Those
holding Kulula or BA domestic flight credits for flights they couldn’t take
during last year’s hard lockdown have to use them for flights departing
before the end of November – in other words, before the festive season
peak. Which is when most of them want to redeem their credit for flights,
of course.
Time to book- and fly – is running out fast, and there’s no chance that Comair
will extend the validity, because its Business Rescue Plan doesn’t allow for
that.
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But I’m currently getting a LOT of emails from those with Kulula and BA credits
saying they can’t meet the deadline because they simply can’t get through to
Comair’s call centre and there doesn’t appear to be any other way to make
the bookings.
In mid-October, Desmond O’Connor, Kulula.com’s
chief commercial officer, told me that passenger demand had exceeded expectations with exceptionally high call volumes via the
Contact Centre.
“We do encourage customers to book online and those who are able to change
their tickets online to do so, however, some tickets unfortunately require
manual intervention in order to be changed. We prioritise customers who
are travelling within 72-hours, and recommend those who are not traveling
within this window, to only contact the Contact Centre closer to their
departure date.”
He said Comair’s service provider had employed more people at the Contact Centre to accommodate for the higher call volumes. New
technology, too.
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Sadly, as I told Comair’s spokesman yesterday, if the emails I’m getting are
anything to go by, those attempts to keep up with demand have been
unsuccessful.
For example, Lynda Sjoberg told me this week: “The problem is that Kulula
no longer has flights to PE and despite the original ticket being operated by
BA, you cannot use the credit…