Bonza Airline Cancelled My Flight 3 Hours before Departure

UnemployedDeveloper on 20/06/2023 - 14:46

Hi guys had my first (and last) experience with the fresh new airline called Bonza offering new air routes in australia at very good prices.

I fell for the bait and purchased tickets from Melb to Toowoomba at an all time low price (total of $350, return, for 2 people)

What was expectable eventually happened and they proceeded to cancel the flight 3hours before departure, after we drove for 5hours to reach melbourne from our house, booked hotels in QLD etc (they mentioned technical issues, probably BS I suspect they simply couldnt fill the plane and it was not profitable for them to run it)

Had to panic buy tickets with Qantas as we were already at the airport and paid $1k+ for on way tickets on a 2h flight (lol)

Reached out to them and ofc they don't give a flying f*ck, they were like "sorry and thank you for your feedback" same vibe as the deceased Tiger Airline for those who remember.

Is there anything I can do to get a compensation from those bums ? Cheers guys

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Comments

  • WreckTangle on 20/06/2023 - 14:47
    +20

    Welcome to travelling, with any airline, in 2023.

  • try2bhelpful on 20/06/2023 - 14:51
    +11

    I have no idea how they get away with this BS. In Europe they get spanked fir this sort of nonsense.

    • payless69 on 20/06/2023 - 15:24

      Nah! We had Emirates cancel because the plane was not full enough!

      • Plantain on 20/06/2023 - 15:53
        +6

        Emirates is notoriously not a European airline. If it happened in Europe you're entitled to heavy compensation (EU261).

        • payless69 on 20/06/2023 - 20:25

          Walked into Emirates Office back in 2008. Bought Sydney return from ZRH with a Suncorp card that had their first air trip booked against. Strange enough we were just stranded with journalists and film makers, chucked into a Raddison Blue and then endend up only getting 2 out of 3 nights in Dubai. Took overall 3x proof of marriage to get 2 out of 3 paid nights. Upon exiting we had to stitch up our Commonwealth card with the Suncorp to clear exit immigration. Nearly missed the flight. Missing the booked tower was also going to cost us around $300 extra. So much for Dubai where every eating spoon had to have its dust wiped off!

        • fouhay on 21/06/2023 - 08:52
          +1

          Yep, back in the days of UK being in EU we scored a tasty $650 refund from Emirates cos they missed a connection.

          If the same EU laws apply then any airline flying into or out of Europe will have the same requirment to compensate passengers in the event of any delay, regardless of the reason.

          AU needs this.

          • johninmelb on 21/06/2023 - 19:45
            +1

            @fouhay: AU might need it, but we are never going to get it till EVERYONE starts jumping up and down and demanding it.

            We have become too laissez-faire despite the treatment that is continually dished out to us by the likes of Qantas, Jetstar et al. The list of people with horror stories about airlines just grows and grows, but they just complain to the internet, wonder why nothing gets done, and then moves on till it happens again - and again.

            If you are prepared to wear the losses and inconvenience, then so be it. If not - well you know the answer. People power can move mountains.

            Start by complaining to your MP and tell everyone you know to do the same. Let's start the movement that gets this done.

            • fouhay on 22/06/2023 - 10:47

              @johninmelb: I don't fly often enough these days for it to be an issue (to me personally at least). But when I do - I complain with my wallet. Jetstar doesn't get my $$ any more cos they screwed me/us over too many times.

  • GG57 on 20/06/2023 - 14:52
    +2

    What did Bonza tell you about alternate flights or compensation?

    • UnemployedDeveloper on 20/06/2023 - 14:54
      +3

      offered me another flight 3 days after (lol) or a refund. I chose the refund (21 days to proceed). They did not offer any other compensation in any form

      • GG57 on 20/06/2023 - 14:54
        -1

        Thanks for the additional relevant info.
        Was that in line with the booking T&Cs?

        • UnemployedDeveloper on 20/06/2023 - 15:05
          +2

          probably is in line with their TCs but how do they get away with this stuff ? it baffles me

          • GG57 on 20/06/2023 - 15:41
            -3

            @UnemployedDeveloper: You accepted the T&Cs when you booked.
            We don't know what the actual reason was.

    • jv on 20/06/2023 - 15:01
      +13

      What did Bonza tell you

      "No worries cobber…"

      • altomic on 20/06/2023 - 16:14
        +5

        Narrator - "but it was all worries"

    • Lastchancetosee on 21/06/2023 - 09:12

      Alternative FTFY.

  • kerfuffle on 20/06/2023 - 14:56
    +18

    Reached out to them and ofc they don't give a flying (profanity), they were like "sorry and thank you for your feedback" same vibe as the deceased Tiger Airline for those who remember.

    If this is how you reached out to them, I'm not surprised.

