Air Pacific

As my parents were traveling from USA to Fiji, Auckland than Sydney, they had confirmed for wheelchair service as special needs.Today they checked-in to depart to Fiji,Flight number - FJ 910 departing at 1.10pm, connecting to LA and they were told the wheelchair service is too busy and they can walk through the express lane,and were handed with the express lane tickets .

Even though they had confirmation from the day they booked their tickets, still I rang the Air Pacific office to confirm it 24 hrs prior. My parents are not at their best health and I did not expect this from Air Pacific .

I would like to know,who is responsible for this ??? Please do reply as soon as possible.

Our below complaint summarises our experience.

Dear Sir/Madam

After the extremely pathetic experience with your organisation (detailed below), I send this email in the slim hope that it may be received by someone holding a semblence of competence and to effect the significant change that your organisation so desperately requires. The mere upcoming rebranding of your airline will not cure these fundamental failings.

On 24 June 2012, we booked flights through qantas.com including a transfer flight from Auckland to Nadi to fly on 29 March 2013 on FJ412.

Our experience in respect of flight FJ412 was nothing short of dismal, and the worst experience we have ever endured through any airline in our long history of flying.

Upon arrival in Auckland, we repeatedly sought to obtain our boarding passes for the flight to Nadi (as these were not provided to us upon our check-in in Brisbane). We were repeatedly fobbed off by staff at the transfer desk and told to return later to receive our boarding passes as "the staff member who had access to our boarding passes was not available".

We then attended the Qantas Club in Auckland (as we are members), who very helpfully attempted to call every known number for Air Pacific (after noticing that a number of members had yet to receive boarding passes for this flight and becoming concerned that passengers would be unable to board). They also could not contact anyone from the airline to provide our boarding passes for at least an hour. Eventually, the Qantas Club informed us someone would be available at the transfer desk to issue us with a boarding pass.

FJ412 was supposed to depart at 5.30pm on 29 March 2013. We attended the gate at 5.30pm (upon the airport displays showing "final call" for this flight) only to be told by Air Pacific to return to the gate at 6.00 pm for "a further update".

At 6.00pm we were unhelpfully informed that the flight was cancelled. The service desk could not tell us when the flight might be rescheduled, and the staff member had no idea what was happening with the flight. Finally we were informed that the flight had been cancelled by Air Pacific for "operational reasons" and that the flight "might" fly at 6.00am 30 March 2013. We were then directed to be at the airport three hours prior to the departure time for the flight, collect our checked bags, pass Customs, and to see a service desk to receive our arrangements regarding accommodation and transfers. Minimal, meaningful directions were provided by the staff members at the desk, and passengers were (for the most part) left to fend for themselves.

After arriving at the hotel, we were advised that we must be outside the hotel at 2.45am on 30 March 2013 to catch a shuttle back to Auckland airport.

We arrived at the airport at approximately 3.00am only to discover Air Pacific had not opened the check-in counter. Once they finally arrived and we were checked in, we then discovered that security screening was not open. We waited outside the terminal until security opened at 4.30am.

Despite having attended the airport three hours prior to the scheduled flight (as insisted by your airline), at 6.00am (being the scheduled time for departure of this flight) Air Pacific had not even started boarding.

Around 6.10am, the Qantas Club informed us that the delay was because Air Pacific staff had failed to arrive for the flight.

Around 6.30am, the flight finally commenced boarding.

Upon boarding, some passengers were informed that Air Pacific's crew thought the flight was departing at 6.30am rather than 6.00am. We also noticed that one of the arm rests was held together with tape.

The plane finally landed in Nadi around 9.40am (Nadi time). After a considerable delay on the tarmac, we were told that the crew could not open the airplane door, and that the plane must be towed to another gate. More delay ensued before we were finally able to leave the plane.

As a result of the above, we lost a night's pre-paid accommodation and were endlessly stuffed around.

On any view, this is a completely unacceptable travel experience. We booked this flight through Qantas assuming, and expecting, that Qantas takes pride in its brand and would not be reselling services through such an incompetent organisation.

A similar report of our experience has already been sent to Qantas, who we were disappointed to note is a 48% shareholder of Air Pacific.

Utilized Air Pacific ( AIR FIJI) March 10/13 and had the worst experience in 30 years of flying. Air Pacific provides the worse service I have ever experienced both onboard and during check-in. The planes need essential upgrading and are poor organized for lengthy flights. The food offered was poor quality and the after service advice nil. The airline does NOT even have an office at LAX ..just a check in counter than offers basic service ..no office. The air Line is the laughing joke of other airlines . I had read reports prior to paying for my flight and thought it could not be that bad..........well it was !!! DO NOT WASTE MONEY booking with Air pACIFIC THE AIR LINE WILL DING you with EXTRA FEES such as OVER WEIGHT LUGGAGE $20 per KILO which can up very quickly ..just for 1 extra bag..$500 ....YES $500 !!! The airline offers poor service, poor quality food, poor interior environments, poorly followed schedules and poor solution outcomes. DO NOT FALL FOR THE LINE THEY FEEL YOU. !!!!! The mote of " the way it should be" is DEFINITELY NOT practiced. Avoid at all costs....ititially cheap but adds up extra fees and poor outcomes..Trust me .

Similar experience to previous reviews .

The airline (Air Pacific) cancelled my early morning 6am

Flight Sydney to Nadia, Fiji. I had made the journey from WA Australia to NSW to catch this flight .

Unfortunately , ground staff at Sydney were unable to help with the

Cancellation, so I had to call reservations via telephone .

