Singapore’s budget airline Scoot announced that it has launched a self-service refund option on its website to allow all its customers to submit their refund requests online, in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic.
In its press release on Tuesday (17 March), the airline said that this service is for all customers with bookings made on or before 15 March for travel dates until 31 May.
“As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to develop globally and more travel advisories are put in place by governments, we understand that customers are grappling with uncertainty and wish to change their travel plans,” the statement said.
In order for customers to request a refund, all they need to do is to go to the airline’s “Manage My Booking” portal and click the self-service refund button. This will allow customers to submit their refund requests online at their convenience.
Scoot stated that the refund will be processed within 30 business days, and it will come in the form of Scoot travel vouchers.
Customers who booked their flights through third-party booking channels or travel agencies are advised to contact the relevant channel or agents for assistance, the airline said.
A spokesman of Scoot told The Straits Times that as of 5pm on Tuesday, more than 12,000 refund requests had been submitted, and over 2,000 of them have already received their refunds. He added that the portal took about three weeks to develop and test.
Separately, Scoot also said that it will extend a one-time free date exchange for all bookings made on its website, mobile app or WeChat mini booking site between 15 March and 31 May.
For these bookings, the one-time free date change can be utilised up to four hours before a scheduled flight departure time for travel up till 31 March 2021.
“These policies will support Scoot customers with the flexibility to defer or change their travel plans in view of the current situation, which is unprecedented and has been developing very quickly,” the airline noted.
The online refund service was introduced as Scoot’s Philippines call centre was suspended on Tuesday as a precautionary measure by the Philippines government.
As such, the airline “strongly encourage” its customers to manage their own bookings via its self-service portal or contact the airline via its online feedback form, Facebook Messenger or Weibo page for any flight requests or queries.
“Scoot will continue to assess the impact of COVID-19 on global air travel in the coming weeks and respond accordingly,” Scoot noted.
Correction: The time taken for the refunds to be processed was corrected.