Business Class, Melbourne to Kigali, Rwanda for $1652 AUD return.
Lie flat the whole way. Includes layover in Bangkok.
Fly between December 2023 to May 2024. Plenty of availability over New Year and Easter.
Book at your own risk. Always a chance the airlines could cancel your ticket.
@acyz90: Looks like you might be the lucky last person to fly out on this deal :/ Hopefully no more drama
@jptraveller: Just arrived in Melbourne and picked up my luggage. Everything was smooth. Hope everyone who has used half of your ticket and still use the remaining half like I did. Good luck!
Just got an email from Kenya Airways that they are cancelling my tickets for next June due to price error. Offered either rebook at 10% discount to their current price or get a refund. Sad to see cancelled but was worth giving it a shot. Going to ask for a refund.
Same here. Oh well, refund it is then
Does your email PDF start with ‘dear Huang’?….
Yes, mine started with Huang.
I've booked with a driver for an on-ground tour in Kigali too, don't think I'll be able to get a refund from him.
No, it mentioned my surname.
Luckily we have not booked anything else yet so just need to get refund from Kenya Airways.
will travel insurance cover this?
If we don't request for a refund, what will happen? My flight is end of March.
Its interesting. If I log in with my PPR it still says confirmed booking
I just spoke to a friend that works in the airlines sales area here and they said they can't cancel it if ticketed, they have to follow iata rules. I guess that's why they want us to cancel it voluntarily. I'm going to push back to their email and request they honor it.
Ok same!
Thanks for the tip! I hope they honor it too! Keep us posted what happens please
Problem is you can’t effectively plan the trip as you don’t know until the check in whether you would be able to fly or not.
Ok, got an update, doesn't look good though, the airlines have an out to reneg on fares published in error as long as they don't use the fare again. From the IATA point of view they are allowed to, but if an Aussie carrier then consumer rights here protects you a little more. I called travel insurance and they said they don't cover you if the airline offered to refund, also booking for accom etc won't be refunded either. not looking good I'm afraid…..
Why request the voluntary refunds them hmm
G'day Team,
Looking for some advice on a pretty tough situation I find myself in with these flights.
Me and a friend were booked to fly on these flights tomorrow from Melbourne, having travelled down here from Sydney to do so. Figured a month out from booking we were in the clear and have booked ourselves a great trip round Africa over the last week.
I've received the email stating the flights have been cancelled this morning and speaking to the airline they are apologetic but seemingly unwavering on their stance. They say they only discovered the error yesterday.
While I knew there was some risk initially I would have thought it only reasonable that they would honour the tickets this close to travel!
Does anyone have any advice on pressuring them into doing so?
TIA for any advice
Do you happen to have any kind of travel insurance mate as a backup plan (to help cover cancellation costs for the prearranged things)?
I do, but I'm not 100% sure of cover due to this being an airline decision not to honour flights, not actually cancellation of the flights. They won't clarify with advice beyond advising be to lodge a claim of assessment if I can't travel.
Who did you book with?
Expedia on another Kenya price error was willing to honor to pay the difference (source: flyertalk)
That's interesting, I think it was GoToGate. I don't have high hopes but worth asking them, thanks!
That’s unfortunate timing, sorry to hear.
I know they said they’ve cancelled your ticket, but can you still login to Thai/Kenya’s website to see the status of your booking? If your booking is still there, I wonder whether it’s worth it to head to the airport tomorrow anyway?
Is the actual flight cancelled? Or is your ticket cancelled? Shouldnt they be able to book you on another flight?
Also are you flying via BKK or GZ? Might be routes on the other one or vice versa.
sorry to hear about your unfortunate situation. i would have thought they'd be honouring the tickets.
i'm not sure there's much you can do right now, as there's no kenya airways office in australia and i doubt even their call centre in Kenya would be helpful. What does you ticket status say on Thai Airways' website? If its still showing confirmed you could probably still get on the flight to BKK tomorrow, then figure out it once you get to BKK (it'll also be abit cheaper to fly to Kigali from BKK in worst case).
