Pay budget money, get budget service/timing/everything

[jemauvais]

Anyone who writes in to complain that they flew budget and their flight got delayed (or multiply delayed) should get a reply consisting of just four words: "YOU ASKED FOR IT."http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_481562.htmlRead more... )

Comments

[mappleleaf]

Who goes on a honeymoon on a budget airline?!

When will people ever understand the difference between LCCs and FSCs? It's like eating at a hawker centre, yet demanding comprehensive menus handed to you, waiters and air conditioning. If LCCs are cheaper, there is a reason why they are cheaper; they are not charities after all. In fact, successful LCCs rival FSCs in profitability that surely must come from somewhere!

That said, I am all in support for LCCs. If not for them, I would not have been able to go on any holiday abroad during my student years!

[msbrightside]

Who goes on a honeymoon on a budget airline?!

I was about to say the same thing... but then I remembered that I flew budget for mine! But then, I didn't have any deluded ideas of going to work the next day.

[jemauvais]

I have no problems with going budget on a honeymoon, but like you said it's all a matter of expectations.  It's like if you're going to put up in a budget hotel, don't expect a heart-shaped bed with roses and champagne!

[msbrightside]

I pick an airline based on the destination. Anything within SEA - budget is usually fine. But for going outside this region it's typically SQ... more 'worth it' when you're spending more time in the air!

[alisonrae]

I usually fly Jetstar by default but haven't experienced delays so far. Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones. Having said that, I've had horrendous service from Air Asia. But yes, the pay peanuts rule does apply to budget carriers.

[jemauvais]

From what I've heard, Jetstar is considered one of the better LCCs in the region, so I'm quite surprised to read this letter about them.  But then again, maybe their own success is their undoing, because people come to expect them to be so good that they forget it's still a budget airline with the whole coterie of budget airline caveats.

[kakashi_hatake_]

My experience with budget has thankfully been good so far, but i buy travel insurance just in case! I think people are just too spoilt by SQ. If they had grown up with china eastern....

[jemauvais]

Exactly!  Like my friend mappleleaf remarked, they seem to think that budget airlines are like SQ without meals!

Singaporeans are just too spoilt in general.  Even on SQ, when there's a hiccup, they kaopeh as though their money got cheated.  Remember the screaming PPS passenger at KLIA video?

[jemauvais]

And at least you buy travel insurance.  Usually the people who would kaopeh to the newspapers about shoddy budget airline service are the ones too 'budget' to buy travel insurance.

But I suppose I should be thankful for all these letters, otherwise people out there wouldn't know the true story of what flying by LCC really entails.  Better for these caveats to be issued in the form of personal experiences and anecdotes!

[jemauvais]

I think more can be done to educate people that LCCs aren't just full service minus meals, but more like a 'it's cheap but fly at your own risk'.

I wonder if it's just the typical Singaporean mentality: to fly LCCs and think it's supposed to be like SQ, while those who fly SQ expect it to be absolutely nothing short of what they think is perfect because they think it's so easy anyway.

[winstontlchow]

If you're going to fly budget solely because of cheaper fares, be prepared to give up all the other reasons why people fly full service carriers: reliability, quality, flight schedules, connections, frequent flyer programmes and comfort.

There are big exceptions to the rule, of course :-) I find it sad that most SEA LCCs are following the FR instead of WN business model.

BTW, there is a new federal law passed just before Christmas prohibiting airlines from not feeding or deplaning pax stuck on the tarmac for a certain period of time...so thankfully there will no more 10 hr waits in cabins with overflowing toilets.

Lastly, I know Joo Jin pretty well - he's not the kind of guy to whine over trivial matters and it takes a lot to annoy him, let alone piss him off. While perhaps his complaint is misplaced re: getting what you deserve whilst flying LCCs, he still does have a valid point that the ground staff of 3K in BKK could have handled the delay better.

[jemauvais]

Well, I don't know about WN, but I'm sure there's a reason why people are still taking the FSCs domestically instead of all flocking to WN.

Yeah I heard about the new federal law, but it's indicative of their own planning considerations that this was allowed to happen in the first place.

Hmmmmm... it may really have taken a lot to annoy him to that extent, and granted there were certain things done illogically (like the distribution of the meal vouchers, which beggars belief), but while I can try to be sympathetic to their experience, I think what it boils down to for me is that more people should start to realise that under the big proverbial 'ON SALE' next to the LCC ticket price comes a fine print that reads 'fly at your own risk'.

Perhaps I should be thankful to Joo Jin for writing in to alert people of how LCCs can go really, really wrong.  After all, he started off the letter by explaining that he wanted to alert and warn people of his experience.