Thai Airways breach of contract of carriage?

[Too Much Baggage]

A month ago I purchased two business-class tickets on TG to fly SIN-LAX in Oct and received confirmation & tickets. Last week I discovered TG cancelled the BKK-LAX-return segments for my dates of travel.

According to TG's contract of carriage:
"9.1.2 Before we accept your booking, we will notify you of the scheduled flight time in effect as of that time, and it will be shown on your Ticket. It is possible we may need to change the scheduled flight time subsequent to issuance of your Ticket. If you provide us with contact information, we will endeavour to notify you of any such changes. If, after you purchase your Ticket, we make a significant change to the scheduled flight time, which is not acceptable to you, and we are unable to book you on an alternate flight which is acceptable to you, you will be entitled to a refund in accordance with Article 10.2.

9.2.2 Except as otherwise provided by the Convention, if we cancel a flight, fail to operate a flight reasonably according to the schedule, fail to stop at your destination or Stopover destination, or cause you to miss a connecting flight on which you hold a confirmed reservation, we shall, at your option, either:

9.2.2.2 within a reasonable period of time re-route you to the destination shown on your Ticket by our own services or those of another carrier, or by other mutually agreed means and class of transportation without additional charge...."
TG has offered to put me on TG flights a day later (outbound) and a day earlier (return), but with no offer of accommodation or reimbursement for the 24-hr BKK layover they are imposing.

I asked TG to reroute me any one of four alternate flights (on other carriers, since TG has no flight of their own going to LAX on those days). They have flatly refused. If I refuse their above offer, they want to refund me.

I think the terms of their contract of carriage are clear and that they are not acting in good faith. What have I missed? Do I have any recourse?

[Final 3 Greens]

Not a lawyer, but "within a reasonable period of time" is pretty ambiguous and they may think that this is their let out.

Can you get a whole ticket refund on the basis that it is no longer "fit for purpise" and if you did, could you book a comparable deal elsewhere?

[goshdarnit]

TMB,
Is this a special deal whereby it is cheaper to fly Thai SIN-LAX via BKK than BKK-LAX? Maybe why they are not so keen on alternate routes?
Refund clearly not a problem - but if this is a good deal then a refund will not get you what you want buying an alternate ticket!
Good luck!

GDI

[Too Much Baggage]

Cannot book comparable deal anywhere (took me 8 months to find this one!). I think the fare is what's making them balk, but the contract does not have different terms for different fares.

Initially, the travel agent did not want to advocate on my behalf, but I insisted. TG has rebuffed TA time & again. I think all are hoping I will take the alternate TG flight offer, or the refund, and go away. But time is on my side, so I think I will stick it out to the bitter end.

I like what the courts in the Philippines have had to say in similar cases...
When an airline issues a ticket to a passenger, confirmed for a particular flight on a certain date, a contract of carriage arises. The passenger then has every right to expect that he be transported on that flight and on that date. If he does not, then the carrier opens itself to a suit for a breach of contract of carriage. The airline is not without recourse to enable it to fulfill its obligation to transport the passenger to his destination.

When a passenger contracts for a specific flight, he has a purpose in making that choice which must be respected. This choice, once exercised, must not be impaired by a breach on the part of the airline without the latter incurring any liability. For the airline's failure to bring the passenger to his destination, as scheduled, is clearly a breach of its contract of carriage for which it can be held liable.
What do you think? Kick it up a notch to the VP level?

[Bangkokeasy]

Sounds from what you say, like you may have booked and be flying from Singapore. Doesn't matter to the merits of your case, but will affect the attitude of your travel agent and the first response of the people you speak to!

I don't have any connection with them, but in my experience, TG are pretty good at this sort of thing (and far more flexible than, say, SQ). If you haven't already, I suggest popping along to the TG office in (I think) Cecil St, and having a chat with them. If you were in Bangkok, I would recommend to continue to press via the TA (as they would deal Thai to Thai), but in Singapore, you may be best to go direct. The way you approach them is quite important, in that above all, you need to be polite and reasonable, while being firm, i.e. they have put you in a very difficult position, you must travel, your schedule is simply not flexible, they have issued a confirmed ticket for those days, and this is what you would like them to do about it. Making threats will not help. Being reasonable is important, not only in your approach, but in what you ask for. For instance, if they cancel one day's flight, is it more reasonable to ask for a free night in Bangkok, or to be reprotected on another carrier? I would suggest the latter. To ask for the former would suggest that the travel days don't really matter.

They will have to refer to Bangkok, before reprotecting you on another carrier, which I suspect they may not yet have done. They can offer you the refund without refering.

If that fails, then you will need to approach them via another route. If there is a Singapore travel agents' association, you might try that, on the basis that they have issued a confirmed ticket, or even one of TG's code share partners on that route, United and Singapore Airlines. Sometimes the threat of loss of face works in the Orient!

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[Too Much Baggage]

Thank you, Bangkokeasy, for your sage advice.

I have considered showing my face at the TG office, but probably would have made the mistake of the "Stormin' Norman" approach. :=

"Polite & reasonable...polite & reasonable...polite & reasonable....," chanting to self as I enter the office.

It has taken me a lifetime to realise the art of getting what you want does not rest in your rights, but how talented a negotiator you are.

I'll let you know how I get on.

