[fare gone] Yangon to New York, London etc. R/T in Business under $850

[Danger]

For those seeking redress with their cancellations, I have made contact with a Sydney-based travel and tourism lawyer. He is interested in acting for plaintiffs but has suggested that there are various issues needing research and the costs may run up. If anyone is interested in the lawyer's contact details, perhaps to gain a preliminary understanding of any action or joint action, please send me a PM.

 

[k_sheep]

I'm somewhat uneasy about some of these Round 2 expedia cancellations I'm hearing about. I'm not travelling for another few months, but am finding it hard to sit on my hands and not book KUPPs and return tickets!

 

[Hvr]

Well this story has finally made the rumour file on 3AW this morning.

Nothing like being late to the party.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Well this story has finally made the rumour file on 3AW this morning.

Nothing like being late to the party.

haha yes!! someone just rang me to say they also heard it. apparently someone said a mate of theirs got a fare in business class to New York for $850 due to a computer glitch and that the airlines can't do anything about it.

 

[*A Flyer]

Those of you with RGN-NRT sectors on NH, check your bookings. All services at the beginning of April (up to 12 April) have been cancelled and the service appears to run only three days a week the rest of the time. This change appears to be visible only on the NH website. Some on FT indicate that NH is willing to rebook and reissue and is taking over the booking which may be useful in some cases.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Those of you with RGN-NRT sectors on NH, check your bookings. All services at the beginning of April (up to 12 April) have been cancelled and the service appears to run only three days a week the rest of the time. This change appears to be visible only on the NH website. Some on FT indicate that NH is willing to rebook and reissue and is taking over the booking which may be useful in some cases.

service suspended between 26 march and 12 April. service resumes thrice weekly from then on Monday, Wednesday, Saturday. aircraft will be reconfigured for business class and 10 premium economy.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

im off on my round 3 next week ill let u know how i go. I'm using as part of a round world itinerary all in J and F.

 

[Alanslegal]

I'm in ICN right now, boarding in 30mins for my KE F 388 flight to LAX. It's a R1 KE stock ticket. no issues at all at check in, and only 3 pax on this upcoming flight with 9 spares it seems.

Do not attempt a turnaround on the same plane bkk-rgn-bkk as it was destined to fail because the check in agent would not check me through saying they were separate tickets etc. Luckily a FT'er suggested I not do the t/o for these reasons and so I had my ticket changed at the BKK TG office a few days prior.

Also bumped into a FT'er in the TG Silk lounge. He and his friend were flying bkk-rgn-nrt-zrh-jfk on ANA J, LX F and possibly LX Y on the tatl if LX is going to play hardball and force that downgrade from F as what is happening.

Well KE F bkk-rgn had basic F seats, felt much more J like than F. As it was a midnight departure, only breakfast was served at
1h 20m prior to landing.

Hopefully F on the 388 is wow. Will report back. See ya.

 

[hummel]

I'm in ICN right now, boarding in 30mins for my KE F 388 flight to LAX. It's a R1 KE stock ticket. no issues at all at check in, and only 3 pax on this upcoming flight with 9 spares it seems.

Do not attempt a turnaround on the same plane bkk-rgn-bkk as it was destined to fail because the check in agent would not check me through saying they were separate tickets etc. Luckily a FT'er suggested I not do the t/o for these reasons and so I had my ticket changed at the BKK TG office a few days prior.

Also bumped into a FT'er in the TG Silk lounge. He and his friend were flying bkk-rgn-nrt-zrh-jfk on ANA J, LX F and possibly LX Y on the tatl if LX is going to play hardball and force that downgrade from F as what is happening.

Well KE F bkk-rgn had basic F seats, felt much more J like than F. As it was a midnight departure, only breakfast was served at
1h 20m prior to landing.

Hopefully F on the 388 is wow. Will report back. See ya.

Fighting the good fight! Keep it up!

 

[dajop]

Not that I would want to throw $50 away, but what would be involved?

Would the Travelocity refund be an email request to them? And the forex to the CC company?

I thought I'd follow up with travelocity around forex transaction fees.

Reply 1: Our records indicate a full refund has been processed by our Accounting Department .... Our records further indicate that we also refunded the Travelocity fee of .... You have thus been issued a total refund of .... and thus no further refund or compensation is due from our end.
My Reply: You missed the point, you cancelled my ticket without my permission and I am out of pocket $55USD. Please amend
Reply 2: Our record indicates that the refund processed is for the full value of the ticket. Please check with your bank as they must have applied any conversion rate.
My Reply: &$#@*&@&*$ (well not really..... )

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I thought I'd follow up with travelocity around forex transaction fees.

