THAI TROUBLES

I’ve had a series of disappointments with Thai Airways. First of all, I tried to use my miles to purchase an upgrade on my flight TG921 from Frankfurt to Bangkok on September 25, 2014, but that didn’t work. Then after I checked-in, I learned that the advertised A380 had been replaced by a 747. I specifically chose to drive further to Frankfurt, instead of taking the Zurich flight, because the 380 is so much more relaxing than the other planes, especially in business class – only to be put onto an antique aircraft. I could barely sleep as the seats only recline a little bit and are very narrow, plus it was pretty noisy. Thai Airways catch customers by promoting their A380 flights, but apparently have no guaranteed conditions.

Secondly, on January 31, 2015 I took flight TG920, seated in 19K business class, which I booked to be able to rest from a busy schedule. Next to me (the two middle seats) were a couple with a child that howled the whole night and meant I couldn’t have a decent rest. I left the plane completely exhausted.

And thirdly, on a separate occasion, I was liaising with an online reservations agent to book return flights for my wife to accompany me on my confirmed booking from Ho Chi Minh City to Sydney via Bangkok on February 12, and back from Melbourne. I received several confirmations well ahead of the booking on November 28 that the cost would be 55,000 miles plus US$505 tax. Based on that confirmation I refrained from looking into other flights or better offers. However, when my wife went to pick up the ticket and pay, the offer suddenly changed to 70,000 miles and an additional US$95 tax for stopovers. At that point, I was left with no other choice as all other arrangements had been made, so I agreed, but this is not the business practice I am used to, where written agreed terms should be adhered to.

THAI RESPONDS Thank you for giving THAI an opportunity to respond to this customer’s concerns. After further investigation recently, it was found that Mr Huber had written to THAI prior to the A380 aircraft change from Frankfurt to Bangkok, and that he was displeased THAI could not directly upgrade him or his wife using his SQ Krisflyer miles. The following summarises the communication with Mr Huber.

On 26 August, 2014, Mr Huber purchased the Frankfurt-Bangkok tickets.

On 20 September, 2014, Mr Huber contacted THAI reservation office requesting an upgrade using his SQ Krisflyer miles on the route from Frankfurt-Bangkok. However, THAI explained to Mr Huber that he would have to contact the FFP carrier, in this case Singapore Airlines, to make this request as each airline cannot handle the redemption requests of other airline’s FFP members. Additionally, THAI informed Mr Huber that as a Gold member, he also had a complimentary round-trip upgrade, which was to expire on 27 February, 2015. Nonetheless, Mr Huber responded by asking if THAI could upgrade his wife, to which THAI responded with the same reply.

On 25, 26, 30 September, 2014, Mr Huber made additional complaints, this time about the change of aircraft from A380 to 747, and lack of response. Please note that during this period, his case was already being looked into and THAI had not had a chance to respond properly before another complaint was lodged.

By 13 October, 2014, the matter reached our customer service department who looked into the matter and sent an apology for the aircraft change, along with an explanation. Nonetheless, Mr Huber responded that he would contact Business Traveller Asia-Pacific anyway to voice his complaint.

In addition, a message was sent by telex to sales offices worldwide and agents that our Schedule Handling Department had planned to rotate aircraft for this flight from A380 to B747R since August 7, 2014. In Mr Huber’s case, we found out that he had his tickets issued on August 26, 2014, which was after the message was sent out.

From the above explanation, we very much regret that we could not comply with Mr Huber’s request for any upgrading, even though we understand how frustrated he was under the circumstances, but would like to ask for his kind understanding in this regard.

THAI ensures that specific aircraft types scheduled for a certain route are dedicated to that route, especially when the aircraft is a newer model with new onboard products and services. However, a few exceptions do occur due to unforeseen circumstances, such as in cases of technical problems and safety concerns that do not allow the aircraft to be flown, and in these cases a different aircraft is used instead. Also, in some cases, if we know well in advance an aircraft will be redirected or rotated to other routes, we ensure that this information is sent to all agencies, as was the case in this instance.