Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Susiesan's CX 889 report

We arrived at YVR on time from MCI-DFW at 7:30pm. Cleared customs, took a cab to the Aberdeen Center and had dinner at Guu, a Japanese restaurant. Took a cab back to YVR which was practically deserted at 11:00pm. Checked in with CX and went to the lounge. We were the second people in there. It's very small, not much food, very bright, but there were computers to use. Probably spent 2 hours surfing the web for something to kill time. Tried to read a book but as the lounge filled up it got very noisy.

Boarded CX889 which was leaving on time. I asked a FA to hold the supper for me and serve it when I woke up, which she said she would do. I changed into my VS sleep suit before takeoff. As soon as we were in the air, I flattened the seat, made up the bed, took a sleeping pill, and went to sleep for 7 hours. The FA noticed I had woken up and came and asked if I wanted my supper now. She warmed it up and I had the meal. I watched a movie, then had the breakfast about 3 hours later.

We landed in Hong Kong 50 minutes EARLY! After going through the transit area which was not crowded we had a bit if trouble locating but ended up at the Wing. Had time for a shower and a cappuchino. Went to the gate for the Dragonair flight to Phuket which was on time.

Everything about this portion of our vacation went perfectly. Applause to CX for making this part of the vacation stress free. It's what happened week 2 after the cruise when things got all out of whack.

So, you all were right about the CX 889 flight.

Glad to hear that the first part went well.

But we want to hear the part about the train wreck!

Why did you wear a VS sleepsuit rather than the one that CX provides?

Why did you wear a VS sleepsuit rather than the one that CX provides?

Not flying in F, perhaps?

Ahhh, of course. I made an assumption, based on the FA offering flexibility on the meal service - and we know what is said about folks who make assumptions. That speaks to the excellent FA service that flexibility was offered.

We landed in Hong Kong 50 minutes EARLY!...

Everything about this portion of our vacation went perfectly...

So, you all were right about the CX 889 flight.

not surprised AT ALL. that's why we were annoyed by over-concerning... Anyway, glad that CX has made it to your expectation (or even better).

But we want to hear the part about the train wreck!

The train wreck began when we heard while on the cruise that the BKK airport had been overrun and shut down. We were 2 days from getting back to land Nov. 29 and not able to make any calls to change travel plans as there was no cell coverage on the Andaman sea.

I was scheduled to fly from Phuket to Phnom Penh on Nov. 29 then to Siem Riep Dec. 2, then to BKK on Dec. 6. As the BKK airport was closed, and our PNH flight was canceled I contacted Bangkok Airways to see what could be done. They scheduled us on a flight Weds. Dec. 3 to SR thinking things would be cleared up by then. Then we found a hotel in Phuket, thinking it would only be for 1 night. Weds. came and went and no flights. So Bangkok Airways canceled the rest of the flights I had PNH-SR, then SR-BKK on Dec. 6. We ended up stranded in Phuket for 6 days, couldn't get a flight out of Thailand to anywhere until Dec. 5 to KL (which I had to pay $250 each for one way tickets and incurred unexpected hotel, meal, and taxi costs.) In the meantime I had called AA to have them rearrange our return seats home from KL instead of BKK, back on to CX. This necessitated having to spend Dec. 6 at a Narita hotel to connect with the original JL flight to the US on Dec. 7.

The icing on the cake was 1 day in Phuket I got food poisoning from the local food and was out of commission for 24 hours, which ruined a day for the hubby.

I am so disappointed and pissed at the Thais for ruining a trip I had planned for 11 months. I won't be able to get back to this part of the world until 2010. I also feel sorry for the 2 hotels I had booked and 2 guides and drivers who also lost our business.

I did have travel insurance and am filing a claim which is requiring a mountain of paperwork to document everything. I expect the insurance company to turn it down and blame it on civil unrest which is not covered and I will have to battle it out with them for months to get them to pay my claim. One more aggravation to deal with. This was not the vacation I painstakingly planned for 11 months.

As the Japanese say, "shikata ga nai" (it can't be helped). Sigh.

[QUOTE]I am so disappointed and pissed at the Thais for ruining a trip I had planned for 11 months.
Yeah those Thai's - they have it out for us foreigners - how insensitive of them.

I won't be able to get back to this part of the world until 2010.
Damn - how will Asia survive? Are you sure you can't make a short trip in 2009? If you start planning now, you might be able to come out by November, and finally someone to save us from this recession

I also feel sorry for the 2 hotels I had booked and 2 guides and drivers who also lost our business.
Come on Susie...you didn't pre-pay?

I did have travel insurance and am filing a claim which is requiring a mountain of paperwork to document everything.
At least you are not bored, is the hubby helping or did he stay in Asia?