    EdIt: lol, negged my comment and he removed his comment a good five weeks after he wrote it so people don't see what his real attitude is like. To clarify, he told someone who was providing perfectly valid points and was actually being helpful to get lost.

  • jv on 20/06/2023 - 15:00
    +8

    Bonza Airline Cancelled My Flight 3 Hours before Departure

    You're lucky.

    Jetstar cancels their flights as you are checking in your luggage.

    • UnemployedDeveloper on 20/06/2023 - 15:02
      -7

      LOL well I knew Jetstar is a carcinogenic airline but I think we have a new winner with Bonza aka Cancelaza

      • kerfuffle on 20/06/2023 - 15:09
        +3

        Then you should fly on Jetstar again; suits your attitude here.

        • jv on 20/06/2023 - 16:03
          +4

          Then you should fly on Jetstar again

          You should never wish that, even on your enemies…

          😲

      • DoctorCalculon on 20/06/2023 - 20:17

        Jetstar is a carcinogenic airline

        How many cancer patients have sued Jetstar so far?

  • bobbified on 20/06/2023 - 15:08

    Did you have travel insurance?

    • jv on 20/06/2023 - 15:09
      -2

      Travel insurance won't help as they haven't commenced the trip and the flight was cancelled, not delayed.

      • bobbified on 20/06/2023 - 15:14
        +2

        I'm pretty sure the policy cover period is based on "dates" rather than activity.

        If you make holiday arrangements and your outbound flight gets cancelled (or delayed or whatever), the accommodation and other expenses would generally be reimbursed by the insurer if you can no longer make it there. Otherwise, no point in insurance because airline isn't going to reimburse accomo and/or car rental, etc expenses.

        • jv on 20/06/2023 - 16:05
          -1

          If you make holiday arrangements and your outbound flight gets cancelled (or delayed or whatever), the accommodation and other expenses would generally be reimbursed by the insurer

          Nope, read the policy details…

          That is only if you need to cancel due to 'unforeseen' circumstances. Not if the airline cancels the outgoing flight.

          • bobbified on 20/06/2023 - 17:27
            +2

            @jv: I think there's a bit of confusion here - if the airline cancels the flight, they have to reimburse the ticket because it's their responsibility to supply the service paid for. But the costs of cancelling accommodation and others things (such as car rental) is covered by insurance. Reason being the cancellation of the flight, to the insured, is "unforseen".

            The word "unforseen" is used to prevent adverse selection against the insurer. In this case, the insured does not have a say in the cancellation of the flight so that doesn't apply and is "unforseen".

  • Hybroid on 20/06/2023 - 15:08
    +3

    IV. Customer’s Rights Where Bonza Cancels a Booking

    Subject to Australian Consumer Law and other applicable law, if Bonza cancels a Booking, because of Circumstances within Bonza’s control then Bonza will use its best endeavours to provide an alternate Flight that is acceptable to the Customer (with the 30 Customer acting reasonably) however if Bonza is unable to re-book the Customer on an alternative Flight acceptable to the Customer (with the Customer acting reasonably), Bonza will provide a refund of the Fare.

    https://www.flybonza.com/documents/Bonza_Conditions_of_Carri…

    You are entitled to an alternative flight or a refund of the Fare.

    You are not entitled to compensation for any other arrangements you have made.

    If you have any travel insurance, direct or credit card etc., may be worth checking if anything is covered, but doubt it.

    • jv on 20/06/2023 - 15:10

      may be worth checking if anything is covered

      You're only covered after you depart or if your flight is delayed for more than is reasonable.

      • Hybroid on 20/06/2023 - 15:30

        Not necessarily. Depends on the insurance cover. Some may not cover the flight tickets but provide ongoing cost reimbursement (e.g. hotel or rental car) and some may just pay you a lump sum and rest is up to you.

        For example:-

        If your flights are cancelled prior to you leaving your home, your travel insurance may cover you under the Cancellation benefit.

        Don’t forget, Cancellation benefits start as soon as you purchase your policy, not when your holiday starts, so even more reasons to buy your cover asap.

        https://www.1cover.com.au/cover/flight-cancellation/

        • jv on 20/06/2023 - 15:32
          -2

          They charge twice as much as the others though…

        • jv on 20/06/2023 - 15:48
          -2

          Actually, if you have a look a the details, it says they cover you if you need to cancel due to unforseen circumstance, not if the airline cancels the flight. That is the same as other policies I've seen.

    • kerfuffle on 20/06/2023 - 15:11
      +4

      Dunno why you're bothering helping @Charlesgave again after he told you to get lost last time; he doesn't deserve your help.

      • jv on 20/06/2023 - 15:12
        +1

        after he told you to get lost last time

        Maybe it wasn't a 'literal' get lost ???

