Do we have a right to complain about poor travel experiences during the pandemic?

[Mattg]

It's obvious to anyone that's travelled during the COVID-19 pandemic that things aren't the same as they used to be. Obviously there are increased hygiene measures in place - which makes complete sense - but there's also a lot of cost-cutting going on. Airlines, hotels and many other businesses have used the pandemic as an excuse to reduce costs and, in turn, reduce service.

I've read lots of airline and hotel reviews over recent months written by travellers in many different countries and on many different airlines/hotels/etc. I've noticed a regular pattern. Whenever the reviewer criticises an element of the service (be it poor/no catering, lack of service, inattentive staff, lounges closed, etc.) there are invariably people that comment that it's a first-world problem, and that the reviewer needs to get a grip & put their poor travel experience into perspective given what's happening around the world at the moment.

Now, I totally agree that issues like poor airline service pale in comparison to the suffering of many around the world that have COVID-19. I don't dispute that for a second. But should the global pandemic really mean that businesses should be immune from any sort of criticism? Or that travel websites should stop reviewing & critiquing travel experiences because some may consider it insensitive?

I don't really have a strong opinion one way or another - I can see both sides. So I'm interested in the thoughts of the AFF community.

 

[luxury-lizard]

I've booked a stay at a large-ish hotel here in Tas. E-mail from it tells me today that 'Due to government guidelines ..." the room won't be serviced during the stay. I'll be asking exactly which guideline is being referred to. I've had other hotel stays recently and servicing was done.

I've had hotels do (ie not do) the same recently - "due to Covid - no servicing" also mini-bar was empty - there was a Nespresso machine but only 2 small paper cups, 2 plastic glasses in the bathroom, only 1 hand towel and 1 face washer even though we were 2 guests. Going to the bar and requesting glasses and real cups fixed some of those issues.

On a QF flight SYD-CNS (back when the QLD border opened for a couple of weeks) - economy passengers received a cello-warped muffin and a small bottle of room temperature water; business class appeared to be full service. What really surprised me is that while nearly all passengers wore face masks some of the flight attendants did not - go figure !!!

And while I'm on a roll - what about venues (restaurants & bars mainly) only open 3 or maybe 4 days a week in spite of there being plenty of customers (ie you can't get a booking close in) - with limited menus (e.g. 3-4 entrees and mains and only 4 wines to choose from) and fixed time slots.

 

[albatross710]

And while I'm on a roll - what about venues (restaurants & bars mainly) only open 3 or maybe 4 days a week in spite of there being plenty of customers (ie you can't get a booking close in) - with limited menus (e.g. 3-4 entrees and mains and only 4 wines to choose from) and fixed time slots.

Here in Qld I would think some restaurants/cafe are going well. The casual places for sure. Try getting an easy tale at your favourite place on weekend. Any country town within 100Kms of Brisbane is packed for weekends. It is still early days of the pandemic.....we have two years to go.

 

[nutwood]

I've booked a stay at a large-ish hotel here in Tas. E-mail from it tells me today that 'Due to government guidelines ..." the room won't be serviced during the stay. I'll be asking exactly which guideline is being referred to. I've had other hotel stays recently and servicing was done.

Just a money-saving exercise, I suspect.



Government too - don't forget the ABC got caught out too .

I've been travelling quite a lot throughout Covid and I don't think I've had a single hotel room serviced since it began.
On the other hand, many places have been very thorough in their precautions. Some are leaving rooms vacant for 48 hours between guests. That has to impact the bottom line so I can't really complain if I have the same towels for two nights.
The other interesting thing I've noticed, that has impacted me, is a minimum booking restriction. I'm discovering some places are only available for three nights or more. I'm thinking this is a response to the costs of additional cleaning between guests but it's a pain to someone forced to drive long distances, who's only after somewhere to crash for the night, rather than crashing in the night!

 

[SOPOOR]

Sickies over 2-minute noodles. Virgin Australia cabin crew are calling in sick to avoid dealing with premium passengers upset about being served 2-minute noodles.

NoCookies | The Australian

www.theaustralian.com.au

$5 they didn't provide hot water citing covid restrictions too

If I got that on a business class , I'd definitely attempt a chargeback

 

[MEL_Traveller]

$5 they didn't provide hot water citing covid restrictions too

If I got that on a business class , I'd definitely attempt a chargeback

To be fair, their website is pretty clear:

We're currently offering complimentary water and a snack, irrespective of cabin. Complimentary meals and the purchase of additional food and drinks will not be available on board.​

​

Hard to complain if you willingly take the product as advertised?

