Originally Posted by rienhart87

Hi guys, I have a few questions about claiming for refund or getting flight credits. I hope this is the correct thread as this is my first Air New Zealand flight ever.

So I booked a return flight from Singapore to Auckland on March 13 and Auckland to Singapore on March 23. I booked this flight on Feb 2. Separately, my travel partner booked a return flight Auckland to Papeete on March 16 and Papeete Auckland on March 22 (to connect with my flight back to Singapore) with Qantas but the operating carrier is Air Tahiti Nui.

I flew with NZ on the Singapore to Auckland portion. It was a great fight in Premium Economy, much better than Cathay's or SQ's Premium economy experience. I heard good reviews about Air New Zealand before, but only when I flew with them I realized how good they are. I also flew from Auckland to Papeete with Air Tahiti Nui. Also a great flight. On March 18, my friends and I had a discussion and we decided to cut our travel plan short. Initially we would still be in Tahiti until March 22 but we decided it was time to go back home (for me to Dubai) seeing more and more governments closing their borders to foreigners. So we checked online and we found that Air New Zealand had a flight on March 20 from Papeete back to Auckland. On March 19, We decided to cancel our Air Tahiti Nui flight and book this Air New Zealand flight and I decided to bring forward my Auckland-Singapore leg from March 23 to March 21 so that I will only be transiting in Auckland as the govt had closed the border for non-NZ citizens. We called Air New Zealand French Polynesia office and the very kind agent who picked up our call confirmed that we can transit in Auckland on March 21, the agent also confirmed that she can connect this new booking with my existing AKL-SIN booking and she moved this flight for me to my desired date of March 21 without any fee.

Great! We all thought that we are good to go. My friend checked the news constantly, he sent DM to Auckland Airport's, he sent twitter message to Immigration new zealand, etc. all attempts to assure and confirm that as foreigners, we would still be allowed to transit in Auckland. All of us had no intention to clear immigration. March 19 evening, we came to Papeete airport to check in for NZ43 that departed at around 2AM March 20. When it was our turn to be called to the check in desk, the first thing that the agent asked us was "are you new zealanders?" to which we replied "no, I am Indonesian, he is French, he is German, etc". Then she swiftly produced a piece of white paper and asked us to read it and simultaneously said "sorry I can't check you in, you are not flying tonight, the govt said no more transiting". We were very shocked. I looked around and I realized that I was not the only one who got denied to fly that night. Almost every pax except the NZ citizens and a few Australians managed to check-in but I would say 1/2 or even 2/3 of the pax were denied.

We then produced different evidences that we had as proofs that we could transit in Auckland but definitely to no avail. This is where things get tricky.

Air New Zealand check-in agent that handled us refused to do anything. She said there is nothing that she can do. We asked what will happen to our connecting flights from Auckland, in this case the AKL-SIN that I had, my friend had AKL-SIN as well but with SQ, etc. She just kept on saying she did not know, go online, everything is posted online, there is nothing she can do. We asked her to help rebook us on Air Tahiti Nui flight (TN78 from Papeete to Tokyo) that was departing 40 mins before the air new zealand flight. She said she can't do that, there is no agreement between Air Tahiti Nui and Air New Zealand. We asked her for a refund, she said she can't do that. We proved to her that there was no attempt from air new zealand to warn us that we could not fly anymore, there was no phone call, there was no e-mail to warn us, even when we used the 'manage my booking' function, everythin was 'normal'. To which she replied, "i don't know about that or why we did not warn you but you can't fly, i can't check you in because the NZ govt says so". She also refused to process refund or getting flight credits.

While I understand that this is the impact of NZ govt decision, I believe that Air New Zealand through its ground handling agent at PPT, the reservation agent that we called the day earlier, and the whole reservation team must be held responsible as well. The fact that we were not the only one who got denied at check-in proved that other pax were also unaware of this decision by NZ govt. THere was no assistance whatsoever given by Air New Zealand. No communication at all. As pax, we have done our part of the responsibilities. They left 2//3 of the plane stranded and on their own at PPT. My traveling buddies are EU citizens so they can stay in Tahiti for a while, but I am on 15-day tourist visa. French Polynesia is also on lock down and that NZ43 and TN078 were the last two flights out of French Polynesia.

As a result, I had to reroute my plan and bought a one-way ticket to fly on that Air Tahiti Nui to Tokyo and then bought another one way ticket from Tokyo to Jakarta with Japan Airlines. My friends had to do the same, we all bought one way to Tokyo and then they bought another one way tickets to various points in Europe. I cannot shake the feeling that I feel cheated and let down by Air New Zealand. The way they just washed their hands and removed their responsibilities are unprofessional. The day we bought the PPT-AKL ticket was March 19 PPT time, it was March 20 already in NZ time. As the policy to not allow transit passenger was to be effective on March 20 23:59 NZ time, Air New Zealand should have known and had time to warn affected passengers.

Am I right to claim for a refund on the AKL-SIN part of my booking which I never get the chance to fly? Also for my friend who made the booking for the Papeete to Auckland flight, is he right to claim for refund as all 4 of us in the end did not fly this leg? Because NZ43 and NZ283 that I was booked on were not suspended or cancelled or anything. On march 21, upon my arrival in Jakarta, I immediately sent e-mail to Air New Zealand, I also contacted them on their Facebook messenger account but to no avail. I tried to call their customer service line, no one picked up my calls. What else can I pursue to get the assistance?

THanks guys! Looking forward for your feedback!