China Airlines cancelled flight

[Stu Roughton]

Good evening everyone,

Looking for a bit of advice on this one if i may please...

We are a family of 4 (children 10 months and 2.5 yrs at time of flying).

I booked us onto CI Premium economy about 3 months back in January. We fly out of SYD on Sunday the 17th June leaving at 12:55.

However, this afternoon i received an email saying this flight has been cancelled and we have been bumped onto the next flight being 22:10 hrs.

This doesn't work with our schedule as we then have to take a later flight from TPE to AMS and will miss our connection with KLM airlines to BHX.

Further to this we have classic reward flights already booked with QF from BNE to SYD on Saturday 16th June and a nights accommodation at the Stamford plaza Sydney airport (mascot).

I called CI SYD office who immediately suggested they could fly us the previous day 16th June from BNE to TPE at 2300 arriving 0555hrs. They will then book us into the Novotel TPE from 0800 - 2000hrs then onto our connecting flight to AMS which leaves around midnight.

Is this a fair proposal? We stand to lose 18000 QFF points plus all the hassle of rearrangement. They have asked for proof of the QF flights and the Stamford booking which i have provided and stated they will look into refunding this.

If this were you in the circumstances what do you envisage would be a fair outcome?

Many thanks

SR

 

[dajop]

Is this a fair proposal? We stand to lose 18000 QFF points plus all the hassle of rearrangement. They have asked for proof of the QF flights and the Stamford booking which i have provided and stated they will look into refunding this.

If this were you in the circumstances what do you envisage would be a fair outcome?

Another way of looking at this is you are saving 6000 QFF points .... and you are getting a day at the Novotel Taipei instead of night at the Stamford.

I am not sure about Stamford, but sometimes airport hotels can be lenient when airlines cancel flights. Worth checking.

 

[Stu Roughton]

Another way of looking at this is you are saving 6000 QFF points .... and you are getting a day at the Novotel Taipei instead of night at the Stamford.

I am not sure about Stamford, but sometimes airport hotels can be lenient when airlines cancel flights. Worth checking.

Thanks for that advice dajop...interesting perspective and i think a forced stopover in the Novotel TPE may break it up better than the overnight at start of trip at the Stamford...cheers

 

[trentusjuventus]

Another way of looking at this is you are saving 6000 QFF points .... and you are getting a day at the Novotel Taipei instead of night at the Stamford.

I am not sure about Stamford, but sometimes airport hotels can be lenient when airlines cancel flights. Worth checking.

If traveling with young children, one less flight might be considered more convenient.

Just note that there is literally nothing around the Novotel in TPE, so it could be a long day if you're stuck there, but then on the upside after a bit of a rest in the morning you could head in to Taipei on the train and do some sightseeing and/or eating.

Any chance of cancelling the award flights, even with penalty to get back some points?

 

[Deleted member]

Mrs GPH and I have taken the approach that when booking similar types of itinerary, we opt to allow a decent amount of time between sectors where different carriers are involved. This has served us well as n the past. The big issue for you is that you’re dealing with a larger number or f pax, I’m guessing some young’uns as well.
So take the earlier flight, and enjoy the experience. Hopefully it will be a positive one.

 

[Stu Roughton]

If traveling with young children, one less flight might be considered more convenient.

Just note that there is literally nothing around the Novotel in TPE, so it could be a long day if you're stuck there, but then on the upside after a bit of a rest in the morning you could head in to Taipei on the train and do some sightseeing and/or eating.

Any chance of cancelling the award flights, even with penalty to get back some points?

Yes the flights were 24k QFF and 6000 QFF per person for cancellation. So stand to lose 18000 QFF but get 6000 back. Thanks for the heads up on the novotel. My thoughts exactly re a bit of rest then a few hours in Taipei. Cheers

 

[Stu Roughton]

Mrs GPH and I have taken the approach that when booking similar types of itinerary, we opt to allow a decent amount of time between sectors where different carriers are involved. This has served us well as n the past. The big issue for you is that you’re dealing with a larger number or f pax, I’m guessing some young’uns as well.
So take the earlier flight, and enjoy the experience. Hopefully it will be a positive one.

