Review of Tiger Airways Australia
Itchy Feet Team | May 06, 2008 | Comments 207
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.
By far the most concise and up to date information I found on this topic. Sure glad that I navigated to your page by accident. I’ll be subscribing to your feed so that I can get the latest updates. Appreciate all the information here
TIGER AIRWAYS has the cheapest flight routes.
Don’t be fooled by very low prices, you might be paying for your nightmares.
NEVER EVER FLY TIGER AIR.
Cheap don’t have to be shit. Try AirAsia. Though already a Singaporean I am, I am sad to see my country men and women dorning the tiger uniform, behaving rudely at customers as if they are school students: being shouted at “bottles are to be stowed away…” (you responding bending down to the seat and all other watching), “switch off your mobile phone, you have to switch off, no no no you cannot set on flight mode …” and the d… hostess standing (you seated, she standing looking silently at you not moving until you take action), repeating what your complaint and not offering a solution nor an explanation when i informed one hostess the seat recline is not working, and worst one, raising their airfare when they sponsor a football team (they seat for free and make so much noise – tiger seat them next to you). Try AirAsia – they’ll treat you decently I am sure – they don’t charge premium for the food you buy on board, they don’t charge you exhorbitantly for the seat you book – they don’t capitalize on the necessary comforts the traveller customer is willing to pay for but will hold back if they are unfairly priced. and one more thing to note – AirAsia bothers to change their seats to leather ones that can be wiped – look at Tiger – their seats are fabric and if one takes a seat that a child has peeed on it just before your take it, good luck…. and if one takes a seat a person with dandruff, good luck, prepare to have your go at anti-dandruff shampoo.
Tigar airways are really cheap but you have to pay your time and additional money for rectification. Remember that it is so risky to buy cheap tickets. Tigar airways would change your flight without notification and would not answer your calls. There is no channel for making complaints even feedback.
Its nothing more than a cheap airline. It won’t leave on time, nor should you expect any customer service. We lined up “4 times!” to check-in on a flight from Melbourne to Sydney. Four times you ask. We get to the airport 1.5hrs early and there is a long line already. We finally get to the check-in counter, however my carry on luggage is 1.2kg over the limit. My partner has her hand-bag so I figure it would cancel out. No…. Okay, how about you give me a moment so I can remove a pair of shoes and a book. No. Instead he tells us we need to repack and then line up again! What! Not impressed, we comply.
About 30min later and about half way through the line they announce the Sydney flight should line up in the express lines in front of counter 7 & 8. After about 5 minutes another announcement, all Sydney passengers please line up infront of counter 7 only! So to the back of the queue we go again.
Maybe I would have been more patient if I wasn’t ill, but having to line up four times and taking over 1.5hrs is absolutely appalling.
Hi, just returned from a weekend trip to Melbourne and I will never fly Tiger Airways again. There was no customer service and the staff were just plain rude. We were suppose to get the 8pm flight from Melbourne to Sydney last night (21 March 2010) from Tullamarine Airport, we got there are 6:30pm. The airport was chaotic – just masses of people and multiple lines. We decided to line up and was thinking why is there more than one line, fair enough different flights to different cities, but you would think you need to be a bit more organised. There were multiple annoucements for the Perth flight and the 7:30pm Sydney flight to join the express lane. Trying to find answers I walked towards the front around the queues and saw a TV screen the size of a 15inch monitor and it listed the flights and as you guessed it the 8pm flight was cancelled. Why were there no annoucements? Why didn’t they contact people? Where was the supposed customer service they provide? Nothing. I went to find my friends who were still in line to let them know the situation. Of course when I told them other people in the line also waiting for the same flight heard. They were asking questions, so we attempted to approached a counter with a young man. He was serving another customer so I waited. While I waited another staff member walked past I asked her what was going on. She told me that the flight was cancelled, had been cancelled since the morning and that the superviser would come out to talk to us and wait to the left. Funny enough if the flight was cancelled so early on why were we not notified? Another passenger actually only purchased his ticket online 3 hrs beforehand, why did they not stop him from buying the ticket? Where is the logic in all of this? So we waited, 10 minutes, 15minutes still no supervisor. Was told that he was coming, then another said they didnt know where he was or that they didnt have his phone number. The young male staff member that I mentioned above, after 20minutes or so decided to give us refund papers saying all that I can do now is give you refund papers. People don’t want to get a refund they just want to get to their destination. You don’t palm people off and tell them to figure it out themselves and to look for a way home. This has previously happened to a member of my travelling party with Jetstar and guess what she was put up for the night at the Hilton and got the first flight back the next day. Mmm both budget airlines, but I guess the people that run Jetstar just have more common sense and want to retain customers. Back to the story, after 30 minutes I saw a man behind the counters I had to ask him if he was the supervisor he didnt even have the common curtesy to come out and speak to us (and we were not alone). Eventually, he came out and said he had been calling people all afternoon, funny enough nobody received a call? I gave him my name and number, he said he called me multiple times that afternoon – guess what no miss calls on my end? Would Tiger keep a call log? So yeah all in all never again will I fly with Tiger – Thank you Jetstar, you got me home and guess what it was the first flight in the morning. Both budget why does one work and the other doesnt. Learn from your mistakes and the staff should be trained not to be so rude. You are in the wrong, so don’t be rude to me. I am the customer, I pay for your service and guess what without us you wouldnt have a business – that is the reality. Oh and P.S funny enough I just read an old article online from the age last year (2009) and Steven Burns the COO said they no longer used the Ryanair method i.e. complaints only via post… but how come when I go to the website to make a complaint, I can only do it via snail mail. The irony they want it in a letter instead of an email because they want to provide better service.. mmm maybe start with making sure you provide the service we pay you for i.e. the flight rather than better service in responding to complaints.
