How are things where YOU are? (in relation to the Corona Virus)

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Probably for the best that it is cancelled, before we left Taiwan there was a announcement that all foreigners would have to do a two week quarantine before entering the country. Considering our stay was only a week it would have been our whole trip😱. We were very lucky to get in before the changes. 

Yes, we wouldn't have wanted to go there under the current circumstances. I wasn't certain we'd get a refund so was holding off cancelling the flights to see if they were going to change their policies - their website only indicated refunds for bookings that started up to 30th April but once they cancelled one of the flights I contacted them. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

We had a flight with Peach Airline that got cancelled and they offered a full refund or change of flight. We had to take the flight change to connect back to our flight to Sydney but I thought it was refreshing that they offered a straight up refund instead of credit as other airlines seem to be doing🤗. 

It certainly was a great relief that China Airlines were offering refunds. It was a substantial amount of money, and we certainly won't be thinking of going to Europe again in the next year or two.

[MMDown Under]

8 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I had another sad event today - cancelling our Europe flights. I received an email the other day from China Airlines cancelling the Taiwan to Rome flight. I wasn't sure what that would mean for us so I phoned them. No problems, they said, you can have a full refund, all you have to do is apply for it online, it will take around 7 days. So easy! I'm very impressed with China Airlines, just disappointed we won't get to fly with them.

I'm pleased you will be getting a full refund from China Airlines.  I fly with EVA Air, which flies out of Brisbane, to London, on a discount business class. I love the airline and always  order Chinese tea and Chinese meals.

[The_Big_M]

5 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Because of the way the flights worked we woukd have had a full day there. I was looking forward to seeing a bit of Taipei and going to the original Din Tai Fung restaurant. Ah well, maybe another time. 

 

Best way to do it. TPE airport is a bit out of town though, and transfers aren't great. But locals are friendly and things are fairly efficient.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I am now even more impressed by China Airlines. The refund has already been processed through Paypal who have then credited it to the credit card. 

 

It took less than 24 hours! 

 

It will be interesting to see how long it takes to show up on the credit card statement.

[Aus Traveller]

11 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I am now even more impressed by China Airlines. The refund has already been processed through Paypal who have then credited it to the credit card.

It took less than 24 hours!

It will be interesting to see how long it takes to show up on the credit card statement.

I have been waiting quite a while to hear from QANTAS. Nothing yet. I think I will only be offered a credit for future flights. Not good when the cancelled flights are expensive international flights.

[OzKiwiJJ]

13 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I have been waiting quite a while to hear from QANTAS. Nothing yet. I think I will only be offered a credit for future flights. Not good when the cancelled flights are expensive international flights.

Not good at all. Credits are just acceptable for domestic refunds but for larger amounts it should be a proper refund.

 

In hindsight I am really pleased we chose to book China Airlines, and we did so because they had significantly cheaper business class fares, not much dearer than Qantas premium economy in fact. Hopefully we will be able to go to Europe again when the world settles down and we'll definitely be booking China Airlines again. 

[ilikeanswers]

Airlines ability to process cancellations I think comes down to how well their technology is set up. When Peach Airline cancelled our flight everything was in manage my booking, all the options were listed, explained and easy to select. Whereas with Qantas when our flight was clearly cancelled they never updated manage my booking. It still had it listed has confirmed, on top that they said we had to wait for their phone call. In the internet age you shouldn't be waiting for a phone call just to confirm a booking is cancelled😳. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

17 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

Airlines ability to process cancellations I think comes down to how well their technology is set up. When Peach Airline cancelled our flight everything was in manage my booking, all the options were listed, explained and easy to select. Whereas with Qantas when our flight was clearly cancelled they never updated manage my booking. It still had it listed has confirmed, on top that they said we had to wait for their phone call. In the internet age you shouldn't be waiting for a phone call just to confirm a booking is cancelled😳. 

Yes, that is ludicrous!

