King Fisher - Be Careful when you Fly

KingFisher – Be Careful when you Fly It

King Fisher , as everyone claims is a great airline, good looking Airhostesses, and great food and service.I have never traveled on it, but when so many people say so , it must be good.


Their rates are higher in Apex than other Airlines, and I being cost conscious,I have never had the opportunity to travel on it.To travel to Mumbai for 75 minutes, I don’t like to pay a 1000 more to eat food or look at pretty girls.This time I went to Mumbai, I traveled by 3 rd AC trains.For me Lalloo is better these days than Vijay Malaya, as I saved more than 3500/- in the difference, one way.Well lets come to the point.


My friends are booked to go Jaipur Goa , 9 tickets, on 17^th June, that is tomorrow.They have reserved the hotels too over there.Tickets worth 44000, one way, they are going with their families to have a good time.


The flight is to leave jaipur at 10/50 am, and arrive Goa at 1 pm.They would be in the hotel at say 2/30, and have the whole day to enjoy, having paid for the hotel in advance.The tickets were booked on 24^th May, and all arrangements made.


Yesterday, my friends were called by one Mr. Vimal Das from Mumbai, telling them that 15^th June is the last date the Kingfisher flight will fly from Jaipur to Goa, and from the 16^th the flights have been cancelled.My friends were stunned,and Vimal told them they can tak the full refund if they want to !


Now just imagine their plight.If they don’t go, their Hotel money is gone.So tomorrow they will take 2 Innovas to Delhi and travel 6 hours by Road and board the Spice Jet flight to Goa around 2 pm, arrive Goa maybe 4 pm and hotel by 5/30 pm, starting from jaipur at 6 am.Whole day is lost.


Now they have to spend a total of 6000 extra on all the tickets, and with 2 taxis going to Delhi and again 2 taxis Delhi to Jaipur, it will cost them 16000 in Taxis alone.And that is besides the long hours they have to put, and 2 days lost of the hotel fun out of the 5 days that they have decided.


Is it not the duty of KingFisher to take them to Delhi at their own cost, and put them on their own flight to Goa or on Spice Jet, as it is not the fault of the passengers , as they had booked the tickets well in advance.But maybe the fine print will tell u that King fisher reserves the right to cancel any flight anytime they wish, and you are on your own.


Jaipur Hyderabad – Sahara Airways


I will tell you my expierence of what happened .We booked two months in advance tickets for Jaipur Hyderabad direct flight from here, this is Dec 05, me wife and daughter to attend a wedding.We reached the Airport and we were informed that from that day itself the Flight had been cancelled indefinetly, and we could take the full refund .Most took the refund, but we had to go.So Air Sahara took us by an AC Bus, around 17 of us to Delhi, and booked us in the 8 pm flight from Delhi to Hyderabad, giving us refreshments all the time .


On the return flight too, we got the first priority to Delhi, and as we landed, we were told to go to the Sahara Counter, where we were met by their Airport Manager Vikrant Kapoor.He was very kind and apologetic too.He booked for us a taxi for Jaipur, and told the driver to stop at Midway, and whatever we ate was to be paid by the taxi driver on behalf of Sahara.He just requested us to sign the Bill so that the Driver dosnt over charge them more.And more than a dozen private cabs were arranged for all of the passengers to Jaipur.


We were so touched by this wonderful gesture by Air Sahara,of whom people did not think much of.And their staff was so courteous to us, all the time telling us they are so sorry.


And look at Kingfisher Airlines , who leave the passenger to fend for themselves.I want to know the power of blogs, whether King Fisher replies to my blog or not,and I am sure within this week they will contact me with their side of their story, which I will present to you all once again.


I always feel Indian Airlines is any day better.They allow u 30 kgs weight againt 20 kgs of KF , and if anything goes wrong they put u up in the hotels at their cost.And they are cheaper too on most sectors, and more reliable too


So guys and gals be very careful, this is what has happened to my friends and could very well happen to you.After all Vijay Mallaya can always say,

DID YOU NOT READ THE FINE PRINT.


