Will Singapore lockdown affect my flight connection?
Simon Calder answers your questions on cancelled holidays and whether vouchers are a good alternative to a refund
Q I have a flight booked from Auckland in New Zealand to London Heathrow on Singapore Airlines, obviously via Singapore. My booking is still showing “live”. Will it still fly given latest lockdown in Singapore?
Paul W
A Singapore has imposed some severe restrictions to try to reduce the spread of coronavirus. On Friday, the city-state started requiring arrivals to spend two weeks “isolated in a hotel room or similar accommodation provided by the Singapore government”.
The Foreign Office warns that during this spell: ”You will not be allowed to leave your room. The 14-day period cannot be reduced, even if you wish to leave Singapore. Failure to comply carries a fine and a jail term of up to six months.“
But this tightening of lockdown is irrelevant for you, because right now you won’t even be allowed aboard a plane to Singapore due to the continuing ban on transit passengers.
Thousands of British travellers trying to get back from New Zealand, Australia and cities in Asia have been thwarted by the Singapore government decision to end flight connections at the city state’s Changi airport. (A ban on transit through two other of the world’s great aviation hubs wrecked even more travel plans; the UAE authorities simply ordered Emirates and Etihad to stop flying, preventing connections at Dubai and Abu Dhabi.)
With its role as transit point currently nullified by the no-transit rule, Singapore’s airport is hub for only a skeleton service, at least until early May. London Heathrow is served 13 times this month from the city-state. But neither Singapore Airlines nor its Star Alliance partner, Air New Zealand, is linking Auckland with Singapore. So I presume your flight is scheduled for later in May or beyond.
If this is a correct deduction, all you can do is wait. Later this month you should be given more guidance. But if I am wrong, and the flight is imminent, you should call Singapore Airlines to discuss options; the carrier seems to be doing pretty well at handling calls, so I hope it can also sort out your issue to your satisfaction.
If and when the flight is cancelled, Qatar Airways will be the obvious alternative to get you to London; talk to Singapore Airlines about whether it will transfer you across.
Q I have a booking with the Landmark Trust for early May this year. As I am 80 years of age, obviously I have had to cancel this. They have offered to defer the holiday but say that the cost may go up next year. I do not realistically know what I want to do a year from now. I have therefore asked for a full refund.
The total cost of the stay is £691 which I have paid in full. They are making a cancellation charge of £518 and offering me a refund of £173. I have declined this saying that I am seeking further advice. Can they actually make this huge charge?
Pat A
A There is evidently something of a misunderstanding here and I suggest you contact the Landmark Trust and uncancel your booking – at least for a week or two.
The trust that lets out historic properties to holidaymakers has closed all operations up until the end of April, and is correctly offering the disappointed customers a cash refund.
To people in your position, booked to stay between 1 and 14 May, the Landmark Trust is currently offering an option to cancel and get a credit voucher to use before the end of 2021. It is perfectly proper to offer a choice like this to customers who want some certainty.
Anyone like you who chooses to cancel right now will lose, in accordance with the normal terms and conditions, 75 per cent of the cost. But there is, of course, a strong likelihood that the trust’s general cancellation policy will be extended soon. It is taking new bookings only from June onwards.
If your stay is cancelled you can claim a full refund. If it is not, then as you are self-isolating, you may be able to offer the stay to family and friends; I can see nothing in the terms and conditions that does not allow this.
Meanwhile, as you may have seen, the Landmark Trust is offering accommodation free of charge to critical care NHS staff.
Q My KLM flight was cancelled last week. I accepted a travel voucher from the airline as I thought there was no other option. Am I able to tell them now I want a full refund instead?
Ben W
A Under European air passengers’ rights rules, which apply in the UK at least until the end of 2020, any airline that cancels a flight must provide a full refund within seven days of the intended departure.
The airlines know that. The two biggest UK carriers, British Airways and easyJet, are complying – after a fashion. They have not exactly made life straightforward for the millions of their passengers whose flights have been grounded as a result of the coronavirus pandemic; as I have noted before, both airlines disabled the simple online refund function and insist that you phone to claim your money back, which is much easier said than done.
Other carriers are going one step further, and insisting that cancelled passengers must accept a voucher. They, of course, would far rather that they keep your money – especially at a time when collectively the airlines are burning through cash at £400,000 per minute.
Air France and its Dutch subsidiary, KLM, are taking this hardline stance. But my reading of the legal position is this: the airlines fell at the first hurdle when they failed to give you a full statement of your options, in order that you could make an informed choice (which, for many passengers, will be “my money back within a week, please”.
You can hardly be blamed for not realising you were entitled to a cash refund, because KLM did not tell you. So I suggest you do this: write to the airline saying you wish to exercise your right for a refund. If it is ignored or refused, then inform the Civil Aviation Authority – the national enforcement body for flights booked for travel from the UK. This organisation should help you and thousands of others in your position by instructing Air France and KLM to stick to the rules.
Q In your previous travel question you recommended getting cold, hard cash refunds from airlines over their vouchers for future travel. Norwegian is offering vouchers at the original value plus 20 per cent. Would that be enough to swing it as the better deal, or should I hold firm for cash?
Dave Mac
A Airlines are having to deal with the aftermath of cancelling thousands of flights. This is a grim and difficult task. But, as I wrote on yesterday, it is one with specific rules attached.
On the spectrum of behaviour that respects the passenger and their legal rights, airlines have varied from excellent to awful. Some leading carriers have simply ignored the European air passengers’ rights rules, which require a full cash refund to be made within a week of the cancelled flight not departing.
But some airlines are doing the right thing – and then going one stage further. Norwegian, which had a busy transatlantic network from Gatwick until Covid-19 appeared, is firmly among the good guys.
“If we have cancelled your flight and you don’t want to travel, you can request a refund of your unused ticket,” it tells disappointed passengers. “Or choose CashPoints [a form of voucher] and get an extra 20 per cent that can be used for your next trip.”
This is one of the best deals on the market. Qatar Airways, Finnair and even tiny Luxair is offering 10 per cent extra to those who take a voucher, while Singapore Airlines has a flat rate depending on the cabin you were booked in, worth between £42 in economy class and £283 in first.
If you know for certain that you will be flying on the airline again, it may seem a no-brainer to take the voucher. But one word of warning. When the Oslo-based airline says “CashPoints is Norwegian’s digital currency and is just like cash”, I’m not sure I agree. In the unfortunate event that an airline fails, passengers holding vouchers are left out of pocket.
Norwegian was finding life financially tough even before the coronavirus pandemic began, and there have been repeated warnings about its corporate health. But it is being assisted by the prodigiously wealthy government of Norway, so in your position I would take the voucher. But please don’t hold me responsible if it goes wrong.
Email your question to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder
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