This is a real shame and kinda uncharted territory. Keep us posted here.
Just FYI they seem to have an office in Sydney with an Australian number.
Australia Square
Level 17, Suite 1709, Australia Square,
264 George Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
Telephone Numbers:
1300 787 310 (calling from AU)
0800 737 747 (calling from NZ)
I know it’s not ideal but maybe it’s worth asking them to put you on economy instead? From memory economy prices were roughly the same at the time of booking. Would rather make it to Rwanda than be out of pocket with non refundable tours, accommodation etc.
Switching to economy is probably a good option and still cheaper than buying a new ticket now. Rwanda is a really great country and I do highly recommend visiting even if you don't get to fly business class there!
How did you go?
Did you end up getting on?
@alecator, did it end up working out for you?
Just contacted the 1300 787 310 (calling from AU) number. I was told my ticketed is confirmed and suspended. Therefor i can't fly and i have to request a refund by calling Nairobi. They won't refund automatically. So not only is the ticket unusable, I won't see a refund without jumping through hoops…..
Anyone else have a smooth refund experience?
Did you buy directly from Kenya?
yep
Some posts on Flyertalk suggest that you can check the 'coupon status' of your ticket on Saudia Airlines' website.
Scroll down the page after you put in your booking reference and surname, you should see the option to view e-ticket underneath your name. There should be something called 'coupon status' under each leg of the flights, and it will either say 'Open' or Suspended'. What does your ticket say?
I've checked my flight on saudi.com, I have two booking reference number (for some reason).
One is 'suspended' the other is 'open'.
Would still love to fly to Kigali as we have gorilla treks booked for end of March, and they don't seem to give out refunds. Not sure what to do here.
Great tip. Says 'Suspended' on all sectors
So what happens if i don't ask for a refund? on the day i don't fly then i get charged for a 'no show'?
I'm not sure about what to do really, just making it up as I go.
If I have been contacted by Kenya Airways and my coupon status is now 'suspended', I reckon I'll:
Personally I haven't yet be contacted by Kenya Airways, and my coupon status remains 'open'. My flights are not until early May so I can afford to wait for a bit more. Although ideally I would be booking things in for a trip around 3 months away.
There isn't anywhere to actually refund the ticket that i can see
@UberIsCool: Expedia asked me to also submit refund request here (https://www.kenya-airways.com/en/book-manage/manage-booking/…) while they (Expedia) are communicating with Kenya Airways to get my refund.
@Ievgen: Thank you, I see that page. Doesn’t it worry you it says 30-40 days? I’m suppose to fly before then
@UberIsCool: Well, in my case I expect my refund from Expedia. If it takes them 30-40 days to get it to me not ideal but I can live with that (my flights are in June).
@Ievgen: @UberIsCool, if you want to get a refund I reckon completing Kenya Airways' refund form is the go (that's what they said in their email as well, not sure whether they contacted you by email).
I highly doubt you'll be charge a no-fly fee as Kenya has already cancelled your ticket (according to the email they sent to others).
Assusing you paid with a credit card, worst case scenario you can apply for a chargeback from your credit card company to get your money back.
Wow
This sucks.
Got an email stating that flight is cancelled, but me to request a refund???..
Very Strange!
Is the flight itself cancelled or your ticket??
Just my ticket.
Looking on Saudis website, the Booking Status is Confirmed, whilst the Coupon Status is Suspended.
I'm just hesitant to request a refund, if there's a possibility of it proceeding as per the original booking.
When does your flight depart? Sorry to hear!
I've also got a flight booked. I'm looking into our legal options as the airline are cancelling so late after issuing tickets. I have personally booked other domestic flights within Africa and accommodation that isn't refundable and will not be standing for a refund. We have very good consumer protections here in Australia and I can't see that this is fair on the consumer.