I expect the insurance company to turn it down and blame it on civil unrest which is not covered and I will have to battle it out with them for months to get them to pay my claim.
That's the positive gal we love!

One more aggravation to deal with.
You love it!!

This was not the vacation I painstakingly planned for 11 months.
11 months! Jumped ship at the last moment eh? Imagine the hassles you would have avoided had you been truly comitted and spent the full 12 months planning. Really now susie - if you are going to do it, you might as well do it properly.

Ouch !!!!! this forum's gonna get some serious attention !

Susiean, I have thought about this one for awhile, my first thought was to do as hemz88has done, but I'll say this instead. Your ticket or at least upgarde to J class was paid via points from an airline that wasn't even CX, already you are ahead.

To blame the disturbances on the Thai's as a group is a little unfair. Apparantly a lot of the free food and water supplied at U- Thanh was from locals concerned about tourists. That's pretty good in my book.

As to the costs $250 is hardly a huge amount, neither are hotel or cab fares in Thailand, lets be honest here. I'm sorry things didn't work out for you, though you seem to have a misplaced sense of entitlement. Perhaps you should stay at home next year, you may be happier.

Perhaps you should stay at home next year, you may be happier.

That translates FT will get some serious issue as butt sticking in front of the PC seem to be the only resource for some people. Get a life...

this is great

I am so disappointed and pissed at the Thais for ruining a trip I had planned for 11 months... As the Japanese say, "shikata ga nai" (it can't be helped). Sigh. Well, exactly. I don't know what you or any of your travel providers could have done differently. Apart from the food poisoning, it actually sounds like a pretty good adventure. And I think you were lucky to have AA rearrange your homebound longhaul with so little flak, as well as upgrading to CX for the return.

I'm sorry you are "disappointed and pissed." Many people lucky enough to be able to take such a vacation would find a way to be happy with the experience as it actually turned out... knowing it cannot possibly unfold exactly as you will it to unfold.

Travelguard Insurance has officially denied my claim. I asked for $1500 to cover meals/hotels/cabs/plane tickets for 6 days of trip delay and interruption ultimately leading to trip cancellation for Cambodia. Their reason is the civil unrest in Bangkok. It applies even though I was never in Bangkok. They have turned down all claims from their customers for the travel problems in Thailand during December 2008. They won't allow terrorism as a reason because neither the US or Thailand ever called the bombings and shootings going on as officially terrorism.

I do plan to appeal this and make this public. Does anyone have any experience with getting a travel insurance company to reverse a claim denial?
In light of the fact that Travelguard is owned by AIG, and they just got a huge bailout from American taxpayers, I being one of them, to stay in business and pay their claims, this denial does not seem right to me.

Civil unrest is a common exclusion in travel insurance. And the activity in bangkok would be classified as such. Yes you werent there but your delay was caused by it (you mentioned it yourself earlier).

In HK there are a few providers that dont exclude civil unrest and they promote themselves accordingly.

I do plan to appeal this and make this public. Does anyone have any experience with getting a travel insurance company to reverse a claim denial?
In light of the fact that Travelguard is owned by AIG, and they just got a huge bailout from American taxpayers, I being one of them, to stay in business and pay their claims, this denial does not seem right to me.

I would have thought that it would be in the companys best interest not to pay out money where they don't legally have to. In your case you are not eligible for the claim, so they should not pay you for it.

Here in the US companies don't like bad publicity. Especially companies in the spotlight for having their executives taking the bailout money from US taxpayers and spending it on "business meetings" at luxury resorts, which is what AIG did. Sometimes they will pay out just to quiet people who are agressively and loudly publicizing their lousy customer service.

The documentation I provided in my claim from Bangkok Airways states they canceled the flights. It doesn't say why. Travelguard has decided to look back three degrees to tie civil unrest in BKK to flights from Phuket being canceled by Bangkok Airways. Everytime I called them from Thailand to make arrangements to get home they told me all these expenses would be covered, just save the receipts. I would never have stayed in the hotels I did or bought the extra tickets I had to if I wasn't going to be reimbursed-I would have found less expensive places and plane tickets. I relied on Travelguard's CSR's to tell me the truth.

I was scheduled to fly from Phuket to Phnom Penh on Nov. 29 then to Siem Riep Dec. 2, then to BKK on Dec. 6. As the BKK airport was closed, and our PNH flight was canceled I contacted Bangkok Airways to see what could be done.

<snip>I am so disappointed and pissed at the Thais for ruining a trip I had planned for 11 months.

Although you say the insurance company went back three degrees to blame the cancellations on the unrest, you yourself already said that the flight cancellation was due to the closure of BKK airport. So I don't think it's fair to say the insurance company is extrapolating too far.