The representative wasn't too helpful and couldn't offer me carriage , but did suggest

Could rebook with another airline and request a refund

For previous flight Fj0914 on 7 jan 12.

Unfortunately to date have had no success processing a refund for a $600 flight.

I have made many calls and email communication and not even the supervisor will

Return a call.

It's frustrating . Will never use the airline again.

Customer care is the poorest I have experienced .

If this airline was based in US, UK or Aus I could at least

Look at contacting the ombudsman- but no success yet!

On Dec 9, 2012, Air Pacific cancelled our flight from Nadi to LAX at last moment with no explanation. This resulted in extra overnight stay in Nadi (with very minimal voucher to cover those costs), an extra overnight stay in LA (not yet reimbursed) and HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS EACH FOR MY WIFE AND MYSELF FOR REBOOKING FLIGHTS OUT OF LA - which AP had said they have no responsibility for and will not reimburse. They use an ancient 747 with broken seats, non-working reading lights and broken TV screens (so there is no "entertainment"). The food is bad. NEVER, NEVER USE THIS AIRLINE. The above is routine. Their flight crews know it. They don't apologize.

Our party of four was scheduled to fly from Nadi to LAX on 27/11/12 but flt was "postponed" without explanation to next day at 7:00 a.m. Got to airpot and in line at 4:25 a.m. to get boarding passes and stood in line til 7:45. The entire time we were in line, they kept announcing that the plane was overbooked by 100 people (how do you overbook that badly??) and to please "sell" your seat. They kept moving the time of flight out, which was good for us because we actually got boarding passes and boarded with minutes to spare. Originally, plane was to be 747 but flight was handed off by AP to a Portuguese airliner that was so ratty and dirty, and the food was absolutely terrible. Spent night near LAX in order to make a next-morning connection to final destination. Fiji was great but not a happy ending to this trip.

Flying back to LAX from Fiji Nov 24th the flight was cancelled with no explanation and rescheduled for the next day at 7 am. Arrived at airport at 4 am and got bumped because the replacement plane seated 100 less people than the original. We were sent back to the hotel and told we would be on the next flight 10 pm the next day. The 10 pm flight the next day was cancelled with no explanation. Went to the the airport to get answers because eafter several attempts by phone couldn't get through to anyone at the airline. After standing in line for over an hour and a half I was able somehow to to get a boarding pass only with checked bags. Had to go back to hotel, gather my bags and my wife's and go back to the airport. I had no confidence that we were actually on the Wednesday flight. The plane they sent was an Euro Atlantic 777 chartered from Portugal. That flight was delayed another one and half hours. By the time we arrived to Los Angeles it was too late to make any connections and had to spend the night in LA. No one from Air pacific made any effort to make sure the bumped passengers got prioity. It was first come first serve. The people at the airport could have cared less and you could not get through to then by phone. People were on the verge of panic some without prescriptions, some ourself included with children at home. This airline is hurting Fiji's tourism.

My sister and I booked tickets to Australia from LA six months ago. 48 hours before our departure we learn our flight has been CANCELLED. They've rebooked us on a flight the following day but can't guarantee that it too won't be cancelled. And when you've spent SIX MONTHS planning a trip, arriving a day late isn't an inconvenience but a disaster. They offered us a full refund, but only if we cancelled our return ticket with them as well. As we booked six months ago at a ridiculously reduced rate, rebooking with another airline 48 hours before takeoff would cost us an extra $1500 each. So we take the flight a day later and they can offer us NO COMPENSATION whatsoever. No upgrade, no reduced rate, no vouchers for another flIght, NADA. In short, stay away, far away from Air Pacific. Our experience has been excruciating.

We flew from L.A. to Nadi business class and the flight was ok. The stewardesses left a lot to be desired. It was like flying in coach with better seats and they served food, after that we never saw them again for 10 hours. We arrived in Nadi and were told the flight to Savusavu was cancelled due to equipment problems bt they would get us to the other side of the island and it would ONLY take 45 minutes to get to our resort. We had no choice. We got to Labasa the other airport, there was no transportation waiting and we had to wait another hour then the ride was 2 HOURS not 45 minutes. We lost a day at our resort. The day we were supposed to leave at 3:30, the staff at the resort came to us at 8:30 to say we had to leave immediately becuse our 5:00 flight was cancelled because of equipment problems.We lost another day in our resort. It seems this airline has problems whenever they have 6 passengers, they cancel a flight. We got to Nadi and it was 10 hours before our flight to L.A. so we asked to go to the lounge. We were told we couldnt go until 3 hours before the flight. We said we were here only because of them but they said too bad. We went into town and came back 3 hours before flight time. We were then told that our L.A. flight was cancelled and we would have to spend the night in Nadi. We could have spent the night in our resort. This airline thinks schedules are a guideline not something to be adhered to. They have no intention to compensate us in any way. Unfortunately, if you go to Fiji at some point you must fly on this airline. It is simple DO NOT GO TO FIJI. If you go anywhere else DO NOT FLY ON THIS AIRLINE. It is the worst airline we have ever flown on.

I am very disappointed with the ethical and professional conduct of Air Pacific. I was told changes to flights would cost $100 + any additional cost of the flights. This seemed fair to me. What is not acceptable is that I was charged an additional $300 (+ $100 rebooking fee = $400) for my flights when the cost of my new flights was actually decreased! When I inquired why I was being charged for an increase in fare when the fare was actually decreased, they could not give me an answer - basically I had the choice to pay their "made-up increase fare" price, or not change my ticket. I basically got screwed and there's nothing I can do about it. I will choose a more reliable, professional, and ethical carrier next time. Sorry, but I despise being ripped off. Never again Air Pacific!