If flights were cancelled or refunded within days or a week, then I think it would be a different story, but this is not acceptable.
If you are interested, send me your email address so I can include you in any strongarming threats to Kenya.
@WallybR: Our flights depart early June.
Similar situation as you - so far I've contacted Kenya Airways Australia office (but as they're only contracted out to the airline, they couldn't assist).
The email address they provided in Kenya isn't responding (yet), but I keep forwarding the same email most days… Their WhatsApp "service representatives" have confirmed my ticket is still valid… Then go silent, so I don't know.
If you can obtain the email address of their CEO, then if we send emails to him or someone on their board of directors, we may stand a better chance than just arriving at the airport, being denied boarding, and then trying to lodge a Denied Boarding Claim.
@movieman: I managed to get one reply from a Sheldon, after emailing them back on the ticket suspension, but he hasn't replied since then (2 weeks ago), also cc-ed Customer Relations, and nothing from them either yet. Their WhatsApp service is horrendous, keeps connecting me to different representatives.
Also phoned Kenya HQ and they are standing firm on their decision.
What else can we do? I'll try and see if I can suss out any email addresses.
I fly in 5 weeks time…
@movieman: Is your coupon status on Saudi airlines website open?
I think finding out CEO or board email is probably the go, otherwise we can create a CC'd email with everyone who is being affected here and we can say how unfair this is considering many have already flown and many have booked non refundable things and we could take this to the news as an option
@WallybR: Unfortunately it's showing as suspended.
I've been emailing the generic email addresses. With no success to date.
If you can get some official email address, we can bother them by reaching out directly!
@WallybR: Yes, but I need a business email address, which I don't have a to be able to "register" to view Allan's email address…
Reading these comments makes me think my flights might be cancelled.
However, checked https://www.saudia.com/ like @cacbm suggested. Everything is still listed as confirmed and coupon status as 'open'. flights aren't till May, so plenty of time to see what happens.
Flight bookings exist/confirmed on original booking site, Thai Airways and Kenya Airways.
Who'd you book through?
Same boat, booked with byojet.
We're the same. Travelling in May and everything still says 'Open' as of today. Booked through Jetabroad, and haven't heard anything from them or Kenya Airways.
I also booked with Jetabroad. Still haven't heard anything either.
@juph0rry: I booked through Jetabroad as well and haven't heard anything.
I've already spent thousands on accommodation that I can't refund. What happens if this gets cancelled? Do we have good protections as consumers here and dealing with an Australian OTA?
@WallybR: Same boat. Interestingly I had a schedule/itinerary change initiated from the airline side. Byojet work with both parties to work out suitable flights.
Have you heard anything? Booked with Jetabroad aswell, leaving end of April
My coupon status also says "Open". Flying end of next month, fingers crossed. Perhaps they are cancelling those that have modified their reservations after booking? Just thinking out loud.
Not sure. I would imagine that there will be people who haven't made any changes and had their tickets cancelled.
It also can't be by travel dates either, as it seems it's all over the place.
This is highly speculative, but I wonder whether it's to do with the channel by which you purchased the tickets from. I've seen cancellation for people who booked directly with Kenya Airways, with Expedia, with Kiss&Fly and with Booking.com. Although I've also know there's mixed reports about people who booked with GoToGate.
Obviously it's good that my ticket hasn't been cancelled yet, byt the problem I've now have is whether I should lock in non-refundable plans or not (including applying for leave etc). I can probably afford to wait for another month or so (travel date is early May) but there's no guarantee Kenya Airways won't cancel my tickets come April or May.
What date in May do you fly? I'm the same as you and flying on 31st of May, difficult to know what to do in relation to bookings.
I was thinking about maybe booking some accom that had free cancellation before X date.
@juph0rry: We've booked for 6 May, might do the same re accommodation. Although we're looking at doing a safari in Kenya and I'm not sure they do free cancellation bookings?
