Review of Tiger Airways Australia
Itchy Feet Team | May 06, 2008 | Comments 167
Tiger Airways is a low cost airline which commenced its operations in Australia in November 2007. Essentially Tiger Airways offers cheap flights on its 12 destinations in Australia. As a budget airline service the ticket cost covers the seat booking and 15kg of check in luggage. The airline also offers upgrades on luggage of 5kg, 10kg and 15kg that is paid for on top of the ticket price.
No food or drink is included in the ticket price however an in-flight service offers food and drinks for sale. Generally these prices are expensive for budget conscious travellers.
Baggage and Flight Check in is Strict! Initially travellers have been caught by the strict check in procedures and been denied check in after the 45 minute cut off time. Here an excerpt from Tigers check in policy so you don’t get caught.
“Baggage check-in opens 2 hours prior to the scheduled time of your departure. Check-in desks close strictly 45 minutes before scheduled departure time.
Tiger Airways recommends that passengers check in two hours prior to scheduled departure. Check-in desks in the Budget Terminal close strictly 45 minutes before scheduled departure, by which time passengers should have completed the check-in process and be in possession of a valid boarding card. We reserve the right to cancel your reservation and deny you boarding if you do not comply with the Check-in Deadline.
Any passenger not having completed check-in formalities and be in receipt of a boarding card within the above time line will forfeit their seat and no compensation will be given. You will be expected to purchase a new ticket on the next available service.”
The hub of Tiger Airways is Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport. Tiger flys to Alice Springs, Adelaide, Hobart, Launceston, Canberra, Newcastle, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Rockhampton and Mackay. Tiger also has flights to Perth and Darwin utilizing these cities as exit points to fly internationally into Singapore.
The flight experience is good with new planes and friendly staff however the baggage collection for Tiger at Melbourne Airport is budget. It is situated next to the large and luxurious Melbourne terminal, in a shed with cyclone mesh fencing open to the elements. The baggage service is fine and bags are available for pick up in a reasonable time frame. This ending to a trip reminds the traveller that they are flying a budget airline. Don’t let this put you off however as the cost savings compared to its competitors more than makes up for this little bug bear.
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Hell……
Just about to finalise my booking for Tiger to Melbourne.
Think I will just kick myself in the head and run my arms through the mincer, sounds less painful.
Better still I think I will go by Jetstar. The bushpig service they run sounds like cloud 9 copmpared to Tigggerrrr.
I’m really worried now. I have a flight to the sunshine coast From Melbourne booked for early on the 21st Feb 2010. And after reading this blog, we have decided to take out travel insurance! It’s not fair that you work hard all year to take a well earned holiday and then have it taken away from you by no fault of your own as so many of these stories state.
I will ensure to stick to their guidelines for check in to a tee and keep eveything crossed….
Wish us luck!
I was whacked in the head when I landed 50 mins before the flight only to be told that checkin had closed.The flight was at 9.10am but the checkin closed at 7.50am.
Tiger should have clarified if checkin closes 45 mins before boarding or before the actual flight.
The staff very quite rude and unfriendly, even when I was talking to them politely.
I went over to Jetstar and was lucky to get a ticket for the next flight.
I guess airlines such as Tiger save you money.But they have lousy customer service, rude staff,no internet checkin and no self checkin.
Overall a bad experience, will avoid flying with them in future.
I wish I’d read this forum before I left for the airport this morning. Same old same old for me. I was booked on a flight from Adelaide to Sydney at 7.40am. I arrived 5 mins too late and was refused boarding. When I got the airport however, the LED display told me to go to check in gate 37, which is what I did and where I waited around for nobody for another 5 minutes. I understand there are rules and times etc., my question is this: If it’s OK for Virgin Blue and other carriers to have 30 min check in, why not Tiger? Why do Tiger need to be different from every other Australian carrier and so inflexible on their policy?
And if they are so hell bent on the 45 minute policy, why then do they not provide self-service options such as online check-in or kiosk check-in? I cannot understand this airline. They also seem bent on hiring young teenagers who have NO concept of CUSTOMER service – the 2 who spoke me today were so rude, so smug and so sure that they were at the check in desk til 7 (which is when I arrived and the Tiger line was a ghost town, so I knew that was complete crap).
