What to Do Where Thai Airways Is Likely to Ruin Our Trip

Sshanaz on 20/03/2019 - 21:48

We booked a ticket back in December to fly with Thai Airways to Lahore to attend a wedding. We were quite excited as haven't attended family wedding for over 10 years. Fast forward the tension started between India and Pakistan and the airspace is currently closed.

Thai Airways cancelled flights from late Feb and they are yet to resume. A significant number of people have impacted where they are either stuck in Bangkok or just had to cancel the whole trip. I spoke with insurance providor and apparently the cancellation due to war is not covered by Allianz. We are now stuck and only following options are available.

1) Take a flight to Karachi and then get local flights to Lahore. This cost more than $1200 in return fare and Thai Airways or insurance won't cover it. Another problem is the flights to Karachi are also randomly being cancelled by Thai Airways. People who did this step and reached Lahore are also stuck because local Thai office is not providing dates around their Karachi to Bangkok flight.

2) Once flight is cancelled then apply for a refund and fly with another airline. Apparently all middle eastern are flying to Lahore because they take different route however the fare is more than $8k which is almost double of what we paid for Thai Airways.

This is very poor service from Thai Airways where they could have flown an extra 1.5 hours from Karachi to Lahore but they don't care.

Is there any solution which provides win/win situation as can't afford $8k on fares and we definitely want to attend this wedding.

TDLR: Thai Airways is not willing to fly extra miles and flights are being cancelled. What is the best way to approach this situation?

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Comments

  • altomic on 20/03/2019 - 21:57
    +9

    take another airline and move on.

    thai air aren't flying to Lahore. change carrier.

    even this post is too much.

    make other arrangements.

    what are you expecting? someone from thai airways to see this post and suddenly go "shit! we really should be flying to Lahore -despite the fact that there are mounting tenisons between 2 nations that hold large arsenals of weapons, and have been hostile to each other for the last 50 years, and let's forget the flights the have been shot down by countries in hostilities - e.g. MH17"

    get a flight to new delhi and then a bus or train or private car.

    bus takes 8 hours and costs ~$25

  • mskeggs on 20/03/2019 - 22:05
    +11

    I’m sympathetic to your plight, but it doesn’t really seem to be Thai airways fault that India and Pakistan are trading blows.
    Will Thai give you a refund?
    Skyscanner suggests Karachi to Lahore flights are around $350, so maybe look at alternatives for that part if you can get to Karachi on Thai. It also suggests Emirates flights to Karachi are reasonable.

  • qwerty on 20/03/2019 - 22:14
    +3

    You do know that thai airlines cant just change the flight path to travel over other countries/areas without permissions and that takes time and money .

  • [Deactivated] on 20/03/2019 - 22:16

    My sympathies for your complication, but not the airline's fault.

  • battler on 20/03/2019 - 22:45
    +8

    Reported for incorrect title:

    What to do where Thai Airways India / Pakistan tension Is Likely to Ruin Our Trip

  • p1 ama on 20/03/2019 - 23:43

    How is it Thai Airway's fault that India and Pakistan have decided to take it out of the cricket arena? If anything, blame the governments of said countries for the constant aggression towards each other that only serves to hurt their own people.

  • Almost Banned on 21/03/2019 - 01:01
    +1

    Would you rather they fly through a war zone?
    Imagine how your holiday might turn out then.
    Which would be worse?

    • FW190 on 21/03/2019 - 01:44

      exactly, why the hell the OP want to fly through a (potential) warzone just to save a few bucks/hours is beyond me.

      Maybe OP should look up what happened to flight MH17.

  • mariosensei on 21/03/2019 - 03:05

    Most major airlines are suspending that route. If they continue with the flights and 1 plane was shot down, the payout and the losses will be much more than the profit they make for those route and not to mention the PR damage.

    Imagine this, what if hypothetically the flights go on as scheduled and something really bad happened to one of them? Would you blame them for not suspending the flight?

    Understand that the trip means a lot to you. Unfortunately, act of war is not covered by major travel insurance and in the airline T&C's, they can alter flight time as they see fit.

  • dailynotsomail on 21/03/2019 - 04:37

    it sucks

    pay more and find alternative or cut your losses now and abandon the idea of going to the wedding

    not sure how posting here will help you

  • Lunarboogie on 21/03/2019 - 07:22

    To be fair to the OP, there is no war and Thai Airways are being overly cautious in not resuming flights to PK. Yes, there were tensions and air raids conducted on either side of the LOC but that was 4 weeks ago and tensions have de-escalated considerably since. Other carriers have resumed services, including Emirates (whom service Afghanistan and continue to).