Thanks, yes we left 4 hour layover in AMS and were hoping for no delays so maybe this will work for the better flying direct from BNE with the forced stopover breaking the flights up. Ta

Cheers

 

[DJSYD81]

I was booked on the same flight timing for early May in J with a through connection to FRA - Same thing happened they cancelled the day flight and changed to the night flight which also meant I would miss connection for TPE-FRA. Called them and they offered to fly me a day later or two days earlier. Said not acceptable so got a full refund and booked with Qatar.

 

[stm1sydney]

Sounds like they are doing a Jetstar and just cancelling flights due to insufficient bookings. At least they are trying to help with workarounds, though.

 

[Mr Pumblechook]

Sounds like they are doing a Jetstar and just cancelling flights due to insufficient bookings.

They reduced the schedule from 14 weekly to 10 weekly late last year and looks like that's been carried through the rest of this year (the evening flight is still daily but the daytime flight mentioned by the posters above is now just three times a week) so it's a case of reduced schedule, not cancelling individual flights.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

If this were you in the circumstances what do you envisage would be a fair outcome?

Many thanks

SR

To me the offer looks pretty appealing!

It sucks that you lose the QFFF points, but premium economy is still premium economy - not a flat bed. This way you get to have a nice hotel )and they may include some sort of meals?) and a sleep in a proper bed. You'll arrive in much better shape than 26 hours of sitting upright.

 

[Stu Roughton]

Yes, it's looking like a reasonable proposition. Still no news if they will refund the Stamford or the QF connection (points so hard to establish a $ value). Without trying to seem too pushy i would expect a refund on the Stamford booking at least seeing as they would have offered to put us at at the Novotel anyway.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yes, it's looking like a reasonable proposition. Still no news if they will refund the Stamford or the QF connection (points so hard to establish a $ value). Without trying to seem too pushy i would expect a refund on the Stamford booking at least seeing as they would have offered to put us at at the Novotel anyway.

They're going to look into the matter of the Stamford. I think you might just have to wait on that one and see what happens before considering next steps. This might be something your travel insurance will cover, possibly even the FF points. But there may be an excess.

 

[moa999]

I think what they have offered is very reasonable.

This is the issue with not having everything on one PNR. You can lose out when timings change, or delays occur.

A risk you take when you book these kind of connections to presumably save a few $s.

 

[dajop]

Yes, it's looking like a reasonable proposition. Still no news if they will refund the Stamford or the QF connection (points so hard to establish a $ value). Without trying to seem too pushy i would expect a refund on the Stamford booking at least seeing as they would have offered to put us at at the Novotel anyway.

Did you try emailing Stamford with the documentation from the airline?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

A risk you take when you book these kind of connections to presumably save a few $s.

Absolutely nothing wrong with that! China Airlines was offering a fantastic price for a good product. And they don't fly to BHX. I'd have done exactly the same booking separate tickets.

 

[Stu Roughton]

Did you try emailing Stamford with the documentation from the airline?

No but i intend toover the weekend. Thanks again mate

 

[Stu Roughton]

I think what they have offered is very reasonable.

This is the issue with not having everything on one PNR. You can lose out when timings change, or delays occur.

A risk you take when you book these kind of connections to presumably save a few $s.

Of course. However i didn't reasonably expect the entire flight to be cancelled...Plus CI has a good product by looks of it in Y+ so thought we would give them a shot. They only connect to LGW in UK hence our AMS termination to "save a few $" as you put it...

 

[Stu Roughton]

Absolutely nothing wrong with that! China Airlines was offering a fantastic price for a good product. And they don't fly to BHX. I'd have done exactly the same booking separate tickets.

Yes we were - and still are - very happy with CI and they came in cheaper than all the main players in Y? They are offering contingencies here which is a bonus so sure we will get this resolved. Thanks again for the solid advice mel_ traveller. Cheers

 

[jetpack]

I actually think that what CI offered was pretty good. Your departure from BNE and arrival in AMS remains unchanged. More importantly you are not out of pocket because of what CI did.

If the flights did not change you would have used the QF flight and stayed at the Stamford so I consider those as sunk costs. I think that CI has already somewhat reimbursed your
a) QF flight by changing your CI booking to depart from BNE
b) Stamford stay by booking you at the Novotel which by the way costs more this Saturday than the Stamford

While I can totally understand the desire to get a reimbursement for bookings that will go unused I would personally not get too upset if CI doesn't reimburse the QF flight and Stamford stay.