I received the email on 25th Oct and opened it immediately to find out what it's all about. After all, you rarely get such email.
I was requested to select a flight date (between 5th to 30th November 2013) and to reply by 27th Oct 2013, subject to availability.
Now, no information on days flights are available and the flight times.
So I emailed to the staff for more information.
He replied.
On 26th (Saturday), I provided a date and he alerted me that the date did not fall within the travel period. So I gave another date and request for a confirmation asap so I can book my accommodation.
I assumed he is off on Sunday as there was no reply from him. In the meantime, I started looking for accommodation in Chiang Mai. As this is my first time there, I do not know where is a convenient and which hotel is clean and good. I also realized that the dates I've selected fall during the Loy Krathong festival and many hotels were sold out.
Now, my friends have very unpleasant experience with this airline and I've read about how bad the services were. And due to the festive season, I've to make payment for hotel booking immediately to secure a room. But I do not want to book my hotel only to be told by the airline there's no seats for me.
On Tuesday, I resent an email to check on the status of my flight and was told the date I selected is available, but there's no confirmation that I'll be on the flight yet as they are processing the bookings in batches.
On Thursday, I sent another email again and got no reply.
Finally, on Thursday late afternoon, I received a booking confirmation and was given a link to pay for the airport taxes. Logged in with the booking reference number and there was an error when I tried to make payment.
Finally, the staff called me and settled my payment over the phone.
I ended up spending so much time corresponding with various hotels trying to find one that has rooms during my travel period.
Although the air tickets cost me zero dollar (excluding the airport taxes), it has costs me numerous hours in getting my flight confirmation and finding accommodation.
And for the airline, it has costs them the opportunity to create a good impression and experience for their customers.