However, if when you called the insurance company and they already said to you that all would be covered, that's another issue. If they truly gave bad advice, then they should take some of the rap for not giving you an accurate pre-assessment of your situation.

However, if when you called the insurance company and they already said to you that all would be covered, that's another issue. If they truly gave bad advice, then they should take some of the rap for not giving you an accurate pre-assessment of your situation.

That's exactly why I'm appealing this claim denial. At least six different times when I called Travelguard in the US from Thailand I asked the CSR are you sure I can get reimbursed for these expenses? Each time I was told, yes, it's in the policy, keep track of your spending. Now Travelguard is denying that they told me I was covered. That's how insurance companies in the US operate-they'll do anything not to have to pay on a legitimate claim. I was given bad, inaccurate advice as to salvaging my vacation, and getting out of Thailand and home.

That's exactly why I'm appealing this claim denial. At least six different times when I called Travelguard in the US from Thailand I asked the CSR are you sure I can get reimbursed for these expenses? Each time I was told, yes, it's in the policy, keep track of your spending. Now Travelguard is denying that they told me I was covered. That's how insurance companies in the US operate-they'll do anything not to have to pay on a legitimate claim. I was given bad, inaccurate advice as to salvaging my vacation, and getting out of Thailand and home.

I am sorry but you cannot blame this on "I was given bad, inaccurate advice as to salvaging my vacation, and getting out of Thailand and home." Regardless what Bangkok Airways cancellation document said, it is COMMON KNOWLEDGE that all the flight cancellations are due to the seizure of BKK.

While the CSRs may have given you bad advices because they were not well-informed of WHY the flight cancelled, YOU as the policy-holder, should be well-aware of the exclusion of the policy, and Civil Unrest is clearly one of such.

But, no, you wanted to believe what Travelguards said, and then wanted to max out your benefits by staying in places where you would not do so, had you thought you would need to pay yourself....

Go to be as aggressive as you can, see if the proverbial "Squeaky Wheel Gets Oiled." would once again be proved in your case.

Come on, -- enough's enough. While I agree that she is not entitled to insurance proceeds in this instance, it's not necessary to be mean spirited about it. And so what if she spent 11 months planning? Planning can be half the fun!!! Anticipation, folks, anticipation.

Susie is obviously not as experienced as many posters here are. Instead of kicking her while she's obviously down and very disappointed, let's try to be a bit more positive and welcoming so that perhaps she will begin to enjoy travel as much as many of us do. Perhaps we can even assist her so that the quality of her travel experiences improves.


Susiesan, there's lots of collective experience in these threads. I have learned much in the relatively short time I've been here. Bad experiences do occur, but don't let that dissuade you from future adventurous travel. And if you ignore the unkind gratuitous comments, I'm sure that many people, myself included, will be happy to help. We were all new to travel at one time.

Come on, -- enough's enough. While I agree that she is not entitled to insurance proceeds in this instance, it's not necessary to be mean spirited about it. And so what if she spent 11 months planning? Planning can be half the fun!!! Anticipation, folks, anticipation.

Susie is obviously not as experienced as many posters here are. Instead of kicking her while she's obviously down and very disappointed, let's try to be a bit more positive and welcoming so that perhaps she will begin to enjoy travel as much as many of us do. Perhaps we can even assist her so that the quality of her travel experiences improves.


Susiesan, there's lots of collective experience in these threads. I have learned much in the relatively short time I've been here. Bad experiences do occur, but don't let that dissuade you from future adventurous travel. And if you ignore the unkind gratuitous comments, I'm sure that many people, myself included, will be happy to help. We were all new to travel at one time.

Thank you Dr.HFH for your positive comments. If you go back and read my posts about being stranded in Thailand, and the posts of others of us who were there in the middle of it all, most responders believed all of this would be covered under travel insurance.I was advised to enjoy myself and not worry about the extra costs because I would surely be reimbursed. This is not true for American insurance companies. maybe Hong Kong and European travel insurance would have paid on the claim, but not AIG Travelguard, which is American. In the future, I will not bother with travel insurance as it's useless. If you can't believe the advice and what your told from your insurance company, then why buy it at all?

I'm not dissuaded from future adventurous travel-I plan to reconstruct this trip and try to go to Cambodia again, Feb. or March of 2010, if I can get award seats. I just won't have Thailand be a part of the trip-I'll go to Laos or Vietnam as my second destination. I may even spend some time in Hong Kong if we get CX seats and are passing through.

I have filed a complaint with my State Insurance Commissioner about Travelguard, I have posted on many complaint web sites about their treatment of customers, I have contacted my local newspaper and television consumer reporters, and I am telling everyone I know who travels not to do business with AIG Travelguard. Squeaky wheels often get results.

