"There is no fallback. With a LCC you have rules and conditions that are layed down on the documentation you agree to at the time of purchase. Less than 1% would be aware of those conditions despite the fact that they ticked the box saying they acknowleged them.
Tiger have however stated that they are reaccommodating clients on other airlines where they are able to ex OOL, which is more than is generally offered by DJ or JQ so at least they appear to be having a go. End of schoolies will be complicating things.
Unfortunately if you buy a duck then you should not expect a pheasant, but this one appears to be trying to emulate a pheasant at least.
Cantstandya - the ones that paid $40 had all the conditions laid out in front of them and I am sure none of them read them.
Some things were never meant to fly."
Ok, so Tiger can do it their way, or have Consumer Affairs rules imposed on them. If they stick to the letter of their contract, they can have the coverage on TV news, front page headlines and questions in Parliament. You can read the posts about Globespan in the Airlines thread to see publicity that no airline wants.
Some day, someone will go to a comsumer affairs tribunal, who will say that a $40 refund is not good enough. State Governments will change laws to that there is a Duty of Care. If the airline cannot provide the service, it will be the airline's problem to get the people home somehow, if they have already started the journey. Nowadays Ryanair will offer passengers a choice of next flight, which may be six days away, or a bus now which will take 24 hours to get home. If Tiger does not mind being on the front page of the Papers, that is the way to treat people.
So, Tiger realises this and they are putting people on other airline flights. The advantage of having a rich parent. It does show that they know that the way they treat people when things go wrong is what people will remember.
(If an airline does let you down like this, when the airline is not big enough to stand the cost of paying to get you home, would travel insurance cover the cost of getting yourself home, when airline fails to carry you?)