Tiger airways charge an undocumented and undisclosed [non-advertised] seat selection fee and a convenience fee. Increasing the cost of the ‘cheap’ air far by 10-20%. They will soon start charging passengers, or banning passengers from bringing their own food on to the plane for the journey and only allow purchase from their staff….
So I booked with JetStar instead. Even more-so… it’s better to book full fare with QANTAS!!
I’ve flown tiger a few times between adelaide and melbourne – and they have actually gotten worse instead of better!!
My last flight was cancelled at the last moment after we had checked in(operational reasons – what does that mean?), the time before was delayed by over 2 hours with no information or announcements from the staff. Thats about a 50% hit rate. Prior to the last experiences, we have had no real problems.
However, after the last minute cancellation experience, we won’t be flying with these jokers again – especially when I have a small child to travel with – who doesn’t understand why all of a sudden she can’t see her family when she expects to!
I know people say you get what you pay for, but there should be a minimum standard of regulation in order to operate an airline business. I’ve flown countless budget airlines throughout Europe and the US – and these guys just haven’t got a clue!
The guy on the checkin desk was really quite unfriendly when I was organising the flight reschedule – he really couldn’t give a toss – and he couldn’t or wouldn’t see if there were flights from other terminals with other airlines who I could have got on instead. There was really no need for that.
I’ve have been told I will get reimbursed hotel expenses within 6-8 weeks for the overnight stay so have my fingers crossed for that. The one thing I would suggest to Tiger though – is if you have been cancelled and rebooked by them, that you should at least get some coffee vouchers for use at the airport or a free drink and snack on the flight – at least that would go some way to visibly being sorry about the inconvenience, and making the customer feel valued in some way!!.
I guess the only thing I would suggest is to always try and get on the early flight as its less likely to be cancelled than the last flight, and if it is then there are other flights in the day to move you to..
Coldhearted and rude personal,
like they thrive on making you misreable
caused me a let of grief when I arrived “40″ minutes before flight on a weekend afternoon even though I only had carry on bag. Stewardess gave me a stern look and said you are late have to take next flight 4 hours later and pay fine of 70 dollars. So much for cheap flights, now you know where they make there side money. I ended up arriving at Melbourn airport 01.00am and had to pay another 100 dollars to take cab home as no other transport awailable.So much for saving on tickets.
Disgusted , booked my childrens flights from Gold Coast to Sydney fater calling Customer Service first. They advise that my kids 16, 12 and 6 could fly as long as i signed an indemnity form. Arrived to fly kids home, Would not aloow my 6 year old to fly home, Had to board her on a flight by herself with virgin. Customer Service is a joke
The 45 mins strict cut-off time can be understood.
But how bout the Tiger line? It was indeed a ghost line! It’s a crap created in such a way that nobody will ever pickup your call, NEVER! Despite calling for the whole day!
Wonder how this kinda company could be publicly listed!! It’s a company worth nothing a all!!
I have never flown on Tiger and never will.They make you check in two hours before a flight.I have flown Virgin Blue as part of two cruise ship holidays and only have to be there 60 to 75 minutes before their flights.It does not take a genius to figure out which one makes more sense.Back in the day with Ansett It was about 75 to 90 minutes but these were connecting onto International flights so that is yet another story.
Many thanks, I have been planning a return trip to sydney as a treat to myself and thought I would give Tiger a go. I would not go near them with a barge pole now.
Have made several email enquiries re getting a guaranteed seat (bar a natural disaster)and they talk about refund policy. Not worth the risk.