 

[SOPOOR]

To be fair, their website is pretty clear:

We're currently offering complimentary water and a snack, irrespective of cabin. Complimentary meals and the purchase of additional food and drinks will not be available on board.​

​

Hard to complain if you willingly take the product as advertised?

well, if that was mentioned at the start fair enough,
however, they shouldnt be charging full prices if significant cutbacks are being made

 

[MEL_Traveller]

however, they shouldnt be charging full prices if significant cutbacks are being made

That's the thing... what *is* the full price? And what's a discount? With dynamic pricing it's almost impossible to tell whether a discount has been applied or not

 

[SOPOOR]

That's the thing... what *is* the full price? And what's a discount? With dynamic pricing it's almost impossible to tell whether a discount has been applied or not

fair point, I get the vibe many of the people complaining about not getting this and that are unaware of not getting it, unless they didnt read , or the notifications were in such fine print

I will be booking flights for family members over the next few months and sincerely hope its not going to be a dressed up premium seat

 

[drron]

To be fair, their website is pretty clear:

We're currently offering complimentary water and a snack, irrespective of cabin. Complimentary meals and the purchase of additional food and drinks will not be available on board.​

​

Hard to complain if you willingly take the product as advertised?

So paying more than $6 over the JQ price on VA is not good value.$6 being the cost of a JQ snack now and you do get the complimentary water.

 

[Reggie]

This thread was an interesting read from this side of the world (Manchester). To give you an idea of what I have experienced

5 flights cancelled by airline (easyjet) and refunds were in account within thirty to 45 days
Accommodation in Majorca (through Booking.com) refunded even though no refundable
Accommodation in Copenhagen (through AirBnB) refunded as I cancelled prior to non cancellation date
Accommodation in Barcelona (through Booking.com) refused to refund (Stay is for next Friday 23rd Oct)
Flight to Barcelona on Ryanair, they're still flying so stiff, flight cost was appox GBP90, Ryanair change fee GBP125
My mum's return flights PER-MAN-PER in J during May on Emirates through Qantas, were cancelled, but took over 90 days to be refunded
My 11 yo sons flights MAN-PER-MAN in December (which wasn't going to happen) were changed to a 20 hour stopper over in Doha, so I declined and requested refund which was in account within 2 weeks.

I have been travelling within England for work since mid May, at first there was breakfast in bags and no servicing of rooms, no restaurant, bar service limited to cans of soft drinks and beer cans (this was a Hilton Hotel).

Some hotels and many many pubs have still not reopened, the variations in services is quite surprising. One of my colleagues, booked a hotel through our corporate travel booker, to arrive at said hotel and find it hasn't been open for six months.

The hotels I stayed at week before last, restaurant is now open, bar is open, full cooked english breakfast and rooms now being serviced daily. Even the fitness centers and pools have reopened (Sauna and steam room still shut). You have to book the gym and pool, but not a problem as I managed to get a booking when I wanted.

Prior to making my booking for next week, checked with hotel about breakfast (not paying for a breakfast bag), and found out that not only are they doing full cooked breakfast, they also have the continental self serve open, but all the items are individually wrapped, and constant cleaning happening.

As an aside, the hotels undertaking the full cooked english are now undertaking table service rather than self service, and they have indicated they are unlikely to go back as the savings in wasted food or overeating has plummeted, and even with the extra staff costs they are making more money.

So in answer to the OP, if service has returned here in the UK, I think you can expect to receive the service advertised over there. I think there is a lot of things being blamed on COVID which is purely cost cutting.

YMMV

 

[MEL_Traveller]

So paying more than $6 over the JQ price on VA is not good value.$6 being the cost of a JQ snack now and you do get the complimentary water.

Depends on the other benefits? Whether bags are included, and also how short you are... Jetstar seat pitch is 29 inches, Virgin is 31. And of course flight timing.

 

[Toula92122]

I think there is a lot of hiding behind CV as an excuse to cut costs and I think as long as one is not being a drama queen about it, it is ok to complain.

We recently had a stay at a Hyatt Regency and were told on check in no room service unless requested. We were staying for 5 nights and were happy to not have anyone in the suite. But if you as a business are making that decision and you know I am staying for 5 nights how about providing proper supplies. 2 bottles of water when water is supposed to be complimentary, 1 paper cup for the coffee machine, 3 coffee pods and 2 creamers, no glasses or cups for water. 3 towels and 3 face clothes for 2 people for 5 days. It came across as nothing more than attempt to be cheap. They could have easily gone around hanging a plastic bag on the door each day containing water and coffee pods etc. Why is the onus on me the customer to request toilet roll when they have made the decision not to service rooms?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I think there is a lot of hiding behind CV as an excuse to cut costs and I think as long as one is not being a drama queen about it, it is ok to complain.