Reply 1: Our records indicate a full refund has been processed by our Accounting Department .... Our records further indicate that we also refunded the Travelocity fee of .... You have thus been issued a total refund of .... and thus no further refund or compensation is due from our end.
My Reply: You missed the point, you cancelled my ticket without my permission and I am out of pocket $55USD. Please amend
Reply 2: Our record indicates that the refund processed is for the full value of the ticket. Please check with your bank as they must have applied any conversion rate.
My Reply: &$#@*&@&*$ (well not really..... )

A foreign company can't really be held responsible for CC conversion fees. You chose to use that foreign company during your transactions. You win some and lose some (and obviously transacting with the foreign company in the first place was more beneficial).

Foreign transactions should always be voided (cancelled by the bank if possible) rather than refunded, otherwise you do end up with the potential for currency differentials. you might try and see if there is any recourse withthe bank - see if you can dispute the charge? If they do a chargeback then you wouldn't have the fees.

 

[Danger]

I had several of my round three fares refunded in full by Travelocity.com. I expected that as it was a full refund it would simply cancel out the initial charge. It didn't. I phoned Amex and was told there's still a conversion fee, even though it was the exact same amount being refunded. As a "gesture of goodwill" they refunded the amount lost in the conversion. Still, doesn't seem right to me.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I had several of my round three fares refunded in full by Travelocity.com. I expected that as it was a full refund it would simply cancel out the initial charge. It didn't. I phoned Amex and was told there's still a conversion fee, even though it was the exact same amount being refunded. As a "gesture of goodwill" they refunded the amount lost in the conversion. Still, doesn't seem right to me.

as i mentioned in my post above - my banks (ANZ and Westpac) have always advised not to seek a refund from an overseas merchant if there is a dispute and get the bank to do a charge back or to void the transaction (obviously different if you change you mind on something). This differs from their domestic policy where they advise you to sort it out with the merchant first (and try to get a refund) rather than doing a chargeback. But there is no currency fees for domestic.

Otherwise - if the merchant bills in USD then they will refund in USD! (however that being said it kind of worked in my favour during the first round GFC when i missed a connecting flight and the merchant processed a refund - I made AUD$200 on a fare of around $1400 simply because the AUD plunged about 20c in a couple of weeks!)

 

[dajop]

A Foreign transactions should always be voided (cancelled by the bank if possible) rather than refunded, otherwise you do end up with the potential for currency differentials. you might try and see if there is any recourse withthe bank - see if you can dispute the charge? If they do a chargeback then you wouldn't have the fees.

Not so easy when they do the cancellation and refund it without your involvement.

I accept that there are risks with using a foreign merchant, but still at the end of the day I'm out of pocket $55, for something I did not instigate. Really it's not a big amount of money , but just the cough customer service (not just on this specific issue, but their handling of their whole debacle) vs their hollow promise ". That's wh yTravelocity Guarantees that everything about your booking will be right, or we'll work with our partners to make it right, right away."

Anyway, time to move on. I'll add it onto the Round 1 fare that I actually took, still miles in front .

 

[Alanslegal]

Hopefully F on the 388 is wow. Will report back. See ya.

Having now flown the outbound ICN-LAX sector on the 388's I can say that First Class on KE is pretty impressive, and probably my best overall flight experience on a plane ever. KE does have some minor service flaws but this flight was ridiculously fun, the crew were great, and the people I met (and drunk with in the one of two on-board bars/lounge) are a blast. TR will come in a few weeks.

 

[markis10]

One that might affect the odd booking:

As per 04FEB13 GDS timetable and inventory display, ANA is cancelling its 3 weekly Tokyo Narita – Yangon service during following period:
27MAR13 – 12APR13
29SEP13 – 26OCT13

ANA Tokyo Narita – Yangon S13 Operation Changes | Airline Route – Worldwide Airline Route Updates

 

[k_sheep]

Indeed, this has affected myself and the Mr. We have been rerouted RGN-BKK(Thai)-NRT. Am just waiting for the new e-ticket to turn up in my mailbox before I book any returns though!

 

[anat0l]

Something that RGN fare participants might "enjoy" reading (I'm kidding here!)

Christopher Elliott: When Airfares Are Too Good To Be True

To those who have been around the FF circuit for a while, the author and his conclusion should not surprise you completely, though he does have a slightly different twist this time.

 

[markis10]

I had several of my round three fares refunded in full by Travelocity.com. I expected that as it was a full refund it would simply cancel out the initial charge. It didn't. I phoned Amex and was told there's still a conversion fee, even though it was the exact same amount being refunded. As a "gesture of goodwill" they refunded the amount lost in the conversion. Still, doesn't seem right to me.

Amex dont refund the merchant fee when a merchant does a refund, same for the conversion.