Surely they must be going bankrupt? How have they been able to stay in business for so long? Isn’t there some sort of authority or regulations board to take care of this sort of thing? I mean, they charge your credit card and let you buy a seat but you’re a fool if you think that payment actually GETS you the seat. Tiger should not be allowed to operate in Australian airspace. Today I learnt an expensive lesson in harsh Asian discipline. I refused to pay another $70 for the next flight. I booked a flight with Virgin Blue for later tonight and have already checked in online.
I have watched the show on tv and what i see there is enough for me and my family never to fly tiger.
All those people cannot be wrong.
And yes Deb they pay peanuts so they get monkeys.
just like McDonalds and all those other fast food places.
Yeh but th eservice at McDonalds is better than what you get at Tiger
Worst airline on the planet! Complete lack of service or care. NEVER on time.
Definitely DO NOT fly with Tiger Airways
After hearing all the problems people have had I was very worried about flying with Tiger, so we got to the airport 1 1/2hrs before our flight to the Gold Coast.
We sat down at gate 56 to listen to an announcement over the loud speaker saying that our 5.30pm flight was delayed because of a bird hit coming into Sydney and would not leave until 7pm boarding at 6.30pm. The board instantly changed the flight to boarding 6.05pm so I went over to the two gentlemen at the gate to enquiry as to whether the announcement or the board was correct. James at the gate said the boards were all wrong and the flight would definitely board at 6.30pm, so I said we’d grab a bite to eat and come back he said that’s fine. We we’re walking back to the gate at 6.25pm when I noticed the screen said final boarding call. We ran to the gate to be greeted by Dan the supervisor to say the plane had boarded, the gate had closed and we couldn’t get on the plane, by this time there were about 10 passengers in the same situation. He said he couldn’t do anything because Tiger contracts their work out and he doesn’t actually work for Tiger and we’d have to call head office in Melbourne and get the next flight in the morning. By this time James came back and admitted to all of us that he had told us the wrong time. He didn’t even apologise just stood there. Basically they said nothing could be done, no apology, no help, we were just told to go back to the counter and get a new flight.
I would naturally assume given it was their wrong doings that they would get us on another flight on another airline so we could get to our final destination.
On this occasion all ten people who missed there flight didn’t hear the announcements, but to be honest do you ever think your flight will leave half an hour earlier that indicated??
Then rebooking our flight at the counter they said they couldn’t print or email the booking to confirm the flights we’re booked on so I had to take a picture of her screen from my phone. Then she had the gall to say at least you don’t have to pay the $70 rebooking fee.
It took up 5 exhausting hours of our night and was extremely upsetting.
Well people, i must sat you make me laugh very very hard.
You are travelling with a budget airline and for that $10 ticket it means YOU have to follow the terms and conditions with that $10 fair, Tiger are a budget airline, lets repeat that, TIGER ARE A BUDGET AIRLINE, they run on low margins and for that again your have to follow the terms and conditions of the airline. They have a STRICT 45 minute check-in time the flight leaves this is because they need to make turnarounds extremely fast, as in plane comes in it goes out, qantas do the same, with most turnaround times of 50 minutes or less, and within that time QANTAS have to;
Land the plane,
taxi to the aerobridge,
disembark passengers,
get the plane clean again,
unload the lugage,
get catering on and off,
change flight crew,
load new baggage,
board passengers,
taxi to the runway,
and finally take off.
Tiger also have to do the same but usually in a shorter time as in 30 minutes, so the plane can takeoff on time. If a plane does not take off on time the airline gets finded upto $4500 PER MINUTE, yes upto $4500 PER MINUTE. if they dont make their slot and are made to wait the clock ticks, if it gets too long, the airline will cancel the flight to not get the fine, this is all stated in the terms and conditions READ THEM before you book your flights.
Also late passengers i give you no sympathy, i’ve worked checkin before and the airlines are strict for a reason, i dont care is you got stuck in traffic that is not my/the airlines fault in any way, i dont care you got lost couldnt find a parking bay, had to deal with the rental car company its not my problem if your aunty is dead somewhere else in the country you booked the flight and agreed to the terms and conditions on which it says to arrive at a certain time before your flight, its not that hard, if you really wanted to catch your flight you would have taken these things into consideration and GOT TO THE AIRPORT EARLY.
