SIA: a great way to fly? Think again!

A letter to Straits Times from one Mrs. Florence Lum about her experience with SIA, I make a mental note to rethink twice--no, thrice--if I ever want to splurge on flying with SIA. Give me a budget airline anytime. With a cheap flight comes a low(er) expectation!

After reading Dr Jimmy Beng's letter yesterday ('Tale of two services: Singapore Airlines and PUB'), commenting on his experience with SIA, I felt compelled to contribute my own story.

Recently, SIA rolled out its promotional airfares to various destinations. As my husband was stationed in Australia for work, I decided to take our four young children to join him for a short break during the June holidays.

Although I tried to book the tickets on SIA's website as soon as the advertisement was published, I was unable to secure the promotional rates. I inquired with travel agents and got the same reply that the flights were all fully booked within one week of my travel dates. Moreover, I was told that I could not book child fares for all my children under the promotion. One single adult is entitled to book child fares for only two children. This means I have to pay adult fares for two of my children. I was shocked at this discovery.

Subsequently, I tried to verify with SIA by calling its office. Of course, the process of contacting SIA and finally getting to talk to a customer service officer was tedious and time-consuming. There are also so many different kinds of fares within the same flight, and this makes it confusing if you try to book online. Finally, I was told the flight I wanted was still available, if I paid a higher fare. Subsequently, I was told it was true I had to pay adult fares for two of my children.

Like most Singaporeans, I would like to support our national carrier by flying with SIA. Unfortunately, in this case, SIA does not make it easy for me to do so. After all the hassle, I have decided to stay in Singapore and have since spread the news of SIA's policy to all my friends with more than two children.

On an ironic note, perhaps I should thank SIA that I did not fly to Australia after all, since it is now one of the high-risk countries for Influenza A (H1N1).

The letter to Straits Times, "SIA makes it so hard for us to support our national airline".