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def lect. Seriously, please be fair. Stop
blaming the other airlines. We were
told by Lufthansa First Class ticketing
we would be reimbursed for our train
tickets as well as for the leg that was
cancelled! And since we booked our
f lights on the Lufthansa website, I
believe it owes us compensation.
I have written in several times to
both airlines, but after their first
email saying that they do not have to
compensate us due to bad weather, they
haven’t responded.
Susan Kee Thulin, Malaysia
AUSTRIAN AIRLINES
RESPONDS:
We would like to apologise for
the inconveniences our customer
experienced. Unfortunately heavy
snowfall in Innsbruck made an
operation of flight OS282 impossible
on January 5, 2019. Several other
flights had to be cancelled as well
due to the bad weather conditions.
As the cancellation was caused by
extraordinary circumstances which
could not have been avoided even if all
reasonable measures had been taken,
a compensation does not apply in this
case. However, Ms Thulin is certainly
entitled to a reimbursement of the
ticket. As the initial ticket payment was
made to Lufthansa, Lufthansa is also
the right point of contact in this case.
We have forwarded all information to
our colleagues in order to deal with
the matter.
A LESS THAN BUBBLY
EXPERIENCE
My wife and I were business class
passengers on f light AC003 from
Vancouver to Tokyo on May 30, 2019.
I had told my wife that from previous
experience, Air Canada was an excellent
airline. I was about to be proven wrong.
After battling the chaos of Vancouver
Airport, we checked in at the rather
sad little business class area. Finally,
reaching the Maple Leaf Lounge, we
were told there were no boarding calls
unless the f light was delayed. Also, the
lounge was over two levels, but upstairs
was closed off.
Perhaps a glass of champagne to
celebrate the f light? No, sorry, Air
all services in a respectful, polite and
professional manner to our valued
customers. We sincerely regret
learning of this customer’s experience,
and our Customer Relations team will
be reaching out and responding to
Mr Jackson directly.MANUAL OVERRIDE
On April 30, I f lew Philippine Airlines
(PAL) on ight PR507 from Manila
to Singapore. After a week, I checked
my Mabuhay Miles account to see if I’d
been credited my miles. Nothing. On
my May 13 return via f light PR510,
I contacted the call centre to inquire
about my missing April 30 mileage
credit. I was told PAL Mabuhay Miles
has been going through a system
upgrade since March 24 and all miles
have had to be input manually ever
since. It was only because I called the
hotline to inquire about my miles and
gave all my f light details that the agent
would make a report for the miles
accreditation, which I could expect to
receive within four to six weeks.
At the time, the agent on the phone
asked me to be patient, to which I
calmly replied that with PAL I’ve
learned to be very, very patient. I also
told her I was extremely happy I only
f ly PAL once a year and that for the rest
of the time I have plenty of choice from
other reliable Asian airlines.
According to the call centre, our
conversation was recorded. Very
good: it’s about time those highly paid
executives do something about the
corporate shortcomings that directly
affect their passengers instead of just
bathing in the glory of the airline’s
“Skytrax 4 Star” rating.
Lim Kong Yan, PhilippinesPHILIPPINE AIRLINES RESPONDS:
Mr Lim’s mileage credits were
updated last May to include his
Manila-Singapore-Manila journey. We
apologise for the delay and resulting
inconvenience to Mr Lim, as indeed
we experienced a technical problem
a ecting the auto-accrual of Mabuhay
Miles credits following our recent major
upgrade of PAL’s automated systems.
This problem has now been resolved
and the system is functioning normally.JULY/AUGUST 2019Canada does not offer sparkling wine,
let alone champagne.
We arrived at Gate D46 at boarding
time and I immediately knew there
was a problem. The crew were sitting
down with the other passengers. So
much for the lounge’s cooperation. The
30-minute delay turned into 50, with
very little apolog y and no explanation.
We were in our middle double seat
and I tried to lower the divider, but it
was fixed. e reason given by the f light
attendant: “Most of our passengers are
businessmen and don’t need to talk to
the passenger next to them.”
Interestingly, at least the first five
rows were occupied by couples who
appeared to be travelling together.
Service on board was slow and
unprofessional and, when it did arrive,
the champagne was lukewarm. We were
not offered a second glass.
On three occasions I pushed the Call
Button and it was never answered, even
though the crew were moving up and
down the aisles. The two meals offered
on the f light were very poor and
lacklustre. The crew knew very little
about the wines offered.
The man in charge of the f light was
tight-lipped, never smiled, never asked
if everything was okay – and added
insult to injury by standing behind my
seat, tapping me on the shoulder and
telling me he wanted my earphones
as we were descending into Narita. I
explained I was watching a movie, but
he still demanded my earphones and
then put a little packet into my hand.
It was a pair of economy earphones/
plugs. He said nothing, and f lounced
up to the galley.
I consider him to be a very poor
ambassador for Air Canada. The whole
experience was substandard compared
to other international airlines and has
caused me to put Air Canada at the
bottom of my list for future travel.
Kevin Jackson, AustraliaAIR CANADA RESPONDS:
As a Skytrax four-star international
airline, we take enormous pride in our
products and the services that we
o er, especially on our international
flights. Our customer-interacting
employees also undergo focused
customer service training to deliver