Tigerair Australia

TT253 MEL-SYD and back last week. Very lucky to be able fly at this price. Although not as non-bumpy as Qantas flights the servicing was decent. Discomfort was caused (usually anyway) by other passengers - in that case talking loudly. On the way back it was reclining when it's only a domestic flight! Special mention this time I flew: I left my headphones on the plane calls to the Tigerair service center were promptly answered. The address to the lost property office provided was correct and they responded even at midnight! Very polite and kind. Got my headphones back the next day. The T4 improvements - so much better than last year- not bad to travel on them from Melbourne now.

Travelled SYD-OOL. Flying from SYD-OOL the flight took off 25 minutes later than expected. Luggage did not make the flight was given the option to wait have it delivered the following day or to come collect it the following day our self. We decided to wait as we were told it was on another flight that was due to land within 45mins and we needed things from our suitcase that night. We waited over 2 hours for our luggage. During the wait we were told we would receive vouchers for some food/coffee. The vouchers were valued at $5 but this late at night no restaurants were serving main meals anymore. When we checked in to this flight we paid extra to choose our selected seats. When we checked in we were told that we would not be sitting together we showed our receipt which had our seat numbers on it but that was completely ignored. Flight from OOL-SYD was due for take off at 12.30 pm did not leave until around 1.10-1.15 pm. On the return flight my chair did not recline this seat was broken. Will never fly with Tiger again. It is definitely worth paying extra money for a better company.

Perth to Sydney return 16th to 25th August 2014. Flight TU001. Service very inconsistent and unprofessional especially check in and boarding. On board very hot throughout the flight. Not flying Tiger again far too poor overall.

TR 2428 SIN-PEN 31 August. This airline is a mixed bag. Flight wise boarding was very organised (passengers were boarded by row numbers) and no complaints about the service of the crew on this flight. Aircraft departed the gate in Singapore a couple of minutes late but arrived early in Penang. That being said the ground and online services are completely lacking. A total mess at Changi T2 at 7.30am in the morning with hundreds of passengers scrambling to check in for 5-6 flights at the time. The airline does not spend any effort to guide passengers to the correct check in queues but is more than happy to deploy staff to collect passenger information for their own surveys. No self-check machines whatsoever. The online service is no better: passengers departing Singapore on one-way tickets have no online check in option and hence no straight to gate to beat the queues. I wish I could recommend people to fly this airline but no. Don't fly Tigerair unless you don't have any other option.

Flew Melbourne - Sydney (TT282) on Friday 1st August. Due to take off at 21.05 and arrive 22.30. Flight delayed by 40 mins due to poor weather. Eventually took off and flew to Sydney only to be informed we couldn't land as we'd missed the Sydney airport curfew. Arrived back in Melbourne at Midnight. Tiger staff didn't show and left the ground subcontractor to sort out the mess. No accommodation or compensation provided apart from the promise of credit note which could take 4 weeks to arrive. Those still wishing to fly on Saturday morning had to fight over the last 25 seats available failing that wait until Sunday (40 seats available) or Monday (70 seats). Spent the night on floor in airport and booked a replacement flight with Virgin for 7am to fly out. Will never fly with them again. Total lack of customer support or service.

Melbourne-Gold Coast return never flown Tiger before so was a little unsure what to expect after hearing so many mixed reviews over the past few years. We were pleasantly surprised however flight from Melbourne was on-time with friendly attentive crew plenty of in-flight announcements and our pre-paid food was delivered promptly. Return flight was delayed due to bad weather in Sydney which they made us aware of and unavoidable and we were half an hour late arriving back into Melbourne from the Gold Coast due to a thunderstorm over Tullamarine once again can't blame Tiger for that. The Tiger terminal is a little rudimentary and very cold in Melbourne winter so hope they get that sorted but overall we had no problem with Tiger whatsoever for the price we paid and would happily fly with them again.

Flew on 11th April 2014 from Adelaide to Brisbane. When approaching check in staff very helpful and happy. We purchased an extra on our ticket which was the cost of $3.00 to have priority boarding. Initially thought was ' that's great! When it was time for boarding they called out over the speaker that all passengers that have purchased priority boarding to board now. It seemed a bit confusing because when we went to go and stand in line everyone got out of there seats to board the plane. Luckily me and my brother got to the boarding gate to stand in line first but even when we did get our boarding passes scanned people behind us without priority boarding were allowed to board. I think Tigerair need to be specific and say a couple of times more calling for anyone with priority boarding. Once boarding the flight the cabin crew were so polite and welcoming. There were plenty of drinks and food to purchase the trolley was full! The food was fresh and the drinks were nice and cold. I'm incredibly satisfied with my experience with Tigerair and I'm flying with them again in a month.

We flew Sydney to Proserpine and return and left us feeling very happy and satisfied with the complete package. Check in staff at both Sydney and Proserpine were both polite and seemed happy in their jobs. The boarding procedures were without issue and the aircraft's were both well presented and on the return trip the newest aircraft in the fleet had that nice "new plane smell" about it. The flights left and arrived on time. The seating was adequate not overly roomy but ok. The leather upholstery on the return flight was welcome. The inflight catering is user pays as is usual with all low cost carriers and a good variety was available and to my knowledge was all available. We purchased 2 hot chocolate drinks at $4 each which was reasonable value. The cabin staff were attentive and had good customer skills . The main reason airlines employ cabin staff is to facilitate safety and the cabin staff on both sectors were very particular with their safety briefings and walk around checks. On arrival at Sydney we were directed to a remote parking stand. This presented no problems as the bus transport dropped the pax off literally within 20 metres of the baggage claim carousel. One passenger mislaid his mobile phone on the aircraft the cabin staff located it and it was in his custody before the bus reached the terminal all with a smile. Great customer service. We will certainly consider Tigerair next time.

Melbourne to Cairns 7th July. 12 hour delay due to a bird strike. Exactly one week to the day we are currently grounded at Cairns for at least 6 hours due to a bird strike. Call me cynical but how coincidental is that. Just an excuse used by Tigerair me thinks. Will never fly with them again and I don't recommend you using them either.

Does the catering exist? Flew MEL-BNE check in easy - no queue. Check in person at bag drop offered us exit row seats which were gratefully accepted. But when the food service commenced they advised they had 'ran out'. MEL is a base - how can they not have food at the start of a flight departing MEL? Flight delayed due to a broken Jetstar plane and only one runway but captain kept passengers informed. See my earlier review about lack of catering out of PER - bit of a theme!