        • kerfuffle on 20/06/2023 - 15:13
          +2

          It was a literal comment. He only decided to unpublish the comment five weeks after I brought it up in an earlier comment here calling him out on his poor attitude.

      • Hybroid on 20/06/2023 - 15:13
        +4

        Ah the rude window tinter. Dunno, don't tend to remember or keep grudges on here. Not worth worrying about.

        Also, it might help someone else reading through. This topic feels like deja vu anyway…

    • UnemployedDeveloper on 20/06/2023 - 15:23
      +1

      @Hybroid thanks for insight I honestly feel like offering a simple refund when so many indirect costs derive from this flight trip is a joke. I did reach the hotel so dont expect a refund of accomodation but was thinking they would either find me a flight on the same day or compensation for the $1000 lost. cheers

      • kerfuffle on 20/06/2023 - 15:26
        +2

        How do you expect them to find a flight on the same day when they only fly that route once a day?

        • dtc on 20/06/2023 - 17:11

          to be fair, in the 'old days' if Qantas cancelled, they tried to book you on Virgin and vice versa if they didnt have any more flights leaving within a reasonable timeframe.

          Qantas will provide accommodation if a flight is delayed overnight and you arent at your home airport.

          Of course it will cost more to buy the ticket in the first place.

          • kerfuffle on 20/06/2023 - 17:13
            +1

            @dtc: That's Qantas though; this is Bonza

      • Hybroid on 20/06/2023 - 15:28

        No worries, it's a frustrating scenario so understand where you're coming from.

        However, as a business they cannot be reimbursing $1,000 per person times 200 people for example. Or what if someone booked a $20,000 private jet charter instead of $1,000 Qantas flight. Where do you draw the reasonableness line.

        It's also something that is generally covered by travel insurance (although most people don't buy domestic insurance).

        If they had another flight on the same day with capacity available then yes, they should absolutely have offered that. Seems unlikely with a small start up airline though. You may want to keep trying with customer support, who knows, they might just offer you a goodwill voucher. If you ever trust them to fly with again…

        • UnemployedDeveloper on 20/06/2023 - 15:34
          -5

          even a compensation as a form of a voucher (that I would never use and proceed to sell immediately on OZB at a -50% discounted price as this company is horrendeous) in addition to the refund would be a bare minimum haha

          • Hybroid on 20/06/2023 - 15:36
            +1

            @UnemployedDeveloper: I think most companies, if you pressure them enough, might do that as a gesture of "goodwill". Just depends on how much you value your time and stress levels to be persistent enough. Godspeed.

  • [Deactivated] on 20/06/2023 - 15:13

    What was expectable eventually happened and they proceeded to cancel the flight 3hours before departure ….

    Why did you expect the flight to be cancelled?

    • UnemployedDeveloper on 20/06/2023 - 15:14
      +1

      What else should I expect when i buy an air fare $79 when it's usually $150 to $300 ?

      • [Deactivated] on 20/06/2023 - 15:15
        +2

        Then why did you purchase from them?

        • jv on 20/06/2023 - 15:17
          +1

          Because they are new and who know yet if they are any good or not…

          Now we know.

          • [Deactivated] on 20/06/2023 - 15:24
            +1

            @jv: Why has OzB become a product/service review dumping ground for OPs when things have supposedly gone wrong?

            Now we know

            lol

            What do we know? Every second forum OP is a rant which then often segues into shouting at the Australia cloud & American politics.

            • jv on 20/06/2023 - 16:06
              -1

              @[Deactivated]: You sound like a Trump supporter.

              • [Deactivated] on 20/06/2023 - 16:07

                @jv: For sure! He supposedly respects women

  • UnemployedDeveloper on 20/06/2023 - 15:13
    -3

    Stay away from Cancelaza guys, keep using Jetstar, you'll be delayed 4 hours but reach your destination

    • jv on 20/06/2023 - 15:15
      +2

      keep using Jetstar, you'll be delayed 4 hours but reach your destination

      Jetstar cancelled our Xmas departure 3 times last year….

      They did give us a food voucher for the 8 hour delay before we finally departed though !!!

      • UnemployedDeveloper on 20/06/2023 - 15:18

        haha the audacity of Jetstar is limitless and every day that passes I wonder how they're still in business. A true commercial miracle.

  • Pcoder on 20/06/2023 - 15:14
    +4

    Kind of shows why we need EU261. Too much leeway is given to airlines to do the right thing, but they don't often do it.

  • tsunamisurfer on 20/06/2023 - 15:19
    +1

    So Bonza has responded per their cancellation policy and the OP still wants Comp0?

    • Pcoder on 20/06/2023 - 15:34
      +1

      Their policy is not the law, just remember that.

