Stranded at Heathrow after SQ cancelled our redemption tickets

[markis10]

This leaves me wondering how a person who does not have much credit limit available on their credit cards would manage to purchase the new tickets. Not everyone carries a charge card as well as credit cards and it would be quite possible to have the credit cards heavily loaded by that stage of a trip.

Your local consulate can assist with a loan if indeeds it's an emergency, as well as a list of doctors etc.

 

[zig]

Your local consulate can assist with a loan if indeeds it's an emergency, as well as a list of doctors etc.

That is helpful information markis10. I was thinking people without an adequate cc limit might have to rely on family assistance, or fly back whY :shock:, so good to know there are other options available.

Huggie I hope everything gets resolved satisfactorily for you and that your husband is back to good health. Very disappointed to hear of SQs handling of the situation.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

That is helpful information markis10. I was thinking people without an adequate cc limit might have to rely on family assistance, or fly back whY :shock:, so good to know there are other options available.

somehow I'd doubt that the consulate will stump up for business class!! At best it would be economy

 

[zig]

somehow I'd doubt that the consulate will stump up for business class!! At best it would be economy

Well if they are only providing a loan, not actually paying for it, the option might exist for you to get J class, particularly if ill health were an issue.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Well if they are only providing a loan, not actually paying for it, the option might exist for you to get J class, particularly if ill health were an issue.

an emergency loan to get home would not include business class unless there was some absolutely critical condition that required it.

 

[browski]

My feeling is that your Insurance will NOT pay you for your tickets home; they will argue that they were not revenue tickets in the first place........so you were not out "out of pocket", other than the taxes etc.
Secondly, your only compensation will probably be a re-instatement of points from SQ but that'll be about it.

Let us know the outcome.

FWIW 20k seems really high for 2 x one-way J class tickets LON-SYD.

 

[Huggle]

My feeling is that your Insurance will NOT pay you for your tickets home; they will argue that they were not revenue tickets in the first place........so you were not out "out of pocket", other than the taxes etc.

Secondly, your only compensation will probably be a re-instatement of points from SQ but that'll be about it.

Let us know the outcome.

FWIW 20k seems really high for 2 x one-way J class tickets LON-SYD.

This was my concern all along. It depends I suppose how the insurance company views redemption tickets & having had no previous experience with this situation it concerns me. An earlier post on this thread did give me some hope however. When we rebooked we booked business class tickets identical to the flights that were cancelled just 24hrs later - Lon/Bkk on EVA Air followed by BKK/Sydney on Thai . If you look on WEB JET you'll see just how expensive these are. Believe me I was shocked to!
I will let you know how I go with both the insurance company & SQ .

 

[browski]

This was my concern all along. It depends I suppose how the insurance company views redemption tickets & having had no previous experience with this situation it concerns me. An earlier post on this thread did give me some hope however. When we rebooked we booked business class tickets identical to the flights that were cancelled just 24hrs later - Lon/Bkk on EVA Air followed by BKK/Sydney on Thai . If you look on WEB JET you'll see just how expensive these are. Believe me I was shocked to!
I will let you know how I go with both the insurance company & SQ .​

..........FWIW LHR-BNE in J return on Eva all the way is $7539pp and LHR-BNE one-way is $4783pp.​

 

[Huggle]

..........FWIW LHR-BNE in J return on Eva all the way is $7539pp and LHR-BNE one-way is $4783pp.

Thanks Browski! It's actually cheaper to fly LHR/ BNE than LHR/ BKK ? Why would that be the case? I don't understand! The Eva Air LHR/BKK is over $6500 AUD and the Thai Airways BKK/SYD is over $3500. It's just ridiculous! I looked at buying return tickets & only using 2 sectors at one point but there was some complication ( I just don't recall what that was). I admit it was early hours of the morning when I was dealing with this & I was focusing on my husband at the time , so if I had applied my usual thoroughness I may have saved some $$.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

This was my concern all along. It depends I suppose how the insurance company views redemption tickets & having had no previous experience with this situation it concerns me. An earlier post on this thread did give me some hope however. When we rebooked we booked business class tickets identical to the flights that were cancelled just 24hrs later - Lon/Bkk on EVA Air followed by BKK/Sydney on Thai . If you look on WEB JET you'll see just how expensive these are. Believe me I was shocked to!
I will let you know how I go with both the insurance company & SQ .​

if your insurance company covers award tickets then there is absolutely no issue!! and no need to be concerned about it!

it is not correct to say you have 'lost nothing' if you have an award ticket.

