News Forum - Brit stranded in Thailand after tour operator removes flight

[Thaiger]

A British taxi driver is furious he’s been stranded in Thailand after his tour operator cancelled his flight home. Paul Henstock, from the Midlands, revealed he is supposed to be on his dream holiday after a tragedy almost left him permanently disabled. The 54 year old said he’d saved hard for the 10 weeks’ trip after an accident in the Philippines left him in hospital for nearly four months. But now the dream vacation has turned into a nightmare for the Nottinghamshire man after he was told his flight home was cancelled via a text message from the online travel […]

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[Pinetree]

Did he have travel insurance? 'Stranded' ,means he can't afford a new flight home; that's odd in the extreme.  Who travels this far without some means of financial backup?  Q a go fund appeal to save him from himself? 

[23RD]

Moral of this story is Prior Planning and Preparation Prevent P@#h Poor Performance. 

[KaptainRob]

Post covid there are too many dodgy companies and deals and LM.com has a bad reputation.  Most of us are savvy enough to do our homework and personally I make a point of buying direct from airlines.

 

[Marc26]

1 hour ago, KaptainRob said:

Post covid there are too many dodgy companies and deals and LM.com has a bad reputation.  Most of us are savvy enough to do our homework and personally I make a point of buying direct from airlines.

I have zero sympathy for people that buy through any agency, book direct

 

Or at least read reviews

 

And post-covid, I just expect things to go tits up and if they don't, that's a bonus

[Venusianhart]

And this is why travel insurance is not a *rip-off"

It saved me $17,000 just the once, which more than made up for the less than a $1 a day annual premium that I bought as needed. 

He's now also up for extra hotel and meals a few beers all of that, and working with insurance claim team, they'd probably help him get better flight options, as they have that clout, also if he bought his tickets on a credit card, it may offer some limited protection too, worth checking. 

On the bright side Finnair has to be a better seat than a Scoot self-loading-freight experience for nine hours, dear god in heaven, Chiang Mai to Singapore just three hours, in January (no other options) felt like it would never end. So never again!

 

And yes, Scoot refund policy is non existent unless you pay legacy carrier equivalent, so may as well go with the big boys anyway. 

I feel for the bloke, but cutting corners on flight tickets leaves no room for error when things go wrong in these times of limited options and frequent upheavals. 

It's worrying to think that a lot of these cock ups are down to one thing, new staff or no staff to help keep planes on schedule.

For a classic example see "Flight Risk" link below about the recent Qantas debacle. All airlines are doing that now!

https://youtu.be/iQKnazRIEc8

 

[Guest1]

Is Scoot still offering BKK-Gatwick? 

Just looking, but Gatwick  from Bangkok, or Berlin from Singapore seems not possible to book. Sing to Athens, however is

[Dialemco]

Should have booked through a reputable travel agency such as Trailfinders who would have made alternative arrangements on your behalf. The moral of this story is to avoid so called low cost airlines on long haul flights.

[Viggen840]

16 hours ago, Pinetree said:

Did he have travel insurance? 'Stranded' ,means he can't afford a new flight home; that's odd in the extreme.  Who travels this far without some means of financial backup?  Q a go fund appeal to save him from himself? 

After an extreme experience that saw him crippled in 2018 (again - overseas), one would have to wonder why he does not have travel insurance, if he doesn't. I guess his only option is to go hat-in-hand to the Embassy and beg and plead for assistance. good luck with that!

[RayT]

21 hours ago, Pinetree said:

Did he have travel insurance? 'Stranded' ,means he can't afford a new flight home; that's odd in the extreme.  Who travels this far without some means of financial backup?  Q a go fund appeal to save him from himself? 

It says he can afford to buy the replacement ticket, but highlighted that families were also booked on that flight who will need to buy their own replacement tickets. I see why he is annoyed, simply cancelling the flight and making no attempt to sort him another one. Yes, holiday insurance is vital. I can't believe with his sort of previous luck, he hasn't got cover for this.