Just booked a flight on Tiger from Singapore to Kuching,Malaysia. Some of their fees and such are quite sneaky…like a $6 ‘convenience fee’ for booking online (for each leg, which it does not specify)??? (it used to be you’d be charged a fee if using a company’s call center…but now even a fee for using their online system???)
I understand budget airlines need to find various revenue sources…but don’t be sneaky or misleading about it!!! I will think twice about booking a tiger flight again
I have just returned from Melbourne following a visit to my ill mother. Flying down I was with another airline and knew that my baggage was 22 kilo’s. Being concerned with the strict weight limit I rang customer care at Tiger who could not understand my concern (and I could not communicate this to them no matter how I tried.)I queried weight and charges and was told that I would have to pay an additional $50.00 to cover the gap from 7kg to 22kg (7kg for hand luggage plus 15kg = 22 kg. They told me that excess baggage was sold in 15kg lots at $50.00 per 15kg). No prob I think as I approach the check-in que which is like a bus terminal from the 1960′s. The bag goes on the scale and the display says 22.1kg’s. I am then informed that because excess is sold in 15kg lots I would have to pay $100.00 to get my clothes home. A discussion followes and my bag is making its way to the tarmac. Begruggingly I hand over $100.00 knowing that the abrupt young girl behind the counter could not give 2 hoots if I made my flight or not (the 45 minute boarding window is drawing near). The next person in my party places his hand luggage on the scales and it is over the 7kg’s. Time is ticking so I ask if he can use some of the 14.9kg’s I had paid for but could not use. The answer was a blank “no, your bag has already been processed”. I apologise to the other passengers who had to wait to check in but what followed was like a comedy sketch as we all stood there at the check-in counter wearing 3 shirts, 2 pairs of shoes and a few jackets each so that we could get the offending bag under 7kg,s.
So we make it through to the boarding lounge $100.00 down and just in time. Then we realise that our boarding passes are for gate 2 but our flight is actually leaving from gate 3. Very disconcerting. The response from staff was that the electronic boards are fed from information from Tullamarine which is “way over there” and that we should ignore anything the boards say and listen to the announcements. (Now I am not going to the bathroom just in case I miss some vital announcement and it costs me more money).
Several other passengers (including some American tourists are sharing the same concern and when they seek clarification, they are confronted by 2 young female staff members who become quite irate and tell them “it’s not our fault, just sit down and wait”.
If you want a back-yard service with good aircraft and friendly flight crew, go for it but keep s few hundred dollars spare and something for the stress levels as you will be stung heavily if your baggage does not fit their guidelines.
Having been educated to the Tiger way of doing things I will Go Jetstar, Qantas or Virgin any day.
I am an extremely disgruntled ex-customer of Tiger Airlines. They have cancelled a return flight from Adelaide to Alice springs 8 weeks ago and i have still not received a refund after multiple contacts. Surely this is not legal. Their response is that i will receive my refund in a further 3-6 weeks. Shame on Australia for allowing such shonks into our system!
Hopefully someone will investigate and expose this obvious scam to keep and gain interest on individuals money. Never mind the fact that i now cannot afford to buy alternative flights for my long planned holiday.
We booked Tiger Airline return flights for the Anzac weekend from Brisbane to Rockhampton weeks before reading these comments and admit we were quite concerned by the negative remarks noted here, so we made sure we were at the Brisbane airport just over 2 hours before checkin opened. We have to say that we could not fault Tiger Airlines. Checkin all went smoothly both ways, our flights departed and landed on time and the staff could not have been more friendly, happy and eager to help at both airports and on each flight. We are 100% delighted with Tiger Airlines and we will certainly be flying with them again in the future.
Tiger Airways will offer all passengers who are booked on flights between Singapore and Bangkok between now and 30th April* the following options: 1) Free date change to an alternative flight +/- 7 days from original departure date. Any change fees and fare/tax differences will also be waived. 2) Destination change wit…h a waiver of change fees; however the fare/tax differences will continue to apply. *If you are travelling after 30th April please continue to monitor this information for further updates.
I bought my ticket months back and according to your operator to change my ticket this weekend I would have to top up an additional $460 to travel to HCMC instead of BKK. I feel both your offers are unacceptable. I should be able to get the same rate for a new destination when my original ticket was purchased, rather than buying a new ticket. This essentially translates into spending $1000 on (2) tickets on a budget airline. Fail. *UNLIKE*
Was serioulsy going to book a weekend Syd to Melb rtn with Tiger as it half the price of other airlines for that weekend. Wont now after the above posts. Think my time worth more.
Has Tiger Airlines gone broke?
