Respect our rights, Aussie passengers tell AirAsia

More AirAsia passengers are demanding to be treated fairly after encountering difficulties in using the airline's services and obtaining cash refunds after cancelled flights. 

Many had previously complained about problems redeeming the travel vouchers given in lieu of cash refunds, and of voucher values lower than that of their ticket purchase. 

Such vouchers have been credited to the accounts of AirAsia X passengers since the airline completed its debt restructuring process last March.

The proposal was reportedly approved by its creditors as well as the High Court in 2021. 

Peter Budd, from East Perth in Australia, said he had been unable to redeem his travel vouchers worth A4,783.88 (RM14,554.12).

Budd paid the amount in September 2019 for a round-trip flight to Phuket, Thailand, via Kuala Lumpur. 

The flight was supposed to depart in April 2020, but was eventually cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

After the pandemic subsided, Budd made another attempt at his Thailand holiday which he had planned to take with his wife. 

He tried to use the vouchers given to him, but was told that they could only be used for routes from Perth to Kuala Lumpur. 

"They said I would need to make a separate payment for a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket," he told MalaysiaNow. 

After considering his situation, Budd agreed to the offer and began looking for a flight in April. 

"But early this month, I received an email from AirAsia informing me that the cost of flight tickets from Perth to Kuala Lumpur had gone up to A$9,152.70 (RM27.845.49), and that I would have to top up another RM2,165.60 for the trip from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket.

"This increase doesn't make sense," he added. 

Budd, who had used AirAsia's services for almost 10 years, has been unable to reach anyone at the airline aside from its AVA chat bot. 

He has also lodged a complaint with the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom), the Australian federal minister for consumer affairs, and the Perth Consumer Protection Agency.

Theva Indrasenan, also from Perth, was given travel vouchers in Sri Lankan currency despite paying for his tickets in Australian dollars. 

Theva paid A$850 (RM2,577.01) to fly his father, Ananthar Indrasenan, from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Bali, Indonesia, via Kuala Lumpur on a flight scheduled to depart on Feb 23, 2021. 

However, the flight was cancelled and Theva was offered travel vouchers worth 83,462.19 rupees (RM1,007.14).

Due to the collapse of the Sri Lankan economy, the vouchers are now worth just A$350. 

"Even the vouchers, I only received after complaining to Mavcom," Theva told MalaysiaNow.

Leesa Warren, from Brisbane, Australia, meanwhile, is still waiting to be refunded A$7,198.80 (RM21,875.90) for a round-trip flight to Bangkok, Thailand, which was supposed to depart in September 2020. 

Warren paid for eight tickets but was told on March 1, 2020 that the flight had been cancelled. 

She was offered a refund in either credit or cash form. 

"I chose cash because this would allow me to repay everyone for their individual tickets," she said. 

Warren also has A$5,500 worth of credit already in her AirAsia account which she cannot use as there are currently no flights from the Gold Coast or Brisbane. 

"We always used AirAsia to fly to Thailand and Malaysia, maybe three times a year," she said. 

"It's quite disappointing to be treated like this. They took our money but we have been unable to contact anyone from the airline." 

MalaysiaNow is still awaiting a response from AirAsia about these three cases.