    That said, the OP's figure of 8k is BS. Just pay for an economy flight to Amritsar and cross at Waga. Proximity to the Golden Temple may even soothe your frayed nerves.

  • JimmyF on 21/03/2019 - 07:43
    -1

    Thai Airways Is Likely to Ruin Our Trip

    Ummm

    spoke with insurance providor and apparently the cancellation due to war is not covered by Allianz

    Yeah it was 'Thai Airways' that ruined your trip, nothing to do with a way going on!

    We are now stuck and only following options are available.

    Ok thne pick one and move on.

    Seriously Thai airways needs to focus on what is safe for everyone.

  • brad1-8tsi on 21/03/2019 - 08:00
    +1

    One thing not clear in your post:

    If Thai are cancelling flights are they giving a refund?

    Is Thai allowing you to cancel and obtain a refund within a reasonable time frame?

    If so then cancel it and buy some more reliable tickets. The reduced stress is worth the extra cost.

    • Sshanaz on 21/03/2019 - 08:59

      They will only initiate refund process after departure date and could take 4 to 6 weeks.

  • Randxyz123 on 21/03/2019 - 09:27

    First of all, Thai airways isn’t “ruining your holiday” it’s the tension going on in that part of the world. No one wants a repeat of MH17…

    I spoke with insurance providor and apparently the cancellation due to war is not covered by Allianz.

    I’d argue this isn’t war though, it’s just tensions. What exactly does the PDS say about cancellations ?

    Will Thai give you a refund ?

    This is very poor service from Thai Airways where they could have flown an extra 1.5 hours from Karachi to Lahore but they don't care.

    Do they normally do this route ?

    Also your travel insurance won’t cover you over there. I haven’t checked smart traveller but if the advise is “do not travel” or “reconsider” then I’d push Thai for a refund and just not go. It sucks but that’s what I’d do.

    • Sshanaz on 21/03/2019 - 10:29

      This is what pds says

      a loss caused by, or in any way connected with war, invasion, act of a foreign enemy, hostilities (whether war is declared or not), civil war, rebellion, revolution, military or usurped power or civil insurrection.

      • Randxyz123 on 21/03/2019 - 11:28
        +1

        Right well if it was me, I wouldn’t be attending. It’s just too dangerous to go there at the moment.

        Ask Thai for a refund or a credit and apologise to your family that you aren’t able to get there. I feel like it won’t be a problem unique to you.

  • [Deactivated] on 21/03/2019 - 10:21
    +2

    Obviously Thai Airways' fault.

    How hard was it to just step in, bring peace to India and Pakistan and continue flying to the region safely?

  • Seraphin7 on 21/03/2019 - 10:40

    I believe Thai (and all other airlines) should continue to fly through areas where tensions are high and missiles are being fired to ensure persons' (such as OP's) wedding/holiday plans aren't disrupted. This is utterly egregious behaviour by Thai and should result in them being dealt with harshly by Australian authorities including CASA.

    • [Deactivated] on 21/03/2019 - 12:19

      First they ground planes cause people mention the word "bomb".

      Now the ground entire routes because a few bombs are launch into the sky.

      It's like these airlines operate at their convenience.

  • trilby on 21/03/2019 - 13:17

    Go to Delhi, get the Delhi - Lahore bus fro $40
    Why are Thai not refunding straight away if the flight is cancelled - why do they have to wait until the now irrelevant departure date?

    • Sshanaz on 21/03/2019 - 13:58

      No idea. I have asked time and again but they refused to initiate until the departure date has passed.

      • Meho2026 on 21/03/2019 - 14:05

        It is because if the situation improves and they restore the flight schedule they will be in a position to deny your refund because the flight actually took place.
        I think the issue is at this stage Thai has only cancelled services up to and including March 30th.
        https://www.thaiairways.com/en_AU/news/news_announcement/new…?
        If you are booked after that date, technically the service hasn't been cancelled and your ticket is still valid.

        • trilby on 21/03/2019 - 15:16

          Well, that's a bit mean of them - either it's cancelled or it's not - it's not fair to keep customers waiting until the last moment when they could get an alternative.

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