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Reduced flight schedule takes wind out of dream holiday

Back on non-essential items. One in three are shopping around for the best deals, switching to cheaper brands and house brands or eating out less.’’ He said fruit and vegetables were always a key driver of overall grocery costs, particularly in the winter

People booked with Air New Zealand over the coming months are crossing their fingers they won’t be among the thousands who will have their flights dropped as the company deals with staff shortages.

The airline said 100,000 customers would be affected by the reduced schedule, which was done so that more staff could be on standby to cover for illness.

It has been six years since Sarah travelled overseas and now she is hoping a dream holiday she is taking this month goes to plan.

But when she heard Air New Zealand suggested those with cheap seats would be bumped first, she saw red.

‘‘[I was] pretty angry . . . I booked my flights months ago, like they want you to do, then they go ‘Someone can come along and book in today’ and be ahead of me. That stinks.’’

Sarah plans to travel from Christchurch to Auckland and then on to Singapore, where she will catch a flight to India.

The airline said that when it cut flights it would offer a credit or refund to passengers who could not be rebooked for the same day or with a day on either side for international travel.

Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy said the announcement omitted information about passengers’ rights.

Would-be domestic travellers are entitled to claim up to 10 times the cost of the ticket or the actual cost of delay, whichever is lower, if the cancellation is within the airline’s control. Similar rules apply for international flights but vary depending on the airline and country.

‘‘We recognise this is a challenging time for all airlines and commend Air New Zealand for proactively managing upcoming capacity and scheduling issues ... The more notice Air New Zealand can give its customers, the better,’’ Duffy said.

‘‘However, Consumer NZ has concerns that passengers affected ... may not be given the full picture about their rights.’’

If the airline offered a customer another flight that did not suit, they could ask for a refund and claim reimbursement for any additional costs, such as accommodation and meals, incurred when getting to the destination, he said.

Auckland woman Kirsten Henry has eight domestic flights booked for different trips this year, including to Queenstown to do a Great Walk.

‘‘The travel that I have booked is time sensitive, all of it, and particularly the personal travel where if I was forced to take a later flight then that would potentially then mean I wouldn’t be able to do those things.’’

She has booked fully refundable flexible fares at top dollar, which she now regrets after spending hours waiting on hold to get through to Air New Zealand’s customer service centre last week to get a refund for a family member’s flight.

She gave up and opted for a credit online instead. ‘‘You should be able to cancel them online.’’

Air New Zealand said its call centre had a maximum wait of five hours at one point last weekend, when fog delayed many flights.

House of Travel chief operating officer Brent Thomas said airlines needed to be more upfront about passengers’ rights when there were cancellations. ‘‘There hasn’t been clarity given by Air New Zealand ... It is far clearer in certain other jurisdictions around the world.’’ – RNZ

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2022-08-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-13T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281728388297352

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