Passengers to boycott PAL amid cancellation of cheap flights booked during app glitch

At least 211 customers have expressed intention to boycott Philippine Airlines (PAL) after the flag carrier canceled their discounted flights  booked during a system glitch of its mobile app.

"We, customers, are now very inclined to boycott PAL. We plan to give to PAL’s competition, over our lifetime, the small fortune that one tends to spend on air travel," the customers said in a statement on Wednesday.

"A boycott is still a boycott even if only done by a relatively small group of people," they said.

To recall, PAL earlier said that a glitch in its system caused its mobile app to display incorrect plane ticket prices, resulting in a number of passengers booking "heavily discounted" flights. 

The affected flights are those from Japan to the US and Canada (via Manila) routes. PAL has since cancelled the flights and assured passengers of full refund of the amount paid for their tickets.

"The airline apologizes for the inconvenience caused by this system glitch and is coordinating with its system service provider for the mobile app to get to the bottom of the issue," PAL's spokesperson Cielo Villaluna earlier said.

The 211 customers, however, said PAL has reneged on its legal contracts "for an error on their mobile site that is ultimately their responsibility."

The customers also claimed that the airline mistreated them through "uncommunicative customer support and forced refunds."

"If this situation can happen to us, it can happen to any future customers of PAL, anytime that PAL claims they made an error," they said.

The customers explained that on May 4 and 5, they purchased several flights in "good faith on PAL’s mobile app, believing sincerely that the discounts involved must have been promotional."

The flights were booked for later this year covering the routes of Japan, Philippines, United States, and Canada. All throughout the purchase process there was no indication of anomalies, they said.

"For some customers, forced refunds were issued even before the customers were informed of the matter. For other customers, who purchased tickets starting May 4, we were informed, by a generic form letter, starting May 9, that our contractual purchases were being cancelled," the passengers said.

"It is our understanding that the law in some jurisdictions for these flights requires refunding within 72 hours of the error being detected; PAL’s tardy action seems to have exceeded that window in most cases. Refunds were subsequently issued without our consent as late as May 13. No PAL representatives replied to emails we sent to them about this," they added.

Many PAL customers also remain without reimbursement for their accommodation and other travel arrangements connected to the affected flights.

"We believe that the error fare is the responsibility of PAL. Philippine Airlines now stands out as the only airline in the world to simply renege on their commitment in these situations," they said.

GMA News Online has reached out to PAL for their comment but no response yet has been received as of this posting.

"If PAL continues to sweep this under the rug, and not honor the legally binding contracts we made with them in good faith, we will be forced to pursue this with aviation and governmental authorities, media, and law courts in the Philippines, Japan, Canada, and the United States — countries that hold jurisdiction over the routes in question," the customers said.

"It is very disappointing that we customers must pursue this — especially since PAL has the reputation and resources to have addressed this more personally and properly sooner. Scores of customers were affected by this, and shabbily offered apologies from PAL's representatives just aren't enough," they said. —LDF, GMA News