Or are they withholding customer refunds to improve their cash flow?
On February 2010 I booked a return air fare for my wife and myself from Alice Springs to Adelaide for September 2010 for a total amount of $406.00 and paid by credit card at that time.
On the 2nd March we were advised by email that the flights were cancelled and that repayment of fares would be made.
It took them 9 weeks to reimburse us.
I’m sure Tiger Airlines can put our funds(multiplied by others in similar circumstances) to good use to improve their cash flow however it is concerning to me that withholding reimbursement refunds could mean some travelers being unable to afford to rebook travel with alternative services. This is especially true of families on a budget who originally elected to travel on Tiger due to this very reason.
Since this incident I have read numerous complaints against the airline which leaves me dismayed how they can get away with it in Australia.
My complaint is clear and valid and has no ambiguous issues.
And yes I had contacted the airline by email, fax and phone. I did get a response to my phone call … “I’ll put you on the urgent list”.
“Urgent list!!!1″
Doesn’t sound too good!
Worst customer service ever, they are criminals! Cancelled our flight, offered alternative flight next day (not good for us, only had a 24 hour trip booked) but refused refunding the money (“since we rescheduled you on another flight we can’t refund you the money…”)
We tried explaining to the young girl at the check in that the flight they rescheduled us on is exactly the machine that would take us back the next day! So we would be flying just for the flying’s sake – without even leaving the airport! She couldn’t have cared less, still refused a refund. Offered to book us to another destination if we pay more, the difference – useless for us. We lost money on the hotel, rental car, etc etc.
I can’t wait to see them going bankrupt. Hopefully only a matter of time.
I’ve flown with Tiger half a dozen times, including 2x connecting flights. From reading these comments, it seems lucky it all worked out.
All flights were vaguely on time except for one which was delayed 2 hours — but it turned out all the other airlines had been delayed 2 hours similarly due to bad weather, which is a hazard of air travel anytime, I guess.
I always make sure I get to the airport at least a good hour early for Tiger flights due to their strict 45 minute cut-off I’ve heard about — but apparently this is largely because check-in staff also sometimes end up being the ushering staff, and so on — e.g. the manager who had to help load the plane and was unavailable — this is how they save money, and Virgin (or is it Jetstar) do something similar I believe.
I haven’t found the staff to be rude, but then I haven’t struck any knotty problems. I now make sure my hand luggage is under 7kg, but I’m pretty sure I was allowed on with 8kg on the first flight with no problems. The staff have been polite and efficient. I booked a flight for 4 most recently and purchased another 20kg between us all which we were well under, and the check-in staff helpfully suggested I may as well put in my hand luggage as well, which I did, which was one less thing to carry.
I’ve been buying Purrfection cover without reading the fine print too closely, and most recently paid $7.50 per seat to get some front area seats together which was no great imposition.
The Virgin echeck-in system is a lot more convenient than the compulsory queueing for all customers with Tiger, and you would think they might save themselves and all their customers some time with some automated check-ins for people with carry-on luggage only, but they seem insistent on personally checking IDs and weighing all luggage — clearly Virgin aren’t fussed about these issues.
I guess I’ve saved a few hundred dollars this way, although if you only read these comments you would think you were taking a 50:50 gamble on any flight even commencing. Tiger is (part-)owned by Singapore Airlines, and the prices are so low they are apparently losing money overall — they are keeping it afloat in Oz mainly by subsidising from the parent company. So there is a minimum cost of running any airline that they are close to — if you want luxury service you’ll have to pay a lot more. Apparently their cashflow depends heavily on advance bookings months ahead to stay solvent. Delays in refunds are kind of expected in this business model, the main thing is that hopefully you are refunded sooner or later. I don’t expect free coffee vouchers if flights are delayed or whatever. The terms of service are pretty clear on the website and ticket info. Nonetheless, depts of fair trading or the ACCC might like to look at gross and repeated failures of service if that is happening.
I flew several times with Tiger without incident. Then I flew to a football match in Melbourne and the flight was delayed for 2 hours. The next morning we were waiting to board and the flight was cancelled after the boarding time without explanation. So we whizzed over to Virgin blue and finally got home. I found out they cancelled 4 flights out of Melbourne on one Sunday morning alone. This cannot be all mechanical issues but rather something financial.
