DJZC

I am travel a LOT, generally travel SQ (Singapore Airlines). I foolishly decided to try out its low cost subsidiary -- Scoot.

This turned out to be a big mistake that I hope I can help others avoid. This was the first time I chose to travel with them and will definitely be the last.

I will just share a bit of what I went through to give the general flavor. When we arrived at the airport for our 12:30PM flight, the flight board said that the flight had been rescheduled for 18:10. The airline had everyone's email addresses and mobile phone numbers, but they didn't bother letting us know. Scoot checked people in nevertheless, but everything was really really really slow. Passengers felt badly for the two overworked stressed Scoot employees, but were nevertheless annoyed. Many minor but very annoying difficulties during the check in process for many of the passengers.

A few hours later, another announcement-- the flight is rescheduled again, this time for 7AM the following morning!?!? The airline offers those passengers willing to wait in a very long line for a single employee who is writing vouchers by hand $30 of food vouchers. Obviously no compensation, or funding for hotels, or even help getting a hotel room. Passengers are furious. Many have missed important events, lost much money on expensive non-refundable reservations, etc. Airline does not send anyone to explain or apologize. Really no attempt at a service recovery.

I phone their call center (it takes well over an hour to get through), and am told that they THINK that the flight MIGHT depart at 7AM. They are not sure. That is, they are getting all passengers to get up in the middle of the night hoping that something may work out.

I search the web and find hundreds (literally) of complaints from other passengers flying a variety of different routes during the last couple of days. Apparently a complete meltdown.

I don't understand how a firm that is related to SQ (the best airline in the world, IMHO) gives such horrible service with such disregard to its customers.

Stay away! They are not that cheap, and even if they were, this would not be worth the service they provide.

tboons

Typical service of a budget carrier. Airasia,Jetstar all similar. Scoot is especially bad with delay because of the very limited number of aircrafts.

hope you are covered with travel insurance

RTW1

Get over it.... You booked a low cost carrier, then you (should) know this is how it works when things go wrong. One of the reasons they can be cheaper is that they hardly employ any staff and don't have much in reserve when delays happen.

And even the best of the airlines can get into trouble when major disturbances happen and you're not at their hub. Sometimes that's just how it is, however unpleasant. Simply factor this in when booking and choosing airlines. These LLC's can serve their purpose.

77W_12A

This is why I WILL NEVER take an LCC. I learned the hard way over a decade ago. I had to catch a flight from CRL to STN. Fare was super cheap. 9 Euros plus taxes. I had to check in a bag. 60 Euros. At the time, didn't understand why I had to pay since I never had to pay. When all said and done, I could of bought a ticket on BA from BRU to LHR, get miles, and not go through the hassle of changing airports to get to LHR.

lcpteck

I've only taken them once on the SIN-TSN route no problems encountered.

They currently only have 6 B772ERs serving their network. Hopefully things will be smoother when the new B789s starts service next year.

lcpteck

Not sure if it's this incident, but here's an article from Straits Times posted today.

Looks like the check-in system was down.

Prospero

This thread topic has been moved to the Budget Asian, Australian, and South Pacific Airlines forum.

Prospero
Senior Moderator

aster

Which route did you fly with them?

I have only flown with them twice and both flights were fine. Apart from free drinks and good IFE it felt like any other airline, and since my first flight was at night it made no difference...

Unfortunately the choice to fly Scoot was an automatic one as SQ does not fly that route. And neither does any other airline from SIN.

lcpteck

Which route is that?

AddictedTraveller

Personally I still expect a budget carrier to get me there on time wtihout issues but I recognise that part of their business plan is to run leaner and therefore they may have issues. Whether this was caused by a check-in computer glitch or a technical problem with the aircaft it doesn't matter.

There is no substitute for a good travel insurance policy in my mind, especially with SEA LCCs having minimum regulation for delays and cancellations.

Sorry that the OP didn't enjoy the experince, but having flown LCCs around the region I often can't justify the extra expense of flying a flag carrier just because of delays every now and then (although this one sounds excessive!).

RTW1

A reasonable expectation.... and one that most LLC's deliver on. But it's also realistic to recognize that situations like these might be handled differently that a carrier with a full service model and plenty of "spare" planes in a hub would offer. The saying "you get what you pay for" still has some meaning, although some full service airlines are just as bad in handling irrops....

aster

Gold Coast (OOL). Decided to fly there for a vacation last month as Scoot had some good prices and the flight was non-stop (Scoot is the only carrier on this route).

lcpteck

You're right, interesting.

lokijuh

It may be the only carrier flying the route, but given the proximity of BNE many travellers still use SIN-BNE services. It's a bit longer, but not that much of time difference in reaching the Surfers Paradise end of the Gold Coast from BNE.

aster

The distance is 4x greater but time-wise the highway makes up for a lot of the time.

Not sure if there are any good deals to BNE though from any of the major carriers (and I don't think the el cheapo ones fly there at all?). Do you do this route regularly?

P.S. I know Emirates fly there nonstop from SIN which is a surprise.