Malaysian Airlines - Return ticket from Indonesia
 

My partner and I recently took a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta and we were forced to buy a return ticket on the spot. The ticket counter attendent forced us to buy the ticket then and there so we didn't have any time to look at prices or days really, as we got to the airport assuming we would just get on our flight and stay the allotted number of days as per the visa says. The tickets she forced us to purchase were altogether $341 on December 6th from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur. That price is ridiculous as I've seen the prices online now and they are about $60 each from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur. I also have flown into Indonesia not using Malaysia Airlines and they have never forced us to buy return tickets. Not only were we forced into buying outrageously priced return tickets in order to get on the plane on to our destination, but we were also given no way to cancel them. The ticket counter attendant assured us that these were the cheapest tickets she could find and that we could cancel them easily online, but we are failing to find anything on the website. And we are also seeing that she blatantly lied to us. When arriving in Jakarta, we made sure to show the immigration officer our return ticket and he said there was no need because we had a visa for 30 days with option to extend to 60, Malaysian airlines is known to do this though.

I've been exchanging emails with customer service and even they have no idea about this return ticket from Indonesia. They also take about 5 days to reply to my emails. Now I have been transfered to head of ticketing in KLIA and am again awaiting a reply.

It is also your responsibility to not only look up whether or not you need visas, but whether or not a return ticket or some sort of proof of onward departure is required. Try using timatic travel. You can google Timatic travel and you will need to enter your country of citizenship/residence your destination, and were you will depart from. The agent was doing her job in keeping Malaysia from getting fined.

While I understand that seeing if a visa/return ticket is necessary an that this is all up to the passenger, it does not exclude the fact that they are deliberately cheating millions of dollars out of customers every year. This is their company procedure, yes. But when the country that they are 'protecting' does not require it, don't you think they should back down a bit? Of course not, because they are making a hefty profit from suckers like me. It was also a wake up call that the immigration officer told us that buying a return ticket was unnecessary until you extend your visa, which we are NOT going to do.

I've been in contact with a customer service representative for about 11 days, and after prodding her to answer me, she just finally wrote me a legitimate email that didn't only say, "we can look into this". A day before the flight I am supposed to take. One day later and I would have suffered huge 'no show' charges on top of losing $400 to unnecessary plane tickets. Even after asking her to at least get my tickets cancelled for now, I know she could but she did not. We had to buy a calling card, call the customer service line, wait on hold for about 20 minutes and cancel the tickets. We were also told that they do not give refunds via phone or email, and that we have to show up in person at a MAS office. The agent I have via email also just asked me if I'd like her process the cancelation fee and get me my small refund. So what is it?! Can I get a refund via phone/internet or only in person?! My fiancee is on his way to the MAS office, taking a taxi for about $20! So all in all $70 to get the tickets cancelled and refunded. All for about $80 per ticket that originally cost $341 altogether. This whole ordeal is just a ****show, and I do not understand how they can operate if half of them don't even know their own procedures.

This is the first real complaint I have for an airline and I travel internationally several times a year for my job. Airlines are, for the majority, the scum of the earth.