That's exactly why I'm appealing this claim denial. At least six different times when I called Travelguard in the US from Thailand I asked the CSR are you sure I can get reimbursed for these expenses? Each time I was told, yes, it's in the policy, keep track of your spending. Now Travelguard is denying that they told me I was covered. That's how insurance companies in the US operate-they'll do anything not to have to pay on a legitimate claim. I was given bad, inaccurate advice as to salvaging my vacation, and getting out of Thailand and home.

Get a lawyer. It's an open and shut case because of the conversations you had with the insurance company's employee. Their assurance that your expenses would be covered would operate either as a modification of their contract, or at the very least, as promissory estoppel. Harassing them, pleading with them, threatening to bring bad publicity, etc., won't nearly be as satisfying as getting a lawyer. You'll probably get attorney's fees reimbursed as well. I can't imagine any judge or jury not being on your side, in light of the reassurances given to you by their agent.

Get a lawyer.

I am one. So, FWIW, here's my 2¢.

It's an open and shut case

Far from it, -- particularly if you think that it favors Susie.

because of the conversations you had with the insurance company's employee. Their assurance that your expenses would be covered would operate either as a modification of their contract, or at the very least, as promissory estoppel.

Not exactly. First, there are some standard clauses which almost always appear in contracts like this, take your pick of some combination of:

1. This agreement may not be modified under any circumstances, for any reason whatever.

2. No oral representation of any employee of the Company shall have any legal effect whatever.

3. The terms of this Agreement may not be modified except by a writing properly signed and executed by [Susie] and an authorized representative of the Company.

Then you have the problem of the general principle that contracts usually must be modified in the same manner in which they were executed. Oral contracts can be modified orally, written contracts require a writing.

Of course, like much in the law, nothing is absolute. What happens to Susie will depend greatly on the specifics of her case.

Harassing them, pleading with them, threatening to bring bad publicity, etc., won't nearly be as satisfying as getting a lawyer. You'll probably get attorney's fees reimbursed as well.

Whoa, there, -- easy does it. Susiesan, before you go out and spend money on a lawyer, 1) talk to more than one before you decide whom to hire, and 2) ask for a very realistic assessment of your chances of both success and legal fee recovery.

I can't imagine any judge or jury not being on your side, in light of the reassurances given to you by their agent.

You've never seen innocent people convicted, and people who"did it" go free? If there's one thing I've learned in 30 years of practice, it's not to predict what judges and juries will do.

While I certainly want the best for Susie, I don't believe that the law is with her on this one.

I am sorry but I fail to see Susie's viewpoint here and here is why:

1) THAI govt problems since 2006

So you plan a trip for 11 months which means that you started planning a "dream" trip in late 2007 early 2008 and then went on your trip in the past 2 months from the posts so far.

Thailand has had some major issues since 2006 and is in civil unrest for a while. Yet you plan a trip to a country where major govt issues (of which you have no control) might ruin your "dream" vacation and then complain about the insurance company not paying your claim since the govt is in turmoil.

MMmmm...does not sound like a airline issue or cruise line, personnel issue or anything that an insurance company provides insurance for. So why should it reimburse your claim? Because a few front line CSR's told you they would. If you believe them, I know of some "Oceanfront property in Arizona that is for sale !!!!"


Sounds like you took a risky venture and got burned by it. My advice " Lick your wounds" and do a little research before you plan a dream trip to a country that has been in the news for the last 2-3 years and then plan properly.

While I certainly want the best for Susie, I don't believe that the law is with her on this one.

Hmmm....maybe it was just me but I thought I could detect a large dose of sarcasm within bangkokiscool's post. Or maybe I just thought everyone knows that anything caused by civil unrest won't be covered by travel insurance. :confused:

Hmmm....maybe it was just me but I thought I could detect a large dose of sarcasm within bangkokiscool's post. Or maybe I just thought everyone knows that anything caused by civil unrest won't be covered by travel insurance. :confused:

You know, going back and rereading it, I think that you may be right. Perhaps I did overreact. bangkokiscool, can you clarify for us, please?

If it was intended as sarcastic, then I revert to my post a few above this one, -- enough's enough. Leave her alone. Can't we just all play nicely with the other children? Not everyone in the sandbox is as smart or experienced as some are. Let's stop throwing sand in her eyes.

Okay, enough has been said about Susiesan's entire trip report and more. This thread is no longer specifically about her experience in partcular with CX, but on other issues that are quite irrelevant to this forum. So this thread is now closed.

Perhaps OP or anyone else would like to continue this discussion in another forum more appropriate in Travel Safety/Security or Travelbuzz.

Thanks for your understanding.

Guy Betsy
Cathay Pacific Asiamiles forum moderator