Tiger Airways Voted Worst Domestic Airline in Australia

Got these from a consumer complaints website on Tiger Airways. Good read and beware as I agree that Tiger Airways should be boycotted.

Graeme of Adelaide, Australia September 11, 2010


15OCT09 we booked and payed AUD 741.65 for flights TR2423 Penang to Singapore and TR2716 Singapore to Perth for two Adults and two Children travelling on 16MAY10. 16MAY10 we arrived at Penang Airport to find that Tiger Airways no longer operated out of Penang on this day and that they had rebooked us on 19MAY10 flight without any prior notice. As there were no Tiger Airways staff available we had to rely on the airport information staff to help us.

They spoke to Tiger Airways on our behalf and were told that there were still seats available from Singapore to Perth for that day and all we would have to pay would be a rebooking fee if we could get there. We had no choice but to buy tickets on a Silk Air flight from Penang to Singapore for AUD 671.56.

When we spoke to the Tiger Airways customer sevice desk in Singapore we were told that we had to re purchase new tickets (AUD 1308.48) and that we would get a refund for the original purchase. We have spoken to Tiger Aiways on three occasions since our return and on each occasion they said they would only refund the amount of AUD741.65 for the tickets from Penang to Perth and that we would receive payment in three to six weeks. It has now been four months and as yet have not been refunded one dollar.

Elise of Port Sorell, Australia September 4, 2010


I booked flights with Tiger Airways at least 6 months in advance to get specials for my family. Tiger has now cancelled both out going and in bound flights to where I live. They told me I would get a full refund but it is pittance in comparison to going with another carrier at short notice, they give no other help financially or changing of flights as I have a connecting flight with tiger that I now cannot get but they wont change this or refund money for this.Been 3 months still no refund and 3 letters later no response from them except on my behalf only bieng able to contact call centre where they are useless.As a company I wouldnt put a name to this as I would be ashamed.

Phil of Somerville, Australia July 21, 2010


Tiger Airways is the worst airline I've ever had the misfortune of flying with! My critique is based on my experiences in over 30 years of domestic & international air travel. No matter how cheap it appears beware the hidden costs! Check-in fee! Oversized luggage fee! Overweight luggage fee! Re-booking fee! Beware of cancelled services! Services are delayed & cancelled regularly, the best you'll get is a meal voucher & a long wait at the terminal to board another flight. 2-1/2 Days at the Gold Coast Airport in one instance.

Beware of lousy customer service! Particularly the off-shore customer service centre at the end of their one & only advertised contact number! Long queues, hang-ups & mis-information are a regular occurence. Long wait at check-in counters and small & overcrowded terminals.

Let me reflect on my family's recent experience. Last minute travel to Brisbane for the Vic School Holidays, Tiger was the only airline that had affordable (not cheap,cheap) seats available at that time. Called Tiger customer service to confirm the departure terminal, answer "International at Melbourne Airport". Arrived airport 90 mins prior to departure time & parked car in Long Term car park. Headed to the International terminal - WRONG! After wandering around international departures for 15 mins trying to find the Tiger counter we were directed to the correct terminal at T4 (old Virgin). I'm told the Tiger customer service person had meant Melbourne International Airport!

After walking the family to T4 (10 mins or so) we arrived at the Tiger check-in counter 50 mins prior to departure to find that they were no longer checking in baggage. The "young" fellow behind the counter was not open to any reasoning or discussion re our plight, the only option given to us was to pay an additional 210 to be moved to the 5.30 am flight next morning. So there we were, 8.30pm & home was over an hours drive away. Taking into account the cost of fuel, toll charges & the 4am start next morning, we decided not to return home and so began our search for some affordable accommodation nearby. Having paid the 24 to get the car out of Long Term parking, we checked into a nearby motel 2 hours later, best rate 170, all for 5 hours sleep.

Arrived back at the Tiger terminal 4.30am next morning 90 mins prior to departure (Tiger reccommends 2 hrs). We'd already paid the extra 20 per passenger to get a 15 kg baggage allowance (55 pp if paid at the airport). One bag weighed in at 15.3kg, they then proceeded to try and extort another 55 from us for the extra 300 grams. No way was I going to pay them another cent, so I unpacked the case on the scales & removed my diary & jacket which I was then allowed to carry on as cabin baggage at no further cost (WHAT A JOKE! 300 grams is 300 grams, whether it's in the hold or in the cabin. WHY THE FUSS?)

