tassietiger
Junior Member
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2011
- Posts
- 47
Reference: Two return flights Hobart to Dublin - Booked directly through Etihad - for wife & mother in law (i flew on my Velocity points)
We sought reimbursements of costs incurred for overnight accommodation in Melbourne, on our return trip - due to circumstances beyond our control.
Two airline tickets were purchased directly through Etihad with the returning flight arriving in Melbourne at approximately 6:00pm- with the ongoing flight to Hobart three hours later at 9:00pm (the last flight for that day with partner Virgin Australia).
I also made this journey (by using Velocity Frequent Flyer points from Melbourne to Dublin return and paying cash on the Melbourne to Hobart leg)
I received confirmation from Virgin Australia that the flight leaving Melbourne to Hobart on 11 June at 9:00pm was cancelled and offered the early flight of 7:30 pm. Virgin Australia were not aware that I would be flying into Australia from Abu Dhabi in order to catch this flight fromMelbourne to Hobart.
My wife never received this confirmation, we emailed Etihad about this - and to date has never received a response to this.
From here, until I resolved the issue with Etihad , their file records confirmed there were numerous phone calls from me and these totalled many hours.
The outcome was that Etihad acknowledged there could be insufficient time between arriving at Melbourne Airport, collecting our bags,clearing customs, having our bags checked in to the domestic section of the journey and boarding the plane, so Etihad changed the return flight from Melbourne to Hobart until the next day.
We also have proof that the Monday flight from Melbourne to Hobart was in fact cheaper than the originally booked flight, so Etihad would have made a saving in this instance.
Overall the service we received on the flights was good, however, you must admit that Etihad let us down badly in not advising us of the Melbourne to Hobart flight cancellation and until I made repeated phone calls, Etihad had made no provision for this, therefore, without me being on this flight and already being advised of the changes, my 80 year old mother in law and wife could have been expecting to fly from Melbourne to Hobart at 9:00 pm without notification of the cancellation of this flight, therefore, leaving them with no flight home from Melbourne and no accommodation at that time of night.
Accommodation for two separate rooms totalled $279.00 with dinner and breakfast totalling $148.41 being a total of $427.41 - and this is the amount being claimed against - email sent on June 16 2012 - no response. (in fact, Etihad staff, when hearing of this, gave me the specific email Etihad address to complain to)
In the email to Ethiad - we advised that " We look forward to a quick and positive response from you, however, if this is not the case, be advised that we will take the matter further. " - no response, so someone please tell me what should we do now?
We sought reimbursements of costs incurred for overnight accommodation in Melbourne, on our return trip - due to circumstances beyond our control.
Two airline tickets were purchased directly through Etihad with the returning flight arriving in Melbourne at approximately 6:00pm- with the ongoing flight to Hobart three hours later at 9:00pm (the last flight for that day with partner Virgin Australia).
I also made this journey (by using Velocity Frequent Flyer points from Melbourne to Dublin return and paying cash on the Melbourne to Hobart leg)
I received confirmation from Virgin Australia that the flight leaving Melbourne to Hobart on 11 June at 9:00pm was cancelled and offered the early flight of 7:30 pm. Virgin Australia were not aware that I would be flying into Australia from Abu Dhabi in order to catch this flight fromMelbourne to Hobart.
My wife never received this confirmation, we emailed Etihad about this - and to date has never received a response to this.
From here, until I resolved the issue with Etihad , their file records confirmed there were numerous phone calls from me and these totalled many hours.
The outcome was that Etihad acknowledged there could be insufficient time between arriving at Melbourne Airport, collecting our bags,clearing customs, having our bags checked in to the domestic section of the journey and boarding the plane, so Etihad changed the return flight from Melbourne to Hobart until the next day.
We also have proof that the Monday flight from Melbourne to Hobart was in fact cheaper than the originally booked flight, so Etihad would have made a saving in this instance.
Overall the service we received on the flights was good, however, you must admit that Etihad let us down badly in not advising us of the Melbourne to Hobart flight cancellation and until I made repeated phone calls, Etihad had made no provision for this, therefore, without me being on this flight and already being advised of the changes, my 80 year old mother in law and wife could have been expecting to fly from Melbourne to Hobart at 9:00 pm without notification of the cancellation of this flight, therefore, leaving them with no flight home from Melbourne and no accommodation at that time of night.
Accommodation for two separate rooms totalled $279.00 with dinner and breakfast totalling $148.41 being a total of $427.41 - and this is the amount being claimed against - email sent on June 16 2012 - no response. (in fact, Etihad staff, when hearing of this, gave me the specific email Etihad address to complain to)
In the email to Ethiad - we advised that " We look forward to a quick and positive response from you, however, if this is not the case, be advised that we will take the matter further. " - no response, so someone please tell me what should we do now?