I know of a passenger who got charged $35,000 from an airline because he had checked in, went to the bar and arrived late at the boarding gate after he was called many times, yes we do use the PA system but if your off your face in the bar stuffing your face, smoking outside(yes theres PA speakers outside too) and your dont hear the boarding calls then its YOUR fault, do you want a personal chaperone to hold your hand from home to the aeroplane, its not going to happen unless you pay lots of money, people are not going to come looking for you.
If airlines bend the rules for you they have to do it for everyone. If your 4 minutes late, they will not keep the checkin desk open just for you, its closed at the right time, you are late, dont argue YOU are late. After checkin closes there are other jobs that need to be done by the airlines like the calculation of fuel needed, because we cant estimate that mr jones has and extra 22kg of luggage and mr Franks has only 3kg, we cant predict that 120 will turn up for a 150 pax booked flight, or that Mrs Bligh weighs 144 kg and has to buy an extra seat because she is a COS (Customer of size).
Also please be mindful that the checkin staff are only doing their jobs, following the rules and regulations of the airline, they can lose their jobs if the rules are not followed and broken, we are not going to risk our jobs just so you can fly, abuse us and we have our ways of getting back at Passengers anything from you losing/forfieting your ticket cost, to Aust Fed Police involvement, which may incurr fines and even jail time, to blacklisting you from the airline, plus if incident id quite severe other airlines too.
Yes checkin staff can be friendly and overlook somethings like 500grams-1kg of excess baggage but be rude and abusive we will enforce EVERYTHING, and you may not like it but it will be done.
Well thats my rant hope you enjoy, and i hope you are a little more informed about airlines.
John
Its the worst service.
I was suppose to fly from Melbourne to Gold Coast on the 6.50 am flight. It was the first time I was trying Tiger.
I was at the airport at 6.10 am, only to be told that I am 5 minutes late for check-in & I was not allowed to board that flight. They said I can pay another $70 & board the next flight. The style & attitue in which the girl at the counter behaved was as though the flight had left & she even said “People have started boarding & I cannot let you join them…” I could never understand this… what sense does this make…the worst service.
I usually fly Qantas or VirginBlue & they do let people to board in even 15 or 20 minutes before the flight take off.
Never use this service ! ! ! !
Hi..I’ve booked my ticket on 25th Nov, 2009 for a trip to Singapore from Langkawi. My travel date is 16th May, 2010. While checking the itinerary, I found my ticket has been canceled. I’m so surprised how come tiger airways cancel my ticket without letting me know? I tried to call call-center but no one is picking the phone. Please think twice before travelling with tiger.
Finally received a refund not the $120 each for 6 people as promised but the $246 i paid when booking.
So the experience cost me approx $400-00.
I had to get Vic consumer affairs involved to get them to pay anything & was advised that as i had nothing in writing all i could expect was the $246-00.
So in short, Tiger tell you anything to shut you up when you are in their face & put up barriers when you try & contact them afterwards.
Never ever again !
Tigar airways are cheap because they are shit. dont waste your time. life is just too short for dealing with such a low quality airline.
Travel Insurance does not cover you if you are ‘late’ or miss a connection.
Why other airlines are sensible for genuine misfortune, Tiger just see it as a way to scalp you for top dollar. A ‘Charter’ airline that is big into profiteering.
Tiger Airways staff blindly enforce every rule, because they are watched and may loose their job for any act of sympathy or independant initiative – implys ‘John’.
Running a staff-in-fear campaign, having totally dis-empowered autotron robot staff reciting ’scripts’ is still wrong.
Get to the airport a full 2- 1.5 hours early – they are less strict when not under the hammer. Do not fly Tiger if a connection is required. Do not buy Tigers ‘Perfection’ Insurance product – as I read it – it does NOT cover connection delays. Reputable airlines with the most flights are a safer bet – than once a day’ers.
Here is an novel idea maybe they could have self servive check in like Air NZ does its fantastic. Then you would’nt have to put up with the rude counter staff. Oh but forgot its a budget airlines is’nt it!
Yes well, never ever fly Tiger Air again. Well, haven’t made it for the first flight yet as March 6th flight to Sydney from GC was cancelled – with no refund, and a rebook on Monday. I lost my 2 nights pre-paid hotel booking in Sydney and had to cancel my meetings in Sydney. I was attracted by the cheap fares taht seemed too good to be true – and yes they are too good to be true. NEVER EVER again will I book on Tiger Air. Finger crossed I eventually make it to Sydney. Oh, they did offer a refund for the cancelled flight – with a 3 to 6 week wait! what a joke.