On June 23, I made an online booking for 4 persons to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam October 21 - 25. I entered the date I wanted and clicked on 'Lowest Fare' type.
I was then shown the available trips and picked my desired time. After all the necessary information provided I confirmed my ticket at a total of RM5468 and filled in my credit card details. MAS then sent a confirmation e-mail regarding my purchase. After rechecking the mail, I realized I had made a mistake of the return date and immediately called their hotline. I would be liable for an additional RM50 per ticket change, which is fine and went ahead with it.
Within minutes of this occurrence, I decided to go back into their website and did a separate but identical booking and to my horror, the total was RM2748! Instantly I called their hotline again to explain the matter of price changing in a matter of minutes when I clearly selected their lowest fare option.
The operator informed me they could not rectify the situation but I would need to take it up with their IBE SUPPORT department and only reachable by e-mail. I then shot out an e-mail to [email protected] on Friday explaining what had happened and did not hear back until late Monday after sending out a second e-mail.
A staff by the name of Surinder of the Business Support Center replied saying my first e-mail was not received due to the wrong address (I rechecked and did not make any mistake). He mentioned they are unable to entertain my request of reverting to the lowest fare (RM2748) from the original (RM5468) due to the TERMS & CONDITIONS.
MAS FAILED to recognize although I did not choose for the 'Flexible Fare', I did however chose the option of 'Lowest Fare', which was NOT the case.
I proceeded to the MAS Penang office on the ground floor of Menara KWSP and spoke directly with a staff. I gave her my booking details and she herself was surprised why I wasn't given the lowest fare (RM2748) from the beginning.
She reiterated the only department that can help with my situation was the IBE SUPPORT, who will not entertain my request.
The stark difference of my ticket and what is cheaper available prompted me to cancel the entire trip and MAS is charging me RM800 for all four tickets as a cancellation penalty.
This is obviously very misleading and very disappointing. For budget airlines to practice this is understandable, but for a national carrier is ridiculous! I will not rest my case until I am absolved and getting my FULL refund.