How did this one slip past us all? I don't recall seeing a deal on here about this. Anyone here take advantage?
http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviation/travellers-snap-up-h…
Travellers snap up half-price business tickets on Singapore Airlines after computer error
meumax on 05/12/2014 - 09:48
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Yep i normally hear about those "deals" on OZB first. :)
Maybe because ozbargainer don't travel on Business class ? :P Otherwise they're not real ozbargainer !
"However, Singapore Airlines has since told travel agents who sold the cheap tickets that they will have to seek the difference between the actual price and what they should have sold for from their customers, or foot the bill themselves."
So not really worth anyone's time to be honest. I doubt FC would foot the bills themselves.
Funny no major media campaign regarding how poor Singapore airlines Customer relations are on this issue
LoL and be assured that if Qantas somehow misses an apple for someone as an special meal, it will make front page of the SMH.
Exactly - everyone talks up Singapore Airlines. But they treat their FF members like crap (eg:no access to the nice lounges unless you book and fly business no matter HOW many other flights you have done) and their customer services off plane is often terrible.
Mind you then there's airlines like United and Air India….
They have two separate lounges in SIN… one for frequent fliers and one for business and first class (and this one is split too). If you're *Gold you get lounge access anyways irrespective of the carrier. So if you're gonna bash an airline, at least do your research…
I've never had any real problem with their customer service personally, but then again, I don't have DYKWIA type of needs.
OzBargainers don't use travel agents maybe?
Bet Gerry snapped them all up :)
$3500 for a ticket to Europe might be a bargain if you are rich enough to pay for business class but I wouldn't pay that much. I could do a lot in Europe with the difference between that and a normal fare so for that I'm willing to put up with economy for what, 14 hours? So no bargain there for me.
It's Singapore Airlines, so $3500 is a bargain - heck, even $6000 (although that is a very, very difficult find, and I'm not sure where the article managed to pull up that price).
But again, it's 'Singapore Airlines', so a mistake like this will never be upheld (only possible exception is ex Europe).
Also, it isn't 14 hours. If you can fly to Europe for 14 hours, I would love to join that airline. You're looking (at best) 21 hours +.
I object to general sentiment here - i am an OzBargainer and i do lots of things on the cheap.
I fly all the bloody time for work in Economy but when i go on a big holiday (using long service) with my wife we do tend to fly business - don't get me wrong, i NEVER pay full price and i often upgrade us from premium economy with points.
Just because you are a tight arse most of the time doesn't mean you can't enjoy some luxury every now and again :)
Stephen
Depends on what rocks your boat, er plane. Plus you have the advantage of points to redeem.
I rather spend the money on some other luxury, that's all. 14 hours in a plane, meh, that's easily forgotten. A great meal, marvellous scenery, or a comfy hotel, now those I'm willing to splash out for.
exactly, splurge on a $1000 per night night room for after the flight and it will be much better than business class for 15 hours or so.
Fair enough. But i am not sure where you're getting 15 hours from - 21 hours is a best case scenario to Europe. And 15 odd hours will only get you to LA from MEL/SYD and then there's the fun of transiting there and getting to another flight.
Also flying takes on a different feeling when you've done it so many times for work, it's just not fun anymore, i get the excitement when it's an unusual thing and i am honestly jealous because i can remember feeling like that.
BTW a true ozbargainer wouldn't use points i guess - they would turn them into gift vouchers and buy other stuff!
Just to put some perspective on what happened here:
Singapore Airlines decided to change one of their booking codes (the single-letter codes used by travel agents/airlines to sell seats) that they had been using for economy seats to now be used for business class seats. Although they notified travel agents about the change they didn't update it correctly in their system which meant that economy class tickets could still be sold using the (now) business class booking codes. If you were booking a flight online with Expedia or other website you would have been shown all of the flights as economy class anyway even though some of them were booked in business class. So basically, people purchased what they thought was a 100% economy class ticket and now that is what they will be receiving. There may have been a couple of exceptions if people were particularly savvy about the booking codes and happened to be looking for flights at that time.
It's pretty crap for the travel agents who, through no fault of their own, are now being held responsible for contacting all of these customers or facing a bill from Singapore Airlines for the difference.
Like i said - Singapore airlines off plane customer service sucks! And their on plane often isn't what it's cracked up to be.
It's the only airlines chat room on the frequent flyer sites with more complaining than the Qantas one which should tell you something!
I deal with a lot of different airlines off-plane customer service and don't really have a problem with Singapore Airlines although I can't really say they were anything more special than every other airline. I have found the service on the planes to be slightly better than other airlines but for me it's not really that big of a deal.
I understand what you mean but it's how they react in a dispute that shows you their true colors. From what i can tell they screwed up and let business class be sold cheaply then came back and said they weren't going to honor the tickets purchased - and that sucks.
I had an issue with a "mis classified" ticket with Qantas (and BA codeshare) and they honored the fare, i had a similar incident with Malaysian Airlines and they honored the fare.
One of my workmates used to fly pretty much exclusively SQ until he had several incidents where they wouldn't honor a fare and were just flat out rude to him. Which is Interesting considering he was Krisflyer Elite Gold - they could at least have said no nicely!
It's the only airlines chat room on the frequent flyer sites with more complaining than the Qantas one which should tell you something!
Hmmm and SouthEastern Siberian Airlines would be the best as there are no discussions on the forums.
Forum traffic means nothing without knowing other statistics… For example, like as in Qantas case, Union campaigns, which adds to their complaints. Mileage travelled, passenger numbers etc etc
Uhhh Rocky i was taking that into account - which you can actually tell from the things i said. I said complaining - not traffic. And those boards are full of frequent flyers, not noobs.
I spent a while reading them when i was debating changing alliances and considering a move to HK/Singapore.
Just to establish credibility when you've racked up 2100 one world status credits (and 50,000 miles in star alliance) in one year flying economy you tend to know your airlines.
Trust me on this - people hate on Singapore Airlines even more than Qantas. Their FF program blocks you from getting to the highest two levels without booked and paid for business class and they upgrade people even LESS than Qantas (and that's saying something maybe 20% of my flights were on Emirates and 10% on Cathay and they BOTH upgraded me more than Qantas over a 2 year period).
And my 2c on the best service airline would be Cathay.
And i am only saying what i think about Singapore because they are the topic of this post. Trust me i have opinions about United and Air India but i won't go there.
@slewis69au: Now adding comments like you have makes it clearer. Thank you for the clarification.
Agree with the Cathay comment.
I used to fly Singapore for business some years ago, and what some people loved I hated. Getting served with the "yes Mr Raccoon" remark very time, while cute and attention to detail, the first time, really got extremely annoying after 15+ hours (LAX to SIN), whereas Cathay they just were there, (faster than Singapore) and unobtrusive.
United - agree also. Air India, haven't had the "pleasure"
We recently had a longish holiday to Europe which incorporated many countries + a cruise. I booked all the flights through Alpha Flight Guru - they were part business class for the short haul ones but the 2 long haul ( 11 hours each ) were in first class - a little o.t.t. for us - we're not that upper class in our demands. However the total price for all the trips were brilliant. The flights went without any hitches + A.F.G. contacted us many times to ensure that we were happy with their service. There is no doubt that we would use this company again. Just a suggestion for you.
Travellers snap up half-price business tickets on Singapore Airlines after computer error
wow, travellers snapped up the tickets. SMH - thanks for pointing out that it was travellers buying airplane tickets to ..um….travel.
glad it wasn't mimes snapping up those tickets. or worse yet, etymologists!!!
Or Broden.
I was wondering the same thing. Although I guess Europe is not a bargain destination? :)