The guy beside us was about to kill the check-in chick. He had a carry-on bag that he'd taken on board many different airlines while travelling the world. Tiger was telling him that it was oversize by 3cm and were demanding he pay 55, we was not happy. Every other queue was held up with people unpacking suitcases at counters trying to reduce the weight of their luggage. How efficient is that? Especially given that most of the stuff removed is carried on board as hand luggage anyway. 5 of the 55 baggage fee is supposedly an administration charge...SURE!

Once we'd left the check-in counter we were in yet another queue, this time weighing hand luggage to make sure it was under 7kg. Once again, people were forced to wait while passengers unpacked their bags in the queue. Moving on, there was yet another delay while we stood in the queue at the security point. A very narrow & innefficient choke point. The T4 terminal is very cramped with little seating available when 2 or more flights are scheduled to depart. Food & beverages are typically overpriced and there are queues at counters. Access to the aircraft is via the tarmac which was quite uncomfortable given the cold winter winds at Melb Airport.

Once on board, it becomes apparent that the aircraft are not cleaned regularly, there is no in-flight entertainment and the aircraft are not fitted with in-seat radios or video screens. All food & drink must be purchased and they DO NOT accept cash or eftpos on board, credit cards only. I had cash but I'd left my cards in my luggage, I couldn't even buy the family a drink of water... WHAT A JOKE!)

I ended up heading back to Melbourne earlier than expected, I booked with Qantas and left my family to return with Tiger as originally planned. My family reported that the service from Tiger in Brisbane was just as bad as Melb. Our itinerary had a seat booked for me including a 15kg baggage allowance that I'd paid for. Tiger would not allow my family to use the seat nor would they allow my family to use my 15kg baggage allowance despite us all being ticketed on the same itinerary. Once again, my wife had to unpack a jacket to bring a bag below 15kg. It turns out that they subsequently resold my seat & yet offered no refund.

Given the whole "Tiger" experience I will never ever fly with them again. At the end of it all I could have flown my whole family on a Qantas every day fare, at a time convenient to us, for less cost than we ended up incurring with Tiger. The airline is a joke and deserves every bit of the negative press & consumer backlash that it incurs. The company has taken domestic air travel in Australia to an all time low.

S.Chandrasekar of Chennai 600042 , Tamilnadu ,Indi, India February 19, 2010


Self had booked both ways 3 Air Ticket each on Tiger Airways under concessional fare on Chennai/Singapore leg along with separate Fee for seat allotment & baggage was paid by self using my ABN Amro Master card through their Website. ABN Card usage charge was 3.5% on the total amount. Transaction confirmed, Tickets confirmed but Seat unassigned in spite of the requisite amount paid by self at the time of booking. Tritinerary@tigerairways.com sent me the booking confirmation on 30 Jan 2010 but there again the seat was unassigned as against the actual seat numbers blocked and paid for. I took up this immediately with their Indian Call Center number wherein they maintained that they need to check and revert with no proper response as they claimed to have no access to do the needful in India, instead wanted self to call up Singapore.

I had no choice but to call Singapore too but the call never were answered, I was left with additional spending on phone calls and unnecessary mental tension & mail communications. This continued since day one, ie., 29 Jan 2010 till today when my travel date per confirmed ticked falls on 25 Feb 2010. Tiger Airways continued with their deliberate negligence and failed to rectify their mistake resulting to utter service failure.

Hence I was pushed beyond my extreme levels of tolerance and had real pain and mental unrest and agony due to which i came to a decision to not travel in Tiger Airways and ask for Full refund of paid amount plus the 3.5% commission on Credit Card for canceling. I sent mails in return on the email id that i received requesting them for full refund and cancellation thereof which again had no response at all till date.

On the 18 Feb 2010, I Called the call center and the Singapore office by the same continued with claims that additional fee over and above what i paid earlier for seat allotment will be applicable for seat allotment & refund /cancellation not possible. I faxed the emails and request for refund in total to Tiger Airways Singapore on 0065 68222310 by 1355Hrs today.