Well Mr.Malaya, whether I read the fine print or not, a lot of people are going to read this print of Kamalji.Let us see the reach of this blog, and what the bloggers have to say of their experiences they have encountered with King Fisher and other Airlines.


KAMAL MAHTANI

Hello Kamal Ji,

How R Doing??
Very Good And Important Information U Have Given To Us.
Till Today I Didnt Travel In Flights To Local Places, So Next If We Get That Chance ,will Remember Ur Words.

We Travel From Hyd To Helsinki Via Klm Or Luftansa ,just Once There Was A Minor Problem, My Husband Had To Go To Finland And Due To Some Technical Reasond It Was Cancelled And They Informed Before Hand And Offered To Return Money And Made Apology .but After 2 Hrs Itself They Could Rectify And He Went In The Same Flight.

Bye,
Shashi

Dear Kamalji,

That Sounds Scary.... ! These Big airlines don't bother for the passengers difficulties and just are ready to give the Refund.... But what abt the Hassels which the passenger has to face.....

More over Laloo's Train has become more convienent and effecient with ever rising Fuel prices and Ultimately the Consumer Facing the Burns in the End. Moreover Kingfisher Airlines.... Was never targeted at the Middle class Passengers ..... Vijaya Mallaya was very clever enough to start the Airlines For the Business Class Passengers Who travel by this Airlines on Behalf of the Company's Expense or the Upper business class /Personalities.....


Hahaha... even i would like Vijaya Mallaya to read this Blog and Respond to U.....We all Waitinf for that....


Cheers
vaidehi

It is very sad to know that in India people/organisations get away with all such nonsense. I am sure that when his airlines go international and he does something like this...he will surely be sued to the tunes of millions for putting the passengers to such inconvenience.

We though that these people have travelled globally so after sales service will also be of that high satandard. I wonder how did they compensate the business class and premium passengers.

Did your friends ask for alternate arrangements and they refused or they just took the refund and did not fight for their rights.

This will be interesting to know how they are going to overcome such situations in future.

I have never flied KF too...as it is expensive...we take other airlines which are more reasonable.

Dear Kamalji,

I have to thank you immensely for posting such varied topics, especially the ones like this one need to be publicized and known. For people like me sitting in another country, your informative and candid blogs are very valuable.

Very nice to hear your good experience about Sahara Airlines. Indeed an anomaly in the otherwise apathetic state of affairs. I hope you had a chance to write a letter of appreciation to the Sahara chief applauding him and his staff for such excellent service.

It is indeed painful to see the attitude of airlines like KF. Like Roopa has said, hopefully they will learn a few good things due to their presence in the international sector. Well, on the other hand they may learn things but may apply it only selectively. Because, many times people change only where they know they cannot get away with it. Other places where they can get away with it, they continue their old behavior.

I was reminded of a good incident that a close friend experienced with the world famous Disney Company. This friend and his wife were booked to stay in the Disney resort in Orlando and were going to visit the various theme parks for the whole week. They wanted to book a spot for themselves in the "breakfast with Pooh" thing. One Disney park has this event in the morning where you can book to eat breakfast with your favorite Disney character. When my friend called to book, the person at the other end made a caustic remark about my friend being childless, saying "Why do you want to book? You don't even have kids". My friend's wife was sorely hurt by this remark as they had been trying for a kid for the last 12 yrs but had not succeeded until then. My friend after returning from the vacation called up the Disney customer service number and narrated the incident to them. Within 2 days he got a call from a customer relations manager from Disney firstly apologizing profusely for the faux pas that had happened on Disney's part and then asking my friend to send them (Disney) the amount he (my friend) had spent on their vacation so that Disney could reimburse them for it. Mind you, this was not just for park tickets but the expense for the entire vacation - air fare, stay, eating and of course the tickets to the park! No receipts asked for, nothing! Within a week of my friend telling them the amount, he go a check from Disney for that amount plus year long pass for all Disney theme parks for 2 people for the rest of the year!

