Travelling is fun until you have to deal with all the transport issues and airlines. But even then, the worst experiences wouldn't involve booking flights from non-existent routes, because why would it even show up in options... right? But that's exactly what VietJet Air passengers from Bengaluru and Hyderabad are now claiming.
Remember the too-good-to-be-true advertisements where Vietnamese low-cost carrier VietJet Air was offering flights from Bengaluru to Hanoi in Vietnam for Rs 9?
Turns out it is too good to be true.
What's happening? VietJet Air is in the news for all the wrong reasons. The airline sold several flight tickets from Bengaluru and Hyderabad, with attractive discounts and offers, only to tell passengers days before their scheduled travel that the flights have been 'cancelled'.
@MyTrip didn’t even inform us we had read that vietjet flights are cancelled from Bangalore. This has been an endless cycle. The agency wants us to talk to airlines and airline to agency. I want my refund! Pls acknowledge @VietjetairCom and @MyTrip
— Vaswati Hazarika (@vaswatihazarika) December 7, 2022
@Cleartrip My BLR - Hanoi flight is cancelled by @VietjetIndia and I have been following up for an alternate flight from anywhere in India. If vietjet is not responding, who's responsible? No governance from @DGCAIndia ? Fed up with pathetic cu support from #Vietjet #cleartrip
— Shivdutt Bharadwaj (@shivdutt_b) December 8, 2022
@VietjetIndia The most pathetic airline with no policies and resolutions in place. I had booked a flight from Bengaluru to Hanoi for 6th Jan 2023. Vietjet cancelled it citing operational issues and just sent a message. No call from the airline for alternate options or refunds.
— Rajat Gupta (@RG_RajatGupta) December 5, 2022
@makemytrip my flight from Hyd to Bali was cancelled by VietJet and despite 14 calls and repeat requests there has been no response from you guys. I need an immediate refund so that i can book another flight. Process my refund immediately!!! pic.twitter.com/OdC2MG3lAu
— Sundeep Nandyala (@NandyalaSundeep) December 10, 2022
Context: VietJet Air had announced that they will be launching new flight routes from Bengaluru and Hyderabad in the first week of November 2022.
However, several passengers who booked their VietJet Air flights via popular travel booking platforms are now staring at heavy losses. On the one hand, VietJet Air is not responding to their calls, outright denying them refunds; while on the other hand, those who booked hotels and stays for their vacation are looking at bigger losses. (talk about ringing in the New Year by the Ha Long Bay!)
With the rush at airports and now the VietJet scandal, it seems like flying this holiday season is similar to being in a horror movie.
After this story was published, VietJet Air responded to us with the following message:
Due to operational reasons, Viejet announced to cancel its all flights from Bengaluru and Hyderabad since October 08, 2022.
Passenger affected by the changes were notified via emails/phone contacts registered in their booking. Furthermore, to ensure the passengers’ rights, Vietjet has implemented refund policy within 30 days for all passengers affected by cancellation of who seek to cancel their tickets.
For further details, passengers can contact Vietjet via:
Email: 19001886@vietjetair.com;
Vietjet’s Indian Call Center: +91 11- 43640490.
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(This story has been updated with VietJet's response)