margarita girl

I was scheduled to fly from LOP-SIN on Jan 20. I booked an award ticket over 2 months ago with Silk Air using my SQ miles. Yesterday, I got a notification that I have been rescheduled to fly out on Jan 17, the day I get to LOP (different ticket on Air Asia). I need to catch a flight from SIN-AMS at 01:30 on the 21st.

I haven't called SQ yet, but wondering what I can expect so I can prepare appropriately. Is SQ just going to refund my miles/cash and say good luck, you're on your own or will they try to rebook me on another carrier? If they aren't going to help me, is it appropriate to ask for compensation?

TIA for any help/suggestions.

lokijuh

See if they will get you onto GA to DPS or CGK and then SQ back to SIN, or at least get you out of DPS and provide some compensation so you can make your own way (by boat or plane) to DPS. Don't know what else to suggest.

weero

Air Asia back to KUL is not an option? I wouldn't burn miles on such a segment anyway.

margarita girl

I had 10K orphan miles in my SQ account.

Air Asia on connecting flights is a real nuisance if you have a checked bag as you have to pick up the bag and recheck it. I was thrilled to find a direct flight from LOP-SIN and use up some miles that were going to expire. Plus I have Star Alliance status, so no baggage fees.

I will look into connections through DPS or CGK. My question was more along the lines of trying to find out if SQ was likely to do anything for me or just refund my cash/miles and tell me to go away, as this is a big headache this late in the game.

nanyang

I had a paid Y ticket on MI SIN-DRW-SIN earlier this year. Return flight cancelled and SQ suggested a 24h visit to Australia as a solution - i.e. rebooking on a flight 2 days earlier if I remember correctly.

Ended up flying back on 3K (Jetstar Asia). Took a refund for the original ticket (which was flexible to start with) and booked a one-way with MI instead.

I think it would be fair to say that SQ were not very flexible in terms of trying to find a solution. Based on my limited experience, I think having a flight back from CGK or DPS would be a reasonable solution - domestic flights in Indonesia are cheap in any case.

tng11

Ask SQ if they can change your ticket to DPS-SIN.

You can buy LOP-DPS on GA very cheaply. I bought a segment with 2 weeks notice for $30. It's an extremely short flight (less than 30 min in the air), yet it was on a brand spanking new 737 aircraft and they managed to distribute snack boxes as well!

weero

Yes ground service in IRROPS is mediocre and the phone service is ludicrous at best.

fly747first

^^^^

demue

If you somehow end up with the ticket cancelled, make sure they reinstate your already expired miles with a new (extended) expiration date. Otherwise they "evaporate" so to say. Best option I agree is to get SQ to book you from DPS on their own flights. Doable

margarita girl

I hate it when people ask for advice, and then don't tell you what happened! Bad MG, I've been busy, but I sorted this out over a week ago.

Per the advice received in this thread (thank you all!), I rebooked DPS-SIN on SQ, and they insisted on charging me the extra 6 SGD in taxes. Agent kept saying how they were waiving the rebooking fee for me. Seriously?

They also refused to cover the cost of LOP-DPS which set me back a whopping $17 on Lion Air. Too funny.

So in the end, I'm happy with my new flights. Now leaving LOP at 17:20 instead of 11:20, so I get to spend a few more hours on the beach instead of in the SIN airport. ^^^

Thanks again for all the help!

vbroucek

WOW! Haven't seen this often on FT!!! ^^^

demue

They cancel a flight, don't present viable options and then make you feel guilty for asking them to fix the issue they created. Well done SQ.

carrotjuice

Make sure your LOP-DPS flight arrives with plenty of time to connect DPS-SIN... they are on separate tickets and you are not protected on the later segment should the earlier flight is delayed.

margarita girl

Final update on this. My flights were a few days ago. I had a 2h15m connection in DPS (there was another SQ flight that also left 2 hrs later as a rather tight back up) and a 3 hr connection in SIN. Just to review, I was flying:
LOP-DPS (JT)
DPS-SIN (SQ)
SIN-AMS-YYZ (KL)

Well, my JT flight left 2h40m late from LOP. I missed my SQ flight. Plus I had a checked bag.

I raced from domestic to international terminal at DPS and arrived at SQ counter with barely an hour to spare before the next flight left. SQ redeemed themselves by rebooking me at no charge AND they checked my bag all the way through to YYZ so I wouldn't have to enter the country in SIN. I made my KL flight with plenty of time to spare since flight left 45 mins late.

After listening to all the JT horror stories, I cut this way too tight (my annual travel insurance policy has made me a tad too smug ) but it all worked out in the end.

I also sent a complaint letter to SQ about how they handled the cancellation of LOP-SIN flight. I got an email from them mid-Dec saying they would investigate and get back to me, and I've heard nothing since.

warakorn

Its because those idiots on the phone are not empowered to do any ticket overrides.