Its all most 20 Days and no revert on the query, on 18 Feb 2010 i checked for refund, then they come back with excuses but i had made up my mind not to travel in Tiger Airways / Refund of paid amount and 3.5% Credit Card charges due to such pathetic & uncertainties service of Tiger Airways leading to mental unrest & agony. Now they are holding on to their stance that they will not refund as per Ticket terms though they were at fault. What should i do?

Pls Note - Tiger Airways have their service out of Chennai but DO NOT have their liaising office in Chennai to assist the passengers on pre and post bookings/queries at Chennai. We also face the difficulty on communication as they are not willing to provide Tiger Airways email id to address the issues accordingly .

Yesterday evening(Post IST 1800Hrs18Feb 2010) they come up with seat allocation which i denied to accept and insisted on refund. As i mentioned, Am firm on Refund and am in no mindset to proceed to travel on this Airline due to such service failures which resulted me in mental stress, unrest with additional expences on phone calls, wastage of my productive time with agony pushing me to suspend my travel plans to Singapore on Tiger Airways once and for all.

Today, the 19 Feb 2010 around 1000Hrs IST , Mr.Kelvin T. - Manager Reservations, Claiming to be from Tiger Airways Singapore called on my hand phone and updated that they will not refund and cancellations not acceptable though they were at mistake. I denied to accept his claim and wanted them to Refund in full along with the commission of 3.5% on Credit Card Transaction.

He even dared to threaten self on forfeiture of total sum paid if i proceed on legal front. He also asked self as to what proof do i have for all such communication over telephones and wanted the records. Hence, I requested him to advise me their email address for me to address my further queries which he denied to provide and wanted self to use the Sin Fax no for any such communication. Moreover, he was not ready to transfer the call to the PRO or the legal department.

Lyndsay of Malvern, Australia December 22, 2009


Flight No TT669, Sydney to Melbourne on 29 November (Sunday) 2009 was cancelled. The aircraft apparently went out of service the night before, but we (three of us)only found out when we arrived at check-in at 10.00am the next day. No notice from Tiger that the flight had been cancelled. Fortunately we were second in the queue - if you happened to be number 123 you'd be really peeved! Anyway, we're told the flight has been cancelled. The next Tiger flight available to us is Wednesday - three days later! No assistance with alternate travel arrangements or accomodation. Given a slip of paper with the Tiger call-centre number on it. This number rings engaged for hours. No apology. "Should get a refund in about a month" - not holding my breath. Insurance only covers up to the value of the flights cancelled - so we get a refund to the value of a cheap flight booked three months previously, to buy a premium cost flight from a competitor airline at no notice. Who gets screwed here?

In summary, cancelled flight; no notice to customers; unclear refund process and timing; insurance not worth the paper it's written on; Tiger couldn't care less - on checking, this philosophy is written in to the fine print of their terms; impossible to find a Tiger official more senior than a check-in operator or a call-centre operative. Seven flights in the past six months - will not darken their doors again:-)

Shannon of Caulfield North, AL December 18, 2009


On the 6th of October 2009 I was due to board a flight from the Gold Coast to Melbourne on Tiger Airways. When I arrived at the airport EARLY to check in I was told that my flight was oversold and that someone else had taken my seat. I was told to fill in a form and that the cost of my flight would be refunded to me within 4 weeks. I had to then go to another airline and book another flight to get home, at an additional expense of course. To date (18th of December 2009) I have still not received the 214 owed to me.

In this time I have since written 3 letters, sent 3 faxes and have made numerous phone calls - of which I would be on hold for no less than 40 mins. I received a email from Tiger on the 19th of November saying that the money had been transferred into my account. Well, as above IT HAS NOT! I called my credit card provider, because apparently it is now their problem that the money hasn't been credited. They tell me I have to wait 30 days from the time they sent the email. I've waited the 30 days... the day is today. Now they have to dispute it with Tiger and it could potentially take up to another 90 days to sort out!

Maree of Narre Warren, Australia June 15, 2009


I've had a flight time changed, and they have asked if I need to speak to anyone, to call their Australian number, however after the automated service giving the information speel, the phone just goes dead, and after exactly 2.50 min the phone then engages. I've over the last 2 days made in excess of 20 calls to this number and still have'nt got through to anyone. I've also sent Fax to their Australian fax number, asking for them to contact me on my mobile earlier today (Monday June 15) and have not had any response to that either.



Read more: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/tiger_direct.html#ixzz11ZJ0iDBE