 

With China Airlines under Manage Booking there was a Refund item. Once I'd filled in name and ticket number it brought up the booking showing fully refundable, no cancellation fee, and all I had to do then was put in our address. I did have to do the refund as separate ones for DH and myself. So easy, and the phone rep was very helpful and checked the refund could be handled through Paypal without any issues. 

 

This crisis is certainly showing up the smart, efficient companies and the ones that understand their customers' needs.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

With China Airlines under Manage Booking there was a Refund item. Once I'd filled in name and ticket number it brought up the booking showing fully refundable, no cancellation fee, and all I had to do then was put in our address. I did have to do the refund as separate ones for DH and myself. So easy, and the phone rep was very helpful and checked the refund could be handled through Paypal without any issues. 

 

This crisis is certainly showing up the smart, efficient companies and the ones that understand their customers' needs.

To make my QANTAS 'refund' more complicated, I have to go through Princess because I booked through EZair. It was more than $700 cheaper than booking the same flights myself, but now that I cannot go, it is more complicated getting a refund.

[MMDown Under]

8 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

To make my QANTAS 'refund' more complicated, I have to go through Princess because I booked through EZair. It was more than $700 cheaper than booking the same flights myself, but now that I cannot go, it is more complicated getting a refund.

I thought booking through EZair meant they did it all for you. e.g. on Cancelled world cruise those who booked their air themselves had to rebook themselves. So why is it more complicated getting a refund?

Edited April 10, 2020 by MMDown Under

[MMDown Under]

3 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Not good at all. Credits are just acceptable for domestic refunds but for larger amounts it should be a proper refund.

 

In hindsight I am really pleased we chose to book China Airlines, and we did so because they had significantly cheaper business class fares, not much dearer than Qantas premium economy in fact. Hopefully we will be able to go to Europe again when the world settles down and we'll definitely be booking China Airlines again. 

I booked EVA Air for the same reason.  Would highly recommend.  (Flying with them is an experience, as it used to be - kind, caring staff, delicate fine china, beautiful tablecloth, serviette, etc. Fine teas, meal service when you require it, authentic Chinese meals.) 

[Aus Traveller]

15 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

I thought booking through EZair meant they did it all for you. e.g. on Cancelled world cruise those who booked their air themselves had to rebook themselves. So why is it more complicated getting a refund?

I have notified Princess that I wish to cancel the QANTAS flights booked through EZair, but they have "to get back to me". The rep on the phone mentioned a future credit ☹️ not refund. My problem is that with the present COVID problem I don't know when international travel will be feasible and I am getting older every year 😁. I was thinking that my planned trip in July/August to UK, then a cruise with two long international flights, would probably be my last big overseas jaunt. I will have to wait and see.

[OzKiwiJJ]

8 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

I booked EVA Air for the same reason.  Would highly recommend.  (Flying with them is an experience, as it used to be - kind, caring staff, delicate fine china, beautiful tablecloth, serviette, etc. Fine teas, meal service when you require it, authentic Chinese meals.) 

I didn't see them when I was searching for good value business class flights. 

 

In general I've found the full service Asian airlines I've flown on over the years to be much better than Qantas. Even the Indian domestic airlines were better than Qantas domestic.

[LittleFish1976]

On 4/8/2020 at 1:07 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

How far apart? We've both had pneumonia shots and our GP didn't mention anything about a second shot being required.

 

 

Edited April 10, 2020 by LittleFish1976
deleted - query answered further up thread

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 minute ago, Aus Traveller said:

I have notified Princess that I wish to cancel the QANTAS flights booked through EZair, but they have "to get back to me". The rep on the phone mentioned a future credit ☹️ not refund. My problem is that with the present COVID problem I don't know when international travel will be feasible and I am getting older every year 😁. I was thinking that my planned trip in July/August to UK, then a cruise with two long international flights, would probably be my last big overseas jaunt. I will have to wait and see.