@cacbm: Yeah good point about Kenya, and it's the same with Rwanda and the gorilla permit, looks like you book it, and you can have a name/date change, but it's not refundable (and $1500USD per person per day - oof)
I bought mine via Orbitz, isn’t that the same company as Expedia? 🤔
@juph0rry: A bit, but mostly refundable so not too much is lost. Hopefully plans will still go ahead, as I’ve been looking forward to this trip!
@joeiwu: I booked through Orbitz too, but did receive the cancellation request email.
They're asking me to cancel it. Hmm.
I booked through jetabroad. My theory is that since Jetabroad and byojet are Australian owned and operated, they are refusing refunds as we have much stronger consumer protections since they are Aussie companies and this is forcing Kenya Airways to honour the airfares. Just a possibility. Personally, I am not standing for a refund this late in the game. I've already planned a 3 week trip and safari and booked accommodation and even flights to Tanzania for a bit. I am going to battle on this one if it gets messy.
Anyone getting cancelled or who are booked and yet to fly, send your email address to me so we can join forces in strong arming Kenya to ensure they honour this.
I'm stuck getting a refund from kiss&fly, Kenya Airways asked to apply for a refund directly to Kiss&Fly but they are saying the flight is non refundable. Even if it was refundable there is an agent fee to cancel the flights of $39USD, who pays for that? really dissappointed with Kenya Airways. I can't see why they can't just cancel the flight themselves.
In a way it’s a bit of a scam. They won’t cancel it to show YOU cancelled it but they won’t let you fly either
I booked through kiss&fly too, have yet to contact them or Kenya Airways. Sounds very frustrating, and I'm hoping they can bump us down to economy as we've secured our gorilla treks in Rwanda already. Flying mid March.
Let me know how you get on please.
I was gonna suggest to try to price out how much an economy ticket would cost, perhaps with the 10% discount code it might work out reasonably well. But I couldn't get the discount code to work for either economy or business class ticket on Kenya Airways' website.
@lukelegend did you manage to get a refund with kiss&fly?
@Kelbyyy: No, I'm still trying, they want to charge this below,
Calculation details:
Ticket price: 1719.41 AUD
Penalty: 306 AUD
Non-refundable fare: 0 AUD
Non-refundable fees: 56 AUD
Charges for provision of consulting services: 60 USD
Priority refund processing fee: 0 AUD
Extra charges: 1 AUD
It's so hard to communicate with them, Kenya airways are not helping either, they just said to tell kiss and fly to cancel the booking.
I'm almost at the point of doing a ccard chargeback.
Will keep trying…..
It just doesn't make much sense, does it? It would be much easier if they just refund proactively rather than needing you to request for a refund.
Although from the wording in their email ("[i]f payment has been accepted by us"…) it perhaps means that in some instances the travel agent might be holding onto the money and not yet passed it to Kenya Airways? Which may be why they won't do it proactively? That's a wild speculation on my part though.
In the email Kenya Airways says to reply to them if there's any questions/concerns. I wonder whether it might be worth an email reply to Kenya and explain that Kiss&Fly won't refund your ticket?
The email some people received are below:
Dear XXX,
Subject: Important Notice Regarding Your Recent Purchase.
Thank you for your recent Kenya Airways ticket purchase. We value you as a customer and look forward to seeing you onboard Kenya Airways soon. We regrettably wish to bring to your attention an unfortunate issue related to your recent ticket purchase from Melbourne, Australia to Kigali, Rwanda
Due to a technical glitch, a price-related error occurred that led to incorrect pricing display which affected the Melbourne, Australia to Kigali, Rwanda ticket. After careful consideration, we are unable to honor the ticket you purchased due to the huge price difference compared to the actual ticket price.
We would therefore like to extend our unreserved apology for this unfortunate situation as we understand that this was no error on your end and may cause great inconvenience. To fix the error, we have canceled all tickets purchased.
