KOTA KINABALU: AirAsia Bhd has been urged to defer the expiry dates for its passengers' BIG Points redemption to next May.
Sabah Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Satta) chairman Datuk Seri Winston Liaw, in making the call, said airline should be considerate during these trying times, which has left many unable to travel due to restrictions and the high number of Covid-19 cases in the country.
"Satta received many complaints on AirAsia announcing that the BIG Points redemption will expire by early Oct 2021," said Liaw.
Liaw urged AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes to review the decision and give more time to its loyal customers to redeem their points as acknowledgement of their past support.
Liaw said that normally, 500 points are worth RM10. Many travellers, he said, had collected more than 200,000 points whereas travel agents can easily accumulate up to 500,000 points.
He praised national carrier Malaysia Airlines for extending the redemption period of its Enrich points to further dates.
He also urged AirAsia to support the Sabah Virtual Travel Fair organised by Satta and supported by Tourism Malaysia, the Sabah Tourism Board and the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac).
"We are doing our best to revive Sabah tourism industry but without the support of airlines, it will be a fruitless effort because we can't do it alone.
"Now is the time for AirAsia to help us revive the economy as a reciprocal gesture towards the Sabah government.
"We thank Malaysia Airlines, MASwings and Firefly for their support. We also urge Malindo Air to join our travel fair as well," he said, adding that the airline industry will be offered a special participation fee of RM750.
Liaw also announced that the travel fair, which was scheduled to be held this month, had been postponed to Nov 16 - 29.
"The postponement was due to many exhibitors' inability to produce up-to-date information in time as the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) had delayed many works.
"We also needed more time to prepare our new partnership, having joined forces with the Miss World Malaysia pageant contest to use Sabah as their venue.
"There will be 30 contestants and they will assist in the promotion of Sabah as a favourite holiday destination," said Liaw.
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2021/09/724135/satta-wants-airasia-defer-passengers-big-points-expiry-dates