[Al Fakhem]

In my own experience, TG are extremely flexible and helpful. I have, for instance, not once been asked to pay any extra charges for having rebooked flights on what were (based on the information printed on the ticket) heavily restricted fares.

Also, whilst I am a ROP Gold member and my wife "only" silver, I can say that the courtesy and level of service displayed to her at all times has been on par with my own experiences.

I would truly approach one of their offices in person and try to sort the issue out.

[Too Much Baggage]

In the past three weeks I have politely spoken with the TG sales rep in SIN, faxed a reasonable letter to the TG VP of Customer Service in BKK, and popped in to the TG office on Cecil St in SIN.

Two weeks ago, sales rep told me he is not in a position to reroute/reprotect me on another carrier and insists we wait to hear from TG BKK office. A week later he asked the TA for my AA confirmation number, so I got my hopes up.

When I followed up with the TA yesterday, I was told my case has been turned over to the TG "complaints dept" in SIN. As for TG asking for my AA itinerary, it's like it never happened.

The TG VP in BKK has remained strangely silent.

When I spoke with the complaints department today, she maintains this is a "winter schedule change" and not a cancellation—I beg to differ. Curiously, she also said I am the only pax she knows of with this issue!

So, instead of helpful & flexible, I have found TG to be obtuse & insincere. I still have five weeks before travel, but the longer they delay, the fewer options I have. This is not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling about flying TG.

[Gaza]

It looks as though TG made a schedule change - cancelling flights on Tuesday and Thursday - after you made your booking. 9.1.2 of their Conditions of Carriage give them the right to make changes and offer you alternatives.

If you are booked on a discounted TG Business Class ticket this will only be valid on TG services. If they rebook you on another airlines service they will have to pay that airline the full cost of the ticket; something they are highly unlikely to do. Airlines will do this on the day of departure if a problem arises that means they cannot operate the service but this far from the date of departure they will reschedule.

I think you will spend a lot of time and energy on this but end up with the same result - the offer of a refund or transfer to other TG operated flights on a different day.

[Too Much Baggage]

I think TG is hiding behind semantics. This had the affect of a cancellation but they are getting away with calling it a schedule change.

9.1.2 states, in part, "If, after you purchase your Ticket, we make a significant change to the scheduled flight time, which is not acceptable to you, and we are unable to book you on an alternate flight which is acceptable to you, you will be entitled to a refund....."

Where does it say that the alternate flight has to be TG only? And where does it say the policy only applies to non-discounted fares?

But, you are right...it has been a colossal waste of time & energy. All they have offered is transfer to other TG operated flights on different days, spread out over four days, actually.....or a refund.

I was told today my TG refund will take 3-6 months. They never mentioned refund were immediate in their conditions, so I guess I'm getting what I deserve...a smooth-as-silk royal screwing. No soup for me!

I do appreciate the feedback, though, Gaza. It's more than TG was ever willing to admit to me.

[ZFT]

Ironically after glancing at this thread over the past 4 weeks or so, yesterday I received a phone all from TG advising me that my BKK – LAX – BKK flights had been cancelled on the days I had booked in November.

My tickets too were business and heavily restricted, no change to 1st sector, no refund and TG only etc to get the best possible deal.

I visit to their ticket office resolved all. Yes I had to change my itinerary by a day and being BKK based, in my case there is no financial impact but I took the risk of buying a heavily discounted ticket with the associated restrictions. This time is backfired (slightly). Most times I gain.

However if your ticket, like mine is restricted TG only then your options are the same as mine – accept the revised dates or accept the refund.

Incidentally, refunds from TG in the past have been very quick although I do purchase directly from TG. Could your delay be due to an agent issue?

I fly TG very frequently and (so far) it has been Silky Smooth.

I hope things get resolved for you.

[Too Much Baggage]

ZFT, I feel your pain.

But I am having difficulty understanding what the fare paid has to do with the remedy under the contract of carriage. No where in the contract does it say that the terms are different for a discounted ticket.

I would understand me having to abide by the terms of a restricted ticket if I initiated a change, but that is not the case here. TG is the one who unilaterally cancelled the flight for some self-enriching motive of interest. The remedy is clearly spelled out in the contract. As far as I'm concerned, they are in breach of contract, but unless I am willing to take it to court, the deck is stacked against me.

I cannot accept that, if TG offers a discounted ticket and I accept the offer to buy at that price, that I have somehow given up my rights under the contract of carriage.

For what it's worth, no one at TG nor at Zuji has told me I am wrong or have misunderstood the contract. They have just refused to do what is promised.

Ironically, this is from Thai Airways Code of Ethics:
8. Honor promises and terms offered to clients, and where it is impossible to do so, inform them promptly so that a suitable solution can be found.
9. Refrain from setting conditions that are unfair to the clients.And I just discovered that Travelocity (Zuji's parent company), from whom I purchased the ticket, has a "Guarantee": "Everything you book will be right, or we'll work with our travel partners to make it right. Right away."

Yeah, right. I'd bring it up with them, but am unwilling to take another beligerant tongue-lashing like the one I was subject to by a Zuji customer care supervisor this past Thursday.

It was also amusing to read the first item in the Travelocity Customer Bill of Rights: You have the right to what you booked. Apparently this does not apply to me.

Thanks for listening.