And to resolve the situation, we would like to offer you the following two options:
To purchase the tickets afresh. We will offer a discount of 10% using the Promo-code MELKGL10. We would love to see you onboard Kenya Airways and hope you'll accept the new offer as our apology.
If you do not wish to purchase a new ticket, kindly request for a refund from your agent (in case you purchased the ticket from a travel agent) or on the Kenya Airways online portal (in case you purchased the ticket on the Kenya Airways website) and submit the same. If payment has been accepted by us, refunds will be issued to your original payment method.
Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience this situation may have caused. We appreciate your understanding and thank you for your continued support. For any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out by replying to this email for assistance.
Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Jackson Kamande.
Head of Pricing & Revenue Management
Send me a PM with your email. I will include you in any communications we have with Kenya for their poor communication and trying to force us to cancel after we have booked our trips and accommodation.
No way i'm going out of my way to request a refund before giving them a piece of my mind! Cancelling the tickets 2 months after booking is extremely poor form.
Agreed.
Send me a pm with your email. I too have a booking and think it's an absolute joke to cancel this long after we made our bookings.
Personally, I've already booked non refundable accommodation and flights within Africa after seeing the flights honoured for other members of Ozbargain.
We have very good consumer protections in Australia and I believe a good case to make, especially if we have numbers. Shoot me your email to be included.
Refund came back and as expected, they kept the $30 CC fee. 😡 they are useless to talk to so I’ll have to raise a CC card claim
Expedia is still working on mine. Looks like Expedia now has control over my tickets so I'd imagine the refund should be smooth from here.
Expedia just advised that they were able to process my full refund which should clear in my account in 7-10 business days.
On an unrelated note - just purchased a campervan (at a very reasonable price as some things need to be done conversion wise). Planning a great Aussie trip for the period when we were supposed to go to Kigali!
I’m glad you found a great backup plan!
Got refund in my bank account now.
Send me a pm with your email. I too have a booking and think it's an absolute joke to cancel this long after we made our bookings.
Personally, I've already booked non refundable accommodation and flights within Africa after seeing the flights honoured for other members of Ozbargain.
We have very good consumer protections in Australia and I believe a good case to make, especially if we have numbers. Shoot me your email to be included.
A similar deal was posted with KQ out of ICN, again, some random people still have their bookings confirmed/ coupon status OK on SV's website.
Still no clue how KQ is cancelling flights, pretty sure it's not travel date or booking website, since many have theirs' valid.
Agreed.
Send me a pm with your email. I too have a booking and think it's an absolute joke to cancel this long after we made our bookings.
Personally, I've already booked non refundable accommodation and flights within Africa after seeing the flights honoured for other members of Ozbargain.
We have very good consumer protections in Australia and I believe a good case to make, especially if we have numbers. Shoot me your email to be included.
Sending you a PM with my email, and the CEOs email.
[email protected] , you can include me in cc's if you'd like, [email protected] :)
Won't let me PM since I'm based out of OZ.
Perfect. Thanks.
Can you also get the email address for the Company Secretary (Mr. Habil A. Waswani), and the Chairman (Mr. Michael Joseph)
I got their positions from Kenya Airline's board of directors: https://corporate.kenya-airways.com/en/about-us/leadership/b…
@captainarabiia: Perfect, thanks.
Issued the email directly to all three members of the Kenya Airways board.
Hopefully this will produce some traction…
Thanks. They finally checked me in (after some funny sequencing errors but resolved by the person in charge). I am now waiting for the flight to Nairobi. Hopefully everything is ok now.
To everyone who is in Kigali right now and has the return ticket unused:
Please email your travel agent or customer relations in Kenya airways if you book directly. Stating your ticket is highly likely suspended due to system error. Let them OPEN the return ticket for you ASAP. So you may avoid inconvenience in the airport like I did.