We recently had a stay at a Hyatt Regency and were told on check in no room service unless requested. We were staying for 5 nights and were happy to not have anyone in the suite. But if you as a business are making that decision and you know I am staying for 5 nights how about providing proper supplies. 2 bottles of water when water is supposed to be complimentary, 1 paper cup for the coffee machine, 3 coffee pods and 2 creamers, no glasses or cups for water. 3 towels and 3 face clothes for 2 people for 5 days. It came across as nothing more than attempt to be cheap. They could have easily gone around hanging a plastic bag on the door each day containing water and coffee pods etc. Why is the onus on me the customer to request toilet roll when they have made the decision not to service rooms?

Agree. My first thought when reading the start of your post is that they should put a (paper) bag outside each room every morning with replacement tea/coffee/water. Unless they think someone will nick it? Or have a set of bags by reception people can take.

On the flip side, I definitely wouldn't want any staff in my room during the stay! Even if it was for a week.

 

[luxury-lizard]

Generally - I don't really like daily housekeeping (ie strangers in my room) but I do want the ammenities replaced and fresh towels (depending on how long I'm staying). However, I'm sure we've all experienced ammenities not being replaced even in "normal" times - it's one of my bug bears (by ammenities I include: water, coffee pods, toiletries, etc).

 

[Gremlin]

And while I'm on a roll - what about venues (restaurants & bars mainly) only open 3 or maybe 4 days a week in spite of there being plenty of customers (ie you can't get a booking close in) - with limited menus (e.g. 3-4 entrees and mains and only 4 wines to choose from) and fixed time slots.

My guess is that you're somewhere where there is still 1 per 4sqm? If so, don't be so quick to blame the venues...

I've spoken to numerous restaurant owners around here who had very similar experiences when our restrictions were 1 per 4sqm. Basically they weren't able to do enough covers to offer a full menu. Obviously the fuller the menu, the more variety you require in your produce, etc - with limited covers, they had to either cut the menu drastically or accept a lot more food wastage (and cost obviously!). Fixed time slots are not popular with customers, but it's a way to ensure that the number of covers can be maximised.

Similarly, it wasn't profitable for them to be open 6 or 7 days at 1 per 4sqm, so they cut their opening hours or days. For many they weren't profitable on any night of service and were only above water due to JobKeeper paying (effectively) all their wages.

The general feedback now is that 1 per 2sqm gives them a fighting chance, but life is still difficult. I've heard that revenues are up between 15% and 85% (depending on a bunch of localised factors) on what they were when they were 1 per 4sqm. Pretty much all the restaurants I've been to recently are now back to full menus. Some still have fixed time slots.

 

[Katie]

One of the FAs on our delayed flight from LRE-BNE commented when we actually got to fly home the next day just how happy and calm most of the passengers were. Even those who'd been bussed to Barcaldine for their accommodation (1.5hr trip each way!).

Even the lady who was quietly talking to doctors at a BNE hospital before our original departure on the Sunday afternoon (he father was having braing surgery IIRC, and she wasn't able to accompany him on the medevac to BNE on the Sat or Sun) was calm and didn't get grumpy. People let the families with little kids to the front of the line for making arrangements after the flight was eventually cancelled, etc.

Overall, most people took the situation in their stride and didn't complain.

But it reminds me that I still need to call QF about compensation for our extra night's accommodation and our dinner.

 

[BAM1748]

Yes complaints are a legit thing, but as someone else mentioned, keep in perspective and relative to the price you're paying for said service.

 

[nutwood]

Another factor that affected hotels and restaurants, is the approach they took to Job Keeper. From the discussions I've had, some, especially those with a small number of regular staff, availed themselves of Job Keeper. This gave them every incentive to be open as their wages bill was being covered, even if they couldn't operate at full capacity.
Others, with a larger number of casuals, didn't bother and just let their workers go. Absolutely no incentive to open, unless they could do do so at a profitable level.
It must have been a hard decision for a lot of places. Imagine being a small business with twenty casuals and having to fork out $30k/fortnight in the hope that the ATO will re-pay you next month. Especially when the "Guaranteed for six months, even if things improve" turned into "Income statements every month and we'll be reviewing it in June.."!

 

[drron]

Depends on the other benefits? Whether bags are included, and also how short you are... Jetstar seat pitch is 29 inches, Virgin is 31. And of course flight timing.

Though flying BNE-LST recently the JQ price was $2 cheaper and included 25Kg baggage,catering and 800 QFF points.
Plus an afternoon flight v VA early morning as well as direct rather than via SYD saving 1.5 hours.