ANZ credit card insurance covers it for example, and so do many others.

they will get you home provided (a) you are covered for awards and (b) it is not a pre-existing illness (unless you have declared it).

the one thing regarding return tickets is that all insurance policies require you to mitigate your losses in the event of a claim.

unless otherwise authorised, the cheapest (comparable) business class would ordinarily be the course of action.​

 

[Mark3000]

Hi Huggie, how did it all turn out in the end?

 

[Huggle]

Hi Huggie, how did it all turn out in the end?

I am still waiting but have been advised via a phone conversation with the insurer that yes in fact they will pay my claim. I thought it best to post to this forum after I actually had received the money into my bank account & I'm hopeful that this will be next week. It's been a long drawn out process ! I lodged the claim with the insurer on 9th April - they advised on 10th April that they had received the claim & would have a response to me within 10 working days - I did have a follow up call from them on 28th April advising that the claim needed to be assessed by the Medical Claims Department & they would advise me once this process was completed. On Tues 13th May I had a call to say they would pay the claim with a few small deductions for phone calls etc which I was prepared to accept but they then advised that the claim needed to be processed by their Audit Department prior to the payment being made & this could take up to 15 working days - this takes it to Tues 3rd June so I'm hoping to have the claim paid on Tuesday (fingers crossed). I know there were public holidays during this period but they have had the claim in there hands for 7 1/2 weeks which is far longer than I had expected. My claim was quite detailed & there were no requests from the insurer for further information which would have delayed the claim so this must be the normal time frame. ?? I will post once the funds are in my hands. Thanks for your interest!

 

[Mark3000]

Oh that is great news.
I think it is wrong the way Singapore airlines treated you there. It may be in their terms & conditions, but it doesn't make it the moral or right way to treat someone, who though no fault of their own, became ill and missed a flight

 

[eastwest101]

I am still waiting but have been advised via a phone conversation with the insurer that yes in fact they will pay my claim. I thought it best to post to this forum after I actually had received the money into my bank account & I'm hopeful that this will be next week. It's been a long drawn out process ! I lodged the claim with the insurer on 9th April - they advised on 10th April that they had received the claim & would have a response to me within 10 working days - I did have a follow up call from them on 28th April advising that the claim needed to be assessed by the Medical Claims Department & they would advise me once this process....

Sorry to hear about the "go slow" treatment by your insurer, but at least it looks like they will begrudgingly pay the claim eventually. Once you have the claim paid - do you have any intention to pursue SQ about refunding the KF points? Or has SQ got back to your original complaint? If not - I don't imagine you are going to be a goodwill ambassador for KF anytime soon!

Keep us informed and I hope your husband continues to enjoy good health.

 

[albatross710]

Once you have the claim paid - do you have any intention to pursue SQ about refunding the KF points?

Would that be double dipping? Getting the insurance payout plus getting the refund of points for which you claimed the loss.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Would that be double dipping? Getting the insurance payout plus getting the refund of points for which you claimed the loss.

I was thinking about that but i don't think double dipping would necessarily apply?

you might be getting some points back, but those can't be converted to the actual cash you needed to buy the replacement tickets.

I'm thinking it would be a different story if you received $ from the insurance company, then sued SQ and received $ from them because they mucked up your travel?

 

[albatross710]

I was thinking about that but i don't think double dipping would necessarily apply?

you might be getting some points back, but those can't be converted to the actual cash you needed to buy the replacement tickets.

I'm thinking it would be a different story if you received $ from the insurance company, then sued SQ and received $ from them because they mucked up your travel?

That makes sense. The insurance covers the cost of getting you home in the inconvenience which any amount of miles 3-4 months later doesn't help.