Our consumer editor Alex McWhirter answers your travel queries.
Simply email editorial@businesstraveller.com. Please note that due to the popularity of Alex's advice, we cannot guarantee a reply to every query.
Online offline 30/06/2009
Dear Alex,
I recently had a difficult experience trying to book online with Turkish Airlines to fly from Hong Kong to Tripoli via Istanbul. After I had made the booking, entered my credit card details and pressed “send”, my computer screen went blank. When I contacted the help desk, I was advised to book again, and yet the same thing happened. I spent a long time on the phone with my bank and the helpdesk to sort out the problem, and in the end was charged another e30 or e40 because the booking had to be processed by Turkish Airlines’ call centre.
I am disappointed by the service I received from a Star Alliance airline. Do you agree?
Simon Tang, Hong Kong
Heathrow-Leeds route cancellation 30/06/2009
Dear Alex,
Last January I booked a £69 Bmi flight between London Heathrow and Leeds to attend a conference on April 27. I was flying into Heathrow that morning from Cairo with British Airways as Bmi’s schedules on this route were inconvenient.
On April 8, Bmi emailed me to say its Heathrow-Leeds route had been cancelled. As an alternative, it would either refund my fare or book me on to its Manchester flight at 1600 (almost three hours later than my original flight) and provide a taxi from there to Leeds.
I pointed out that I would now be arriving five hours later than planned, and asked if Bmi could instead book me on to an earlier British Airways flight to Manchester or pay for me to go London-Leeds by train.
Bmi refused, so I paid £116 for a London-Leeds train ticket, which got me there at 1535. Now Bmi will not refund the cost of my train fare. Is it acting correctly?
Nick McHard, Cairo
Fuel crisis 30/06/2009
Dear Alex,
I recently had to cancel flights from Bermuda to London owing to the sickness of my daughter. I had booked a special online fare with British Airways, which cost only US$10, but after taxes, fees and surcharges, the total came to US$350.
However, the refund that BA came up with was merely US$96. It has kept the US$222 fuel surcharge, saying it is linked to the ticket price and that since the ticket is nonrefundable, the fuel surcharge is also nonrefundable. Are you aware of this?
Harald Schlie, Bermuda
Lost luggage 29/05/2009
Dear Alex,
A friend’s boss travelled with Cebu Pacific [a budget carrier based in the Philippines] for a local scuba-diving holiday. On her flight home, the airline lost her luggage containing the scuba gear. After waiting for more than two months, she still hasn’t heard from the carrier. Thankfully, I’ve never lost anything during my travels and hopefully never will. But what should one do in a situation like this?
Allan Damian, Manila
Charter vs Scheduled 29/05/2009
Dear Alex,
Why is it that Europe, and the UK in particular, is awash with dozens of charter airlines of various sizes while the US has hardly any? USA3000, Omni and Ryan are the only ones I’m aware of and these are very small. Do Europeans and Brits go on holiday more enthusiastically than the Yanks? Or is it down to government regulation or lack thereof?
Rick Sanfilippo, New York
Motor mania 27/04/2009
Dear Alex,
My travel agent booked me out of Muscat with Emirates via Dubai. The itinerary included some codeshare flights with Oman Air that shared Emirates’ flight numbers. However, the Emirates system would not allow the use of Emirates flight numbers, so my agent had to use two tickets.
During the trip I had a nine-hour transit in Dubai and both carriers refused my request for a short hotel stay because I was using separate tickets. What are your views?
Anwaar Farooqi, Muscat
Motor mania 27/04/2009
Dear Alex,
On my next trip I have the status to fly first class with British Airways or Upper Class with Virgin Atlantic, but my junior colleague, who is accompanying me, will be returning in economy class. Would it be possible for him to visit me up front and join me on the “buddy” [ottoman] seat for a short discussion, perhaps before the other passengers fall asleep?
Kevin Rees, London
Motor mania 27/04/2009
Dear Alex,
I’ve often wondered how car hire firms can supply customers with a product worth £12,000 for no more than the price of a good meal in a restaurant. Am I missing something?
John Boyd, London
A taxing problem 25/03/2009
Dear Alex,
My husband and I were flying home to Hong Kong from Paris Charles de Gaulle last October after a business trip to Europe. We were booked economy class with Air France on flight 188, which leaves at 2315.
As we had only hand luggage, we entered the terminal at 2200. We thought this would allow sufficient time, but as we approached the check-in counter we saw a lot of people waiting on the left. It turned out they were on stand-by because, although we didn’t know it at the time, our flight was overbooked.
At the counter, the agent told us there was only one seat left because the flight was full. This news threw us. We pressed for an upgrade because we were rushing back for a meeting and couldn’t afford to wait for Air France’s next flight in 14 hours’ time.
The agent discussed the matter with the other counter staff and started to search for a spare seat. All of a sudden, another member of staff appeared and told us to make up our mind as the flight was about to close. A third staff member then advised us that, instead of arguing our case, we should secure a seat on the following day’s lunchtime flight while there was still availability. The next thing we knew, we had missed the check-in deadline by a couple of minutes.
What is unfair is that not only did we miss our original flight and our meeting, but Air France charged us €300 to rebook our tickets and we had to find a further €80 for a hotel room until the following day’s flight.
When I returned home I took up the matter with Air France, but the airline has not taken our complaint seriously. It says we were at fault because the flight closes one hour before departure and we were too late. Is Air France being unreasonable?
Alice Siu, Hong Kong
A taxing problem 25/03/2009
Dear Alex,
In the old days, when flying from Bangkok, passengers would buy an airport tax voucher from a counter for 500 baht. Today this tax is included in the ticket price, and it seems some carriers have beefed up the price to earn more cash.
When I tried booking a one-way Cathay Pacific flight between Bangkok and Hong Kong the airport tax was 1,185 baht, but when I checked with Thai Airways it was 1,385 baht. Is this correct? How can airlines get away with charging different prices for airport tax?
Ole Olesen, Stockholm
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