.

Oh. Well, now I feel silly. I've never been to Darwin. Does it suck?

Ahhhh Phuket. Let's take a boat.

Phuket!! We'll do it live!!!

FTFA: Thankfully we're not just out of school and a bit ditsy...

** I like how she had to explain that!

** Non sequitur. Ditsy is what ditsy does. Just out of school has little bearing.

** Er. Not confirming your flight. I'll call that ditsy, hon.

//For gawd's sake people it was a joke about Darwin [natural selection] disguised as a joke about the city and yes, it has sweet f@ck all to do with natural selection, but every time something happens within a 200km radius of that city a similar witticism just HAS TO BE MADE.

ah Phuket dude, let's go bowling

Chinchillazilla: Oh. Well, now I feel silly. I've never been to Darwin. Does it suck?

Yeah. I haven't been either, but yeah.

This really shiats me. People book flights with low cost carriers that essentially only offer you the probability of sitting on a seat on the plane with NO extras whatsoever and hundreds of disclaimers about what you don't get plus no refunds etc. Hence the rock-bottom pricing. And if they realise this, that's fine. But then they get shiatty service and the morons turn around and biatch as if they've paid for a full service tickets. No you cheapskate shiatheads, the reason why it's cheap is because it's no frills, no service worth a damn. You damn well got what you paid for.

I used to work for orbitz, until i started hanging up on people because i was too busy posting pictures on fark.

Anyways, I dealt with this stuff pretty often. It was really messed up. If it is possible, I lost a part of my soul doing that job.

Now I work for a random bank (Wells Fargo). I love my job now. Imagine loving working for a bank! Thats how messed up the airline industry is.

I've been to Darwin lots of times (it's a port call for the US Navy and where we were essentially based out of during INTERFET). Nice place, actually. Have a drink at The Vic or Roarke's Drift, have fish and chips at Shenanigans or some lunch at Hog's Breath, go to the mall. Standard small city stuff.

mecaenas: ...it's no frills, no service worth a damn. You damn well got what you paid for...

The No-Frills Section (pops-a-daisy)

mecaenas: This really shiats me. People book flights with low cost carriers that essentially only offer you the probability of sitting on a seat on the plane with NO extras whatsoever and hundreds of disclaimers about what you don't get plus no refunds etc. Hence the rock-bottom pricing. And if they realise this, that's fine. But then they get shiatty service and the morons turn around and biatch as if they've paid for a full service tickets. No you cheapskate shiatheads, the reason why it's cheap is because it's no frills, no service worth a damn. You damn well got what you paid for.

Not really, they paid for a flight on a plane. They didn't get it.

perpetualsecond: Not to their credit that new flight was at O'Hare and there was only 45 minutes between flights. They also didn't provide transportation between airports, or even provide any information on finding transportation between airports. Not that it would have mattered, it's 38 minutes (says Google maps) between the airports and she had to pick up her checked baggage at Midway and had to go through security again at O'Hare.

Yeah, that situation is why Maddox thinks Orbitz blows.

I Am The Egg Matt Drudge Smears Upon His Body: Ontario, CA

Protip: Ontario is a province in Canada with many airports.

Nice try, poser. Try Pearson or Hamilton next time.

vsync: perpetualsecond: Not to their credit that new flight was at O'Hare and there was only 45 minutes between flights. They also didn't provide transportation between airports, or even provide any information on finding transportation between airports. Not that it would have mattered, it's 38 minutes (says Google maps) between the airports and she had to pick up her checked baggage at Midway and had to go through security again at O'Hare.

Yeah, that situation is why Maddox thinks Orbitz blows.

Who cares what Maddox thinks? So he goes on a rant 3-5 times a year. So what?

hyperspacemonkey: Ontatio is also a CITY in CALIFORNIA.

You fail at geography.

ONTARIO

/... and I fail at spellcheck.

Chinchillazilla: Fuller: I think it was just a crack about the town. I know I wouldn't want to be stranded there.

Oh. Well, now I feel silly. I've never been to Darwin. Does it suck?

It was pretty nice when I was there, but that wasn't the rainy season. Small, laid back, quietish. If you like that sorta thing (I do, not a fan of large cities). With a lot of really nice scenery/parks/beaches nearby.

hyperspacemonkey: Protip: Ontario is a province in Canada with many airports.

Nice try, poser. Try Pearson or Hamilton next time.

LOL fail.

mecaenas: You damn well got what you paid for.

You idiot.

hyperspacemonkey: I Am The Egg Matt Drudge Smears Upon His Body: Ontario, CA

Protip: Ontario is a province in Canada with many airports.

Nice try, poser. Try Pearson or Hamilton next time.

Yeah, they never use the same name for multiple locations... FAIL

Try googling a location before jumping on people. Especially one right out side of a frequently used tourist trap that has MANY people flying through.

/apparently the world isn't small enough for you

Dear hyperspacemonkey

Um, I'm not normally one to flame others, but could you please purchase a ticket on Tiger Airways to the county of FAIL.

