Compensation from Tiger Airline for Flight Cancellation

My family was in Adelaide for a short holiday last week and everything was perfect until we arrived at the airport for returning home. We were there 2 hours before scheduled time which is 7.45pm. We and other customers for this flight was kept waiting until 10pm before being told the flight was cancelled due to technical issue. For the whole 5 hour long there was no or very limited information of what's wrong with the plane from ground staffs. Tiger's compensation is either refunding the affected airfare or changing to another flight 2 days later!

Either way we have to fork out a large sum of money for extra accommodation, taxi fares plus days off work. Due to work commitment we had to select the refund option which mean we had to buy last minute tickets with Qantas costing us 4 times more than the original Tiger airfares.

We have made a complaint to Tiger Customer Care but nothing they would do rather than those two compensation options. Unfortunately we didn't get the insurance when booking flight at first place.

So my question is: Is there anyway we can ask for out-of-pocket losses due to Tiger's issue? May be consulting a solicitor?

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Tigerair Australia
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Comments

  • +3

    Nope. You got what you paid for, so unfortunately nothing. Only fly on JQ/TT if you have travel insurance. Your best bet is the travel insurance that comes with your CC if you purchased your tickets through CC.

  • Do you have travel insurance (I assume domestic)?
    Otherwise, you can check the T&Cs of your ticket but I doubt you'll have much recourse.
    I think Australia should have a rights charter for airline travel but it might make those budget flights a bit more expensive.

  • Yeah see this is why I always fly with Qantas. If they have to cancel a flight there will be another in a few hours not 2 days later.

    You get what you pay for.

  • +1

    You can lodge a claim on ACA. However, it is highly unlikely TigerAir would pay you the compensation because A) they have offered an alternative flight or a refund B) As far as I know, that's a part of their T&C C) Australian Laws do not force airlines to compensate passengers for any foreseeable extra costs incurred as a result of the delay or cancellation.

  • +2

    Did you pay for the flight with your credit card? If so then your card may have complimentary insurance which was activated when you bought the flight.

    OP, were you on TT316 from ADL to BNE last week? From what I can see that is the only Tiger flight departing Adelaide at 7:45 pm but it doesn't look like it was cancelled at all last week…

    https://flightaware.com/live/flight/TGW316/history

    Flightstats says it has had 0 cancellations: http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightRating/flightRatingByFli…

  • +1

    It's all laid out when you book, if you read the terms:

    In the event of such changes to the schedule (including cancellations) due to circumstances beyond our control, we will arrange to carry you at the earliest opportunity on another of our scheduled services to the same destination on which space is available without additional charge. If the alternative service is not reasonably acceptable to you, we will retain the value of your fare in a credit account for your future travel provided you re-book within 6 (six) months. We will not be responsible for any Loss or expenses you incur as a result of such schedule change or cancellation.
    Read more at https://tigerair.com.au//tigerair.com.au/tigerair-info/condi…

  • +1

    Choice have an article here that discussed this in detail

    https://www.choice.com.au/travel/on-holidays/airlines/articl…

  • If you pay Peanuts you get Monkeys …. Tiger Monkeys …. with laser beams attached to their heads!

  • +2

    Lawyers? Keep us updated on that.

  • My tiger flight got cancelled and I got put on one the next day (seems as was lucky, some people had to wait 2 days). They were handing out bits of paper saying that we were entitled to cab fare home and back or hotel voucher (up to $160 I think) and instructions on how to claim.

    When I claimed for the cab fare it was rejected because it didn't apply if you lived within 100km of the airport or something like that and directed to a hard to find part of their website with these terms and conditions that weren't mentioned on the handout. Dodgy

  • consulting a solicitor?

    You won't be the first one who tried. Certainly won't be the last.

    Did the Qantas flight cost more than 2k? Because that's how much i estimate that you'll have to spend to engage a solicitor.

  • try not to be a cheap mofo next time or allow 2-3 days for delay if you still choose to go with budget carriers

  • +1

    I find it funny that people are like only fly JQ or TT with Travel insurance.

    A month or so ago i was flying back to Melbourne from Tokyo and our flight was canceled due to the Typhoon.

    Jetstar advised us that they would compensate everyone $150 for one nights accomodation (if we could not be put on a flight same day.. we were)
    When we got back to Australia (we came via Gold Coast) we were put on a Virgin Flight from Gold Coast to Melbourne.

    The lady who cheeked us in told us and i am quoting here:
    "you were lucky that Jetstar offered you a nights accommodation, Virgin policy is that we do not compensate passengers for issues outside of the airlines control, like weather. If the plane has a mechanical failure is probably the only time Virgin would compensate you"

    I know its international and not completly relevant to the issue at hand, but to me that seems that a budget airline like Jetstar offers more to its customers than a supposedly "premium" airline like Virgin is now

    • I know its international and not completly relevant to the issue at hand

      Absolutely - International rules apply whereas in Australia its different.

      I am no lover of Virgin but it's completely irrelevant

      To understand read this choice artucle that I posted above

      https://www.choice.com.au/travel/on-holidays/airlines/articl…

    • Some relatives of mine were on a Jetstar flight to Hawaii that didn't take off after two days!!!

      It actually made the news:

      http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/passengers-fur…

      But Jetsar did give them:

      • a nice hotel with breakfast the first night in brisbane
      • and again the second night
      • bus transfers between the airport and hotel both times (they chartered coaches for the passengers)
      • a direct Qantas flight to LAX (where they were originally headed)
      • a refund of the flight to HNL (but not the flight back)
      • AND Jetstar vouchers to the value of the flight to HNL
      • free date change of their returning flight from HNL
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