We were thinking the same about the Europe trip we had booked for May, that it would probably be our last big trip over there. Ah well, we'll just have to see what happens. It's not only the world that has to recover from Covid-19, our cruise fund needs to recover from the damage the stockmarket did to it! 😪

[The_Big_M]

10 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I didn't see them when I was searching for good value business class flights. 

 

In general I've found the full service Asian airlines I've flown on over the years to be much better than Qantas. Even the Indian domestic airlines were better than Qantas domestic.

 

I think Eva air fly out of Brisbane and not Sydney, hence why they wouldn't show up.

 

Eva has a better soft product than China i.e. food, lounge, but China has a good hard product (aside from limitations mentioned earlier).

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, The_Big_M said:

 

I think Eva air fly out of Brisbane and not Sydney, hence why they wouldn't show up.

 

Eva has a better soft product than China i.e. food, lounge, but China has a good hard product (aside from limitations mentioned earlier).

That would make sense. Anyway I won't be booking any more international flights for a while, sadly.

[Aus Traveller]

47 minutes ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

 

We had a second pneumonia shot five years after the first one.

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

I have notified Princess that I wish to cancel the QANTAS flights booked through EZair, but they have "to get back to me". The rep on the phone mentioned a future credit ☹️ not refund. My problem is that with the present COVID problem I don't know when international travel will be feasible and I am getting older every year 😁. I was thinking that my planned trip in July/August to UK, then a cruise with two long international flights, would probably be my last big overseas jaunt. I will have to wait and see.

I think your planned BIG trip in July/August to UK, combined with a relaxing cruise, sounds perfect.  I know.  When I say this is my last long haul travels, my friends just smile "I know".  However my passport runs out this month so I wasn't going to renew.  But now I'll have to for another five years.  Business class with wheelchair assistance has certainly extended my solo overseas travels.  With EVA Air, I love how you can have a shower en route.  Another highlight is a short stopover at Bangkok Lounge, which has the most delicious tropical fruit.  Over the years, I've learnt the journey can be as enjoyable as the destination.  

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

We had a second pneumonia shot five years after the first one.

I've heard it can be painful from a dear elderly friend.  

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

That would make sense. Anyway I won't be booking any more international flights for a while, sadly.

I'm hoping for 2021, but I will only be booking last minute.  I regularly receive tempting offers for last minute cruises.

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, The_Big_M said:

 

I think Eva air fly out of Brisbane and not Sydney, hence why they wouldn't show up.

 

Eva has a better soft product than China i.e. food, lounge, but China has a good hard product (aside from limitations mentioned earlier).

Yes, Eva Air flies out of Brisbane, which is a big plus for me.  I used to fly Royal Brunei until they shifted to Melbourne hub.  I love Qatar, but often end up with a Cook's tour of Aus. en route overseas.  It is funny Queenslanders fly overseas out of Sydney, Melbourne  or Adelaide.  Yet Southerners, say "Fly out of Brisbane?", like it is in outer space.  It is actually on the way, and Brisbane is a lovely relaxing airport, not an excuse for a big shopping centre.  Even the people don't sweat the small stuff.  

What is hard product?

[MMDown Under]

2 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

I have notified Princess that I wish to cancel the QANTAS flights booked through EZair, but they have "to get back to me". The rep on the phone mentioned a future credit ☹️ not refund. My problem is that with the present COVID problem I don't know when international travel will be feasible and I am getting older every year 😁. I was thinking that my planned trip in July/August to UK, then a cruise with two long international flights, would probably be my last big overseas jaunt. I will have to wait and see.

Is EZAir separate to Princess?  Can you contact EZ Air direct?  If you don't get the answer you expect always phone again. 

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, MMDown Under said:

I've heard it can be painful from a dear elderly friend.  

I can't remember it being particularly painful so it might have hurt a bit. I feel that the 'hurt factor' of injections varies according to the skill of the operator.