Express TR: MI KUL-SIN

[HK777]

Nice pics! I'll be taking MI to KUL next JAN and I can't wait My First time! I hope i can upgrade with my miles

[Kyo]

Welcome to SQTalk, HK777!

Nice to see another member from Hong Kong!

[Rejuvenated]

Wise of them to have effectively downgauged this particular SQ103 flight from a 772 to a 320, looking at things.

Was your original booking on SQ103 and got confirmed on this flight when they made the switch or had the switch already taken place when the booking was made?

[SQflyergirl]

Was your original booking on SQ103 and got confirmed on this flight when they made the switch or had the switch already taken place when the booking was made?

No, that particular flight was booked the day before, so was definitely booked as MI331.

Have another one in 2 1/2 weeks, booked in June as SQ103, which they changed to MI331 automatically.

[SQDoubter]

Not so express TR

Hi all, this is my TR for SIN-KUL-SIN on MI336/MI335 on 2nd/4th January.

It all started with a decision to do an MR betwenn either SIN-BKK-SIN or SIN-KUL-SIN. Both were going to be about the same price either MI to KUL or TG to BKK.

As i had a friend in KL who i promised to visit i decided KL as i only needed 200+ miles for EG.

Booked online at MI's website. Originally for MI340 outbound in the evening.

Next day decided to take an extended New Year and tried to change the date. Called MI's reservations which seems to be based in India now. Lady on the line tells me change in timing will cost me S$75.00. I thought there must be some mistake and asked her to check again. She said there is no way for her to change my time unless she reissues the ticket. Of course thats rubbish to me. So i firmly said i wasn't paying and she should check my fare conditions (booking class M). She refused and said i would have to pay. I told her i would call back after checking all the relevant info on the website.

True enough, it was allowed on this booking. So i called back and a new operator picks up and says yes no problem she cn change it for me at no charge. I am puzzled but proceed anyway. I tell her that i want a morning flight and she says there is no MI flight available in the morning so i would have to take MI336 at noon or pay additional for the SQ flight. OK great i thought,this lasy is at least knowledgeable. So i say ok proceed. After that, i tell her of my last experience and asked why there was differing standards between 2 reps and she said "thank you for calling Silkair" is there anything else i can do for you." i thought you got be kidding, maybe she didnt hear me. So i repeated my concerns and she repeated her Thank you.
I was shocked and hung up.

I waited online for 20 minutes for my booking to be updated and guess what?! Nothing.

So i called back and got another rep. I asked her to check my booking. No Change! I thought that this is ridiculous and asked to speak immediately to a supervisor. None was available. So she asked what she can do for me. So i went through the whole process again. This time i ask her (to test them) what flights were available to me. She rattles off all the flights in the morning until including my MI336. I said "are you sure i can have any of those flights with no extra charge" and she said "yes of course" "they are all MI flights." So i said ok i will take the MIXXX which was an SQ flight. So she goes through the whole process (5-10 minutes!!) and then says "oh i am sorry i gave you the wrong info." So in the end books me on the MI336 as i had planned. This took another 10 minutes at least. Finally 1.5 hours after my first call i have my flight confirmed.

WOW i love the customer service!

Anyway the flight was relatively full as they had cancelled the SQ flight porbably due to the low load factors. Nice and comfortable flight and nothing much to complain about. Immigration at KLIA took 45 minutes which was tiresome.

On the return leg check in at KLIA was quick. Immigration was a hassle as usual. Took about 15-20 minutes. Went to grab a bite and went to the gate 25 minutes before boading. Found a long queue at the gate. There were 2 flights boarding at the same time and only one security check open. only 2 A320's were being boarded and the queue was really really long. a couple of transfer passengers need to get BPs and were waiting at the other Xray machine and suddenly a queue was formed behind them. Now there were 2 really long queues with the MI one not moving. Everybody was really unhappy and the flight was delayed due to the fact that the MI pax couldnt get into the gate. It was quite hilarious to watch the incompetence of the staff on the ground who just said there is nothing they could do. imagine 5 ground staff just wandering around pretending like nothing was wrong even though the flight would get delayed. 5 minutes to deaprture time they eventually opened up the second security point and it all got moving very quickly. We were only delayed by 15 minutes in the end.

Flight again was comfortable and nothing to complain about. Got off the plane and headed quickly for immigration. Breezed through and priority bags came out in 5 minutes. Next bags on the belt took another 10 minutes. All belonged to one family then the rest of the bags only followed after another 10-15 minutes. Total time at baggage claim in SIN was 25-30 minutes. Quite bad for Changi standards i would say.

I know the title was express TR but noting about my trip was express or hassle free!!

I always have problems flying on MI. will give it a miss in future unless its necessary. 3 trips last year with all 3 having issues.

[Coles]

Finally 1.5 hours after my first call i have my flight confirmed.
WOW i love the customer service!

Perhaps if you approached the situation more constructively, you would have better success. But I'm guessing that's not your goal.

[SQDoubter]

well aren't you sarcastic?

perhaps you want to elaborate on what you mean. cos its not very clear how i am supposed to be constructive here.

personal attacks or insults whether direct or underlying are not required here Coles. I have given an honest trip report here. Like it says on the Thread title : "the good bad and the ugly..."

So sometimes ugly things happen. I did not expect to have called 3 times to get my flight changed and i do expect that the airline has staff that know what they are doing which did not seem to be the case. If you are specifically referring to the part where i "tested" the operator by accepting a flight which i knew was not availale to me then granted it wasn't the nicest thing to do but i was at a point of frustration and wanted to check if it was 1, 2 or all 3 staff who were not well trained. 1 staff i can forgive, 2 i will be unhappy. 3 i will write a feedback letter to MI.

You may have different expectations and you are entitled to them but your comments are unnecessary.

[Coles]

perhaps you want to elaborate on what you mean. cos its not very clear how i am supposed to be constructive here.

1) If the agent does not know the rules, don't argue or "firmly" say anything. Politely end the conversation and call back until you get an agent that does know the rules.
2) When you get a helpful agent, don't complain or ask about other agents or talk about earlier experiences or anything thing else unrelated to the task at hand.
3) When an agent tells says "thank you for calling Silkair, is there anything else i can do for you?", take the hint. She was only going to give you one free pass.
4) Don't accept an ineligible flight and expect it to work out in the end.

These steps would have led to you being re-booked a lot quicker than 90 minutes. But by your own admission, you seem more interested in being a self-appointed mystery shopper and providing unsolicited advice and training to the phone agents. That's your choice, but don't complain about the effects on you.

[SQflyergirl]

Ladies and/or Gentlemen (tick whichever may apply) let's keep this civilised please Thank you very much!

[SQDoubter]

sorry maam....

I will not continue with this thread... no point getting worked up....i was less worked up at MI.

[flyguy]

its actually kinda sad to see now that SIN-KUL-SIN is now service mainly using all narrow-body A320 (silkair and all the budget carriers) and 734 (MH) as SQ now have only 4 777s for most of the weekedays and only 2 using 777s on weekends.