Wish i had read this forum before flying tiger. Never Fly Tiger Airlines!
second last person off tiger plane today from Sunshine Coast to Melbourne. Left sunglasses in pocket in seat A1. remembered within 5 minutes of leaving airport. directory assistance only gives number overseas which after getting cut off twice they gave me the melbourne number. spoke to staff member who gave false name and said she would have a look and call me back. when no one called me back i called again. spoke to male who said no one by that name worked there. refused to give me name, title or pass me onto supervisor. person then laughed and said i couldn’t do anything! i called the main number for tiger again and they expect you to write a letter to complain!!! enjoy the $400.00 sunglasses Tiger as you will never get another cent from me! straight from the airport to one of my kids birthday parties where i got to tell 30 parents how bad they are!
And… with all the extras they charge i dont think they are cheaper anyway.
Are you people bloody mad, do you leave your brain at home when you fly. If you left your sunnies on the plane, who’s fault is that? Its not bloody rocket science, just get to the airport an hour before your flight. Check in and stay alert for changes. This goes for all budget airlines worldwide. Easyjet and Ryanair will charge you $50.00 to checkin in the last 30mins before flight. Virgin Blue are twice the price of Tiger Air, thats why they are going broke.
I have flown Tiger 4 times now without problem. We have three small children.
We follow the rules.
If this means checking in 45 minutes beforehand then I will arrive at the airport 90 minutes before the flight.
You all expect Tiger Airlines to be organised and adhere to schedules yet the overwhelming majority of people here are not adhering to the rules of the carrier.
People are not taking responsibility. What a joke that you leave your sunnies on the plane then blame the airline and go around badmouthing them.
Be accountable for yourselves.
Fair enough to be disgruntled if the airline cancels a flight, get on with it. fly a later flight and get your refund in accordance with the terms and conditions.
Otherwise, if you don’t want to be exposed to any of the problems experinced by the people in this forum pay more and fly with someone else.
We had booked a flight with Tiger from Rockhampton to Brisbane. Arriving at check-in we were told that it was closed and we were late and not allowed on the plane. We were exactly 3 minutes !!! after their 45 min deadline, standing with us probably another 10 people who were not allowed on the plane. The lady at the counter was rude and would not help instead telling us we could book another flight the next day! As we had a connection in Brisbane the same day we needed a flight and found Quantas to be very helpful and getting us on a plane. Well thats for AUD 400 in addition to what we paid Tiger. Never again !!
Have flown with Tiger many times without any problems. Once we were delayed 1hr but received many PA announcements as to why this was happening. I have always found both ground staff and flight crew to be very helpful and courteous. I agree with Dan’s comments…follow the rules. Also once we were at Melbourne Aiport when they were filming Airways (Think that’s what show was called) anyway they were looking for Customers who were not happy…For those who do not know Ground Staff are hired by Altara not Tiger…I feel you get value for money and they are no different to Jetstar or Virgin (who I also fly with on various occassions) just depends who has cheapest fare.
Ibooked a tiger airlines flight from brisbane to adelaide,
and I donn’t know why but the ticket did n’t arrive home or they didn’t take money through cedit card and didn’t email ticket, yesterday was the date I was meant to go to adelaide but I could not go because I booked the WRONG flight.
ggrrrrrrrrr…
this is just a sugestion;: seeing there are so much cancelled flights, and you were about to go to a country with two different tickets and the first flight was not cancelled but the second one was.. you would be stuck in the airport because of tiger..
GRRRRR…..
I am now a frequent flyer with Tiger purely for the fact no one else can match there prices. I must admit that I did steer clear of them for a long time. But I think they have nailed it now like everything it did take a while. I have no sympathy for those who miss there flights. The rules are put in place for a reason and simply you should be there on time. Tiger for service in my opinion are no different than Jetstar or Virgin, I agree with Gayle and Dan..
I also travel with children. I havn’t got any complaints.
Hi There,
Just went with Tiger to Sunshine Coast and Return. We left Tuesday 29/06/2010 and returned today 03/07/2010. Our flight arrived early on Tuesday but about an hour late today. Tiger aplogised for this…Also jetstar had a flight to Sydney delayed 5hrs…these things happen. Also in my last post I said Altara hired ground staff for Tiger sorry should have said AeroCare….Anyway Cabin Staff were great on both flights…
Tiger Airways – are CRAP
They change you flights at a moments notice.
They offer a refund when they cant give you any other flight that suits……but then you wait. And you wait. And you wait
The first time you ring its 4 weeks for a refund
The next time you ring its 4-6 weeks for a refund
The next time you ring its 8 weeks…….what next! They took the money for the flight from my credit card pretty quick but dont seem to be in any hurry to give it back.
They wont do anything when you call – all you get is some idiot in the Phillipines who can hardly speak a word of English and respods with the same stupid rote answers to every question.
I cannot believe I was so stupid as to book with Tiger Airways. I never will again and anyone that will listen to me whinge and bitch about them wont either!