Ms Lin Jiahui was travelling to Macau for vacation with her immediate family, her parents, an aunt and her grandmother.
The family purchased return flight tickets worth around S$2,500. Unfortunately, they were unable to get on the flight and had to buy new flight tickets to make it to their destination.
Couldn’t Check in Due to Child’s Expiring Passport
When checking in at Changi Airport Terminal 1, the family was told by the staff at the check-in counter that their daughter was unable to be checked in.
Ms Lin’s daughter passport was expiring in five weeks, and it doesn’t meet the required validity period of at least six months.
This means that the rest of the group were not allowed to be checked into the flight as well since they were travelling together.
According to Mdm Lin, they were told that because they purchased their tickets as a group, they have to check in as a group.
A Last-Minute Rush to ICA
Unwilling to let their holiday plans fall apart, Ms Lin, her husband and her daughter rushed down to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) building to get an emergency renewal for the daughter’s passport.
On the way to the ICA building, Ms Lin claims that she called Scoot’s customer service hotline.
During the call, she was told that the rest of the family members would be able to check in with their luggage.
However, they weren’t able to do so.
When Ms Lin, her husband and daughter made it back to Changi Airport, it was 1.30pm, and they could not check in for the flight, which is slated for departure at 1.50pm.
Spent an Additional S$2,100 For Flight Tickets
As the family were not able to get economy-class seats on the next Scoot flight, Ms Lin shelled out S$2,100 to purchase seven one-way business-class tickets for a 6am flight to Hong Kong.
And to make sure they won’t miss that pricey flight, the family stayed in a hotel at Changi Airport.
The family eventually managed to reach Macau after taking a ferry from Hong Kong.
Will Definitely Be Asking for Compensation
Ms Lin asked for an explanation from Scoot via its Facebook page but received an unsatisfactory response.
“Please note that the check-in counter closes one hour prior to departure, and all passengers in the same booking need not be present at the check-in counter in order to proceed with the check-in.
“Our check-in kiosks accept individual self-check-in under the same booking.”
A spokesperson for Scoot told The Straits Times that even for flight bookings with multiple passengers, they do not have to check in together.
Scoot check-in counters open three hours before departure and Ms Lin and her family were not able to check-in on time for their flight.
However, he added that Scoot is sorry about Ms Lin and her family’s experience and have reached out to her.
He added that Scoot had also assisted Ms Lin and her family in securing their seats on the return flight from Macau to Singapore.
“Our staff also assisted Ms Lin and her family members to secure the booking of their return flight from Macau to Singapore on June 17, which would have been cancelled as per our conditions of carriage if Ms Lin did not contact our call centre within 48 hours of departure time of the flight that had been missed.”