In Reply to: I'm with you Pauline.... posted by cherryripe on Thursday, 5. January 2006 at 16:21 Bali Time:
Quote from the information from Putu_Les: "Launching this month, the 'Love Bali' promotion will give Australian residents who purchase tickets to Bali during a given time frame, the chance to win an additional free airfare* for a companion to travel on the same flights and in the same class."
At first the information looks good and its great to have the info conveyed here.
The text cannot, however, but mean that one person still has to pay for one ticket and may, perhaps has a chance to bring a companion and it is only the companion that does not pay while one person still has to pay in full.
And then I suppose the "free" tickets are only available when there is capacity on the desired flight that the paying customer has chosen. Once having paid, one may be able to travel while the non-paying companion may not be able to join despite promises. Or, could it be that both passengers are denied reservation as the flight is said to be full.
And eventually the period for travelling has passed and neither the passenger paying in full nor the free ticket holder have been able to travel.
Still on the pessimistic side: What if Garuda decides to cancel the promotion promises due to its financial status AND/OR because it gets privatised? New owners will probably not accept the promises made before a take-over. Could it even be that Garuda is trying to inflate its passenger numbers in order to look better as to performance before a possible sale of its operations? Nobody knows, as nobody knew when Air Paradise suddenly folded and cancelled all its flights, leaving people stranded in various ways of financial disarray.
This promotion indeed sound to good to be true. Last but not least: Who is controlling that the "Lucky Draw" is fair? I suppose nobody knows that either at the moment. Personally I hope that I am wrong mistrusting this promotion. Time will tell. I am sure we shall be informed through the Bali Travel Forum.
Happy flying!