A Bamboo Airways customer was told to supply their own food and water on an 8-hour flight from Melbourne to Vietnam despite forking out thousands for business class tickets with the airline which has now ceased to do business in Australia.
To add insult to their return flight was cancelled, and they were forced to book another flight.
As reported exclusively by Travel Weekly, several agents and other customers are still waiting for tens of thousands of dollars’ worth in refunds from Bamboo Airways for flights that were scheduled to operate in late 2023.
One Melbourne-based businessman bought business class tickets via Webjet in June 2023 for himself and his wife. The flight was due to depart on 23 September and return on the 18 October. Whilst the customer (who has asked to remain unnamed) dryly said that he and his wife were “lucky” to have one of the airline’s last flights out of Melbourne, it did not feel so lucky given the “lack of services supplied”.
“Our Flight out was business class. At luggage checking we were told that there’d be no services on the plane and that customers could spend their money to take on food and water and be reimbursed,” he said.
“As we were business class, we were told to go to the business lounge where we could take additional food and water. However, we were then turned away at the business lounge due to Bamboo not having paid their fees to enable our access,” he continued.
Then, when the customers’ return flight was cancelled, they were forced to book with another airline.
The customer said he was “frustrated” by the communication he had received from Webjet since the fiasco. “We booked our flights through Webjet after trying to buy tickets directly through Bamboo – the site would not accept the payment at the time. Dealing with Webjet since then has given [us] no joy, as the communication is consistently the same response. They tell me they chased it up and yet I received no new information. It’s ridiculously frustrating,” he said.
The customer had since reported the matter to the Australian Travel Industry Association. But because Bamboo Airways is still operating overseas, the matter has fallen between the cracks.
“I have been in contact with ATIA with the aim of getting Webjet to actively pursue this matter but nothing has changed and we are still out of pocket for thousands of dollars. Insurance won’t cover the out-of-pocket expenses due to Bamboo Airways still flying, and Webjet’s policy is that Webjet is authorised (but not obliged) to seek such refunds from the supplier directly.”
ATIA investiagtion
ATIA confirmed that it has a process in place to attend to customers who have been impacted by Bamboo Airways and is looking into this particular case.
“ATIA has had five interactions with the traveller regarding this particular situation and we continue to be deeply disappointed by Bamboo Airways’ failure to meet its obligations to consumers and the travel industry,” ATIA said in a statement.
“We understand the significant frustration and financial impact involved for all travellers and travel agencies who continue to be impacted by Bamboo’s actions.”
We encourage any travel agency or individual who has suffered losses due to Bamboo Airways’ conduct to contact us with details. These cases will strengthen our ongoing efforts to ensure that airlines meet their obligations.”
Agents left in the dark
Webjet is not the only agency to have been left in the dark by Bamboo. Agents from both Flight Centre and Travelmanagers have also confirmed that they have been waiting on correspondence and refunds from Bamboo Airways.
Since Travel Weekly published the story at the beginning of February, some agents have confirmed that they have received correspondence from Bamboo Airways to the travel industry in which the payment plan for the refunds is outlined.
In the letter (obtained by Travel Weekly) Bamboo Airways said that it would like to send its “sincere apology” for any inconvenience caused by the suspension of its IATA account. It said that it is continuing to work with IATA to schedule the refunds and that payment will be received by June 2025.
The letter was signed by the airline’s deputy general director Nguyen Thuong.
The situation has revealed a potential loophole when it comes to travel insurance around the cancellation of flights. Because Bamboo Airways, which entered the Australian market in early 2022, is still functioning (albiet not internationally), customers and agencies are unable to claim the cost of cancelled flights from their agents.
Thankfully, ATIA CEO Dean Long recently told Travel Weekly that individual agents are unlikely to be liable for the cost of flights in situations like this. “[An agent] is an independent contractor, working within a group,” he said.
TravelManager’s chief operating officer, Grant Campbell, expressed his concerns about the impact of situations such as this on the entire travel industry.
“We’re extremely disappointed that after exiting Australia in 2023, we are still waiting on client refunds from Bamboo Airlines. In some instances, we’re approaching 16 months since clients have requested refunds on paid air travel tickets that were unable to go ahead as a result of the airline no longer servicing Australia, which we feel is unfair to both the clients waiting for their money back, and the agents working tirelessly to retrieve the funds,” he said.
Indeed, in this instance the customer told Travel Weekly that they had not travelled long distance since the incident with Bamboo.
“We haven’t looked at taking another trip out of the country since this has happened, as it just leaves a really bad taste in your mouth. It’s not fair that big corporations like this can walk all over their customers without there being any retribution. Let’s hope they do come through with the refunds and I hope Webjet follows through with returning it to us.”
If you have any more information related to this story, please contact sofia@travelweekly.com.au.
