Covid-19 outbreak: Airlines should be more flexible about cancellations, refunds
The writer urges airlines to allow customers to cancel their flights at no cost, even to destinations other than China, amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Many people are putting their travels on hold as Singapore deals with the Covid-19 outbreak.
The World Health Organisation has also declared the coronavirus a global public health emergency.
My family of four is booked to travel with Scoot to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia next month. I made the booking last year.
More than two weeks ago, I wrote to Scoot requesting a cancellation.
As I did not hear from the airline, I made numerous calls to its customer service hotline, but I could not get through to anyone.
Scoot finally replied on Monday (Feb 17) to say that it received my note and was looking into the matter. On Wednesday, Scoot offered to allow us to change our travel dates at no cost by May 31, and said we would have to bear any difference in airfares.
It is unclear, however, when the coronavirus crisis would tail off, making it hard for us to reschedule our travel plans.
This has left my family in a bind and we would rather cancel the trip.
During this virus outbreak, airlines such as Scoot ought to be more flexible about cancellations and refunds, including for flights to destinations other than China.
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