Thanks

hyperspacemonkey: Protip: Ontario is a province in Canada with many airports.

Nice try, poser. Try Pearson or Hamilton next time.

Yeah, I know what you mean. That's a pet peeve of mine too.

its a wonder these idiotic travellers havent noticed it in the newspapers back in August!!!

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2008/08/01/4904_ntnews.html

$5 says they would of been refunded or emailed by the airline they were just to dumb to realise.

mecaenas: This really shiats me. People book flights with low cost carriers that essentially only offer you the probability of sitting on a seat on the plane with NO extras whatsoever and hundreds of disclaimers about what you don't get plus no refunds etc. Hence the rock-bottom pricing. And if they realise this, that's fine. But then they get shiatty service and the morons turn around and biatch as if they've paid for a full service tickets. No you cheapskate shiatheads, the reason why it's cheap is because it's no frills, no service worth a damn. You damn well got what you paid for.

Not in the US. Nowadays, the "no frills" airlines are the only ones that offer decent service, free baggage checkin, free snacks on flights, etc. Somehow the "full service" airlines nickel and dime you for all of the same services and your ticket is more expensive for the privilege.

/ Southwest ftw

My sympathies are with the group of cutie students stranded in that sweaty shiathole.
Likewise to any tourist lured to the Top End thanks to Baz Luhrmann's misrepresentation of Australia. If you're lucky you'll be killed by a crocodile - if not you'll be killed by a native in a government funded Toyta Landcruiser.

Had a honeymoon flight cancelled as we were in mid air. One connection turned into freaking three with permanently lost luggage, $150 for a 2hour nap in some freaking hotel, $20 ride each way to an airport that I could freaking SEE from the lobby Grrrrrr
and THEN I was violently ill for three days after we got to the resort.

yeah, "I'm a travel agent and everything will be fine", perhaps that was the beginning of the end for that marriage . . .


OTOH I did get to fly Liat WHICH I thought was professional, on time and, interested in my getting there

drdingo21: "I'm disgusted that an airline would do this to paying customers," Ms Tawagi said. "They have just left us stranded."


Have they NEVER flown before?

Frankly I'm surprised Tiger Airlines didn't dispatch a special representative to lose their luggage for them. Quite a bit of restraint on their part.

Leskay: You idiot.

I think you're right, he's an idiot. But if not, it's a brilliant troll, 9/10 at least.

Leskay: mecaenas: You damn well got what you paid for.

You idiot.

Buyer beware. If you get burnt it's your own fault. Every low cost ticket is a gamble that everything will work out fine, and 9 times out of 10 it will be fine. But when it goes to hell, you've got no one to blame but yourself.

If you want better service and some hand-holding by the airline in the event of flight cancellations, pay the full fare on another carrier.

oren0: mecaenas: This really shiats me. People book flights with low cost carriers that essentially only offer you the probability of sitting on a seat on the plane with NO extras whatsoever and hundreds of disclaimers about what you don't get plus no refunds etc. Hence the rock-bottom pricing. And if they realise this, that's fine. But then they get shiatty service and the morons turn around and biatch as if they've paid for a full service tickets. No you cheapskate shiatheads, the reason why it's cheap is because it's no frills, no service worth a damn. You damn well got what you paid for.

Not in the US. Nowadays, the "no frills" airlines are the only ones that offer decent service, free baggage checkin, free snacks on flights, etc. Somehow the "full service" airlines nickel and dime you for all of the same services and your ticket is more expensive for the privilege.

/ Southwest ftw

Tiger is an Asian-based low cost carrier which essentially offers the absolute minimum of everything. You buy a low cost ticket and you take your chances.

No name changes, no stopovers, no pre-flight notifications, no refunds, no check-in baggage (unless you pay extra and even then it's extra for every 5 kg (11 lbs)), they don't guarantee that they'll take your excess baggage you've already paid extra for, they charge a "convenience fee" for online bookings, they charge for food... blahblahblah.

We pretty much have the rock bottom low cost carriers like Tiger and Jetstar, then the middle tier (a mix of both) and then the full service carriers who still do the old school "free" meals, baggage, refunds, etc.

... from the sounds of their demand for a complaint letter, they don't seem like they feel too obligated to give the customers money back, even though they clearly had no intent on delivering on their end of the deal.


Airlines don't sell you airline tickets. They sell LOTTERY tickets. See, that explains why sometimes you buy a ticket months in advance, but when you show up for your flight the airline has filled the seat with another ass.

I was on one of the last flights to Darwin with Tiger so I guess I'm getting a kick out of these replies or something...

Also I went on Tiger to Melbourne once, and the 'you get what you pay for' thing hits home when you're parked in the cargo area of the airport walking down aluminium stairs, and about 100m or so walk to a shed with chicken wire instead of walls, with portable toilets, where you collect your luggage.
I thought it was hilarious.
Seriously though, they're cool. Cheery flight attendants. The seats on jetstar are much nicer though.

I think Tiger will end up losing this one.

They sold a service. They obviously had no intent of actually providing it. That sounds like fraud to me.