      The only issue is as I see it if OP went ahead and made these subsequent bookings, without trying to get into contact first with Bonza.

      They may have to contact consumer affairs to get anything done as the airline advocate doesn't cover Bonza and ACCC is a toothless tiger.

      Possibly might have to do something with small claims court. It's all a very confusing mess.

  • MrThing on 20/06/2023 - 15:25
    +1

    Jetstar qantas virgin bonza they all do it and they all tell you, ye nah mate good luck or buy a last minute ticket elsewhere for the price of 1x kidney

  • Muselibar on 20/06/2023 - 15:30

    Sorry to hear OP.
    Amazing that the government can regulate flying to the extent that you can't even take water through security, mandatory data collection of passengers, etc.
    Also impose very strict safety regimes on airlines (they can regulate when they want to).
    But then the government do almost nothing to enforce the consumer rights of passengers when flying…..
    All in the name of profits. How depressing.

    • kerfuffle on 20/06/2023 - 15:33
      +2

      You can take water through security if flying domestic.

      • bobbified on 20/06/2023 - 16:48
        +1

        Is Australia the only country that doesn't allow passengers to bring their own water onboard (international) flights in and out of the country? The airports in different countries usually have a setup right at the gate to confiscate bottles of water for Australian-bound flights only.

  • samfisher5986 on 20/06/2023 - 15:44

    Probably had a problem with the MCAS on their 737 MAX plane and had a cancel ;)

  • Pcoder on 20/06/2023 - 15:52

    https://simpleflying.com/why-bonza-boeing-737s-in-poland/

    Kind of feel some of these issues relating to cancelled flights are to do with leasing out two aircraft. Kind of shows you they can get away with a lot more in Aus then in Europe.

  • pharkurnell on 20/06/2023 - 16:07

    I'll stick with Qantas… They arent the cheapest, but most reliable when i've used em. They don't have the hot hostess' but IMUO they have always gone out of their way for me on a flight or change of flight etc. They also have more than a few planes spare if one shits itself.

    • UnemployedDeveloper on 20/06/2023 - 16:12

      Exactly what I told myself. After having the worst experiences imaginable with Tiger, Jetstar and now Cancelaza I'll try to stick with Qantas as much as I can

    • jv on 20/06/2023 - 16:14

      I'll stick with Qantas…

      I'm walking from now on…

  • GG57 on 20/06/2023 - 16:15

    OP was chasing the cheap flight on a discount airline and then goes into overdrive on here in criticising the airline when the airline had to cancel the flight (for reasons unknown). OP took the risk, it didn't work out for them, they will get a refund.

    • pharkurnell on 20/06/2023 - 19:11

      Correct…. close the internet now.

    • DoctorCalculon on 20/06/2023 - 20:19

      they will get a refund.

      But but but they want ze compensation for having to panic buy Qantas airfare at a much higher cost.

      • UnemployedDeveloper on 21/06/2023 - 10:23
        -1

        yE bRo dOnt aSk foR compENsaTion you AlreadY hAd your ReFund wuT you complAINing aboUt

  • timmythelamb on 20/06/2023 - 17:36

    Helpful to know your consumer rights: https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/specific-products-and-acti…

  • mrjames on 20/06/2023 - 20:03
    +1

    Bonza has a fleet of only 4 aircraft. Delays and cancellations are to be expected. The threshold for taking an aircraft out for engineering is pretty low, this is alongside the big ticket issues like birdstrikes. A lot of the regional airports have little to no engineering onsite. This means that all the trivial items can't be attended to straightway unlike a bigger airport. (Airlines will probably err on the side of caution until they can get an engineer to give it the ok). There could also be issues with crew (all it takes is one extra flight attendant calling in sick).

    There's barely any resilience in how they are operating, unlike other carriers they are running a milk run style service instead of running between A - B all day. This means that it could take 4 hours + to summon a spare (that is on the proviso that they have a spare crew on stand-by).

    It's honestly good that there is another player in this space however you have to consider the logistics behind it, there's a reason it's a quarter of the cost of the QF/Rex fare.

    • kiitos on 21/06/2023 - 07:59

      Good info, thanks

  • afah0447 on 21/06/2023 - 09:27
    +1

    Its common for airlines in Australia to put on flights and then cancel them (knowing full well the flight will be cancelled) just to keep their airport slots for the future. Airport regulation in Oz is so lax, they could never get away with this sort of behaviour overseas.

  • tabitha731 on 21/06/2023 - 09:48

    This alone is the reason you never travel with travel insurance. If u can’t be bothered getting travel insurance, don’t bother traveling.

    • samfisher5986 on 21/06/2023 - 09:50
      +2

      domestic travel insurance is a waste of money.

    • kerfuffle on 21/06/2023 - 10:15

      Do you always get travel insurance when travelling domestically?

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