Such service always wants me to salute the people behind it. I will go to any length to back up such service. I am even willing to spend a few extra bucks to keep them encouraged. Of course, for bad service and bad attitude I am willing to do the exact opposite no matter how bad it may look to someone. To me, bad and high-handed attitude is not pardonable.

I guess I have written more than enough! Before the length of my FB comes close to the length of your blog, let me end it right here!

SS

Dear Kamalji,
If the Govt. has opened up the skies for the private sector, it is for the convenience of the public. Of course, they have to make their bucks too, but not at the cost of the passenger's comfort.

In the long run, it is the airlines who take care of all these details like not leaving passengers stranded at the end moment that will be around.

My hubby and me took a Go-Air flight last year to Mumbai and though they too cancelled the scheduled flight, they gave us an option to either take a refund or book us for any other flight of theirs to Mumbai. We had to attend a marriage, so we opted for the latter.


hi SS, you write so methodically, even for topics like these. The one thing I like about Americans is their professionalism. Your story is an apt example of this.

Kamalji, waiting to see if VM gets on here!
best,
hasita

Dear Kamal
Maybe you can share the secret of coming with great topics in such quick succession with me?
It certainly reflects only on customer service, a novelty to Indian merchants!
And airlines have definetly not heard of it. It is sad they abuse customers in this manner and we have no choice but to put up with this lot.
In the U.S the reverse is true. Customer is almost always treated number one and customer service rules.
Unfortunately there are some customers who abuse this system too. And I have seen quite a few times some fellow indians abuse the customer service provided to their advantages. Very similar to what you have narrated that the airlines did to the customers.
Just wanted to point there are both sides to this. :) Keep blogin:)

Kamalji,

Kamaal ki topic. Comparing the two airlines.

I would still vote for our apna desi p urana indian airlines. though the ladies are not eye catching in your sense, the customer service is still good.

Since I could not get oman air, gulf air, i had recently returned back by IA.

Coming to the airlines, it is more competition and the customer service is very poor. We cannot blame all of them. Though you have pointed most of the points, did you know there was problem to refund the money if your flight(most airlines.) was cancelled by either way.. now the govt. has taken steps against this and has given strict rules for refunding the money as early as possible.


But still lot of people would not mind travelling these airlines for want of cutting short their travelling time..

last but not least, you cannot beat laloo's fares.....

Originally Posted by yenetishashi

Hello Kamal Ji,

How R Doing??
Very Good And Important Information U Have Given To Us.
Till Today I Didnt Travel In Flights To Local Places, So Next If We Get That Chance ,will Remember Ur Words.

We Travel From Hyd To Helsinki Via Klm Or Luftansa ,just Once There Was A Minor Problem, My Husband Had To Go To Finland And Due To Some Technical Reasond It Was Cancelled And They Informed Before Hand And Offered To Return Money And Made Apology .but After 2 Hrs Itself They Could Rectify And He Went In The Same Flight.

Bye,
Shashi

Dear Shashi,

Glad yr DH did not face this fproblem.

But the next time u book a KF Ticket , ask the Airline in advance what happens if they cancell the flight, will they make flight and hotel arrangments for u, if they are at fault ? Take their answer in writing, which u can later prove in a consumer court.

Being private, these people thjink they can take the poublic for a ride, and have them at their mercy.Somebody will take them to task for sure.Yes KF is not a chariatable organization, they are here to make money for sure, but not at the cost of their own whims and fancies.If u have ccancelled yr flights or rerouted them, u have to take care of the passengers who booked well in advance.This is the least thy could do for them.

what use is paper publicity, when u get word of mouth bad publicity ?

Regards.kamal

Dear kamalji,

thank u for warning us against kingfisher....bad experience for your friends but i am sure if they had used a strong language KF would have arranged an alternate flight with some other airlines...unfortunately customer service leaves a lot to be desired in india and that is the first thing we realise when we come abroad.........but nowadays it has improved a lot....take the railways for instance....if there is a kamalji in the train keeping u company with all his humour ....i would prefer AC train to air travel anyday...

but i have heard that the airhostesses are very pretty in their tight fitting dresses in KF....

Mindi