trips&departures: April 2020

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

SWITZERLAND & ITALY 2020 CANCELLED TRIP DUE TO COVID-19 (UPDATED 8 APRIL 2020)

On 7 April 2020, I received another email from Thai Airways concerning my demand for a full refund due to the flight cancellation. As expected, I was informed that there is no refund waiver. Their reason is - the cancellation and travel restrictions were due to the COVID-19 outbreak which is out of the airlines' control.

Nevertheless, I was given 3 choices by the airlines' as follows:

Option 1
TAX REFUND of RM710 (ticket price RM2,466). The refund process may take a longer time (more than 180 days) since the airlines' is processing request worldwide.

Option 2
EXTENSION OF TICKET VALIDITY up to 31 December 2021. Rebooking must be made within ticket validity (same route) subject to seat availability. The change fees will be waived, however additional fees/taxes will be collected if any different fare involved.

Option 3
Convert ticket to TRAVEL VOUCHER with 12 months validity from the date of issue. A travel voucher must be requested before 31 May 2020. It can be used as a credit towards any future travel on Thai Airways destination worldwide and the additional fare/tax/surcharge differences may be applied to the new itinerary.

Looking at the 3 options above, neither one favors me as the customer but I have a choice to make.

Monday, April 6, 2020

RUSSIA 2019 - MOSCOW (DAY 4)

Today is our last day in Moscow because tomorrow we will fly back home. Our itinerary for the day is full as we were programmed to visit a few places.

Moscow State University

On our way to Saint Basil's Cathedral, we did a quick stop at Moscow State University which we did not have the opportunity to visit on our 1st day in Moscow due to time constraints.

Saint Basil's Cathedral

After a quick stop at Moscow State University, we proceeded to Saint Basil's Cathedra l (now a museum). It is a Christian church situated in Red Square, Moscow.

The Kremlin Armoury Chamber

This armoury is one of the oldest museums situated in Moscow Kremlin.

Tsar Bell

The Tsar Bell can be found on display on the grounds of Moscow Kremlin. More information about the bell can be found here.

Kremlin Wall

From the Kremlin Armoury Chamber, we walked to the Kremlin Wall. We had to brave the heavy snow and cold chilly winds. To capture photos was quite a challenge.

GUM Shopping Mall

From the Kremlin Wall, we walked to GUM Shopping Mall for some last-minute souvenir hunting. We were here previously but it was during the day. But tonite we witnessed the beautiful lighting on display.

Since this is our last night in Moscow, we finished our RUB buying souvenirs and headed back to the hotel to finished packing our luggage.

Sunday, April 5, 2020

RUSSIA 2019 - MOSCOW (DAY 3)

After breakfast, we were driven to our first tour destination for the day - the Ismailovsky Market, a 40-45 minutes drive from our hotel.

Ismailovsky Market

When we reached here the stalls were just beginning to open for business. It was snowing heavily and walking from the designated parking bay for the coach was quite challenging. Goods sold here is worth buying if you know how to negotiate. Souvenirs are aplenty notably the Matryoshka Doll.

Moscow Metro

After lunch, we had the chance to experience the Moscow Metro train ride (RUB45 included in the package) and stopping at a few stations to observe the art decor there (it's like a small art museum). According to our tour guide, it's manageable for him to take us for the ride as our group is small in number - 16 pax only. He also told us in advance the number of stops before we exited the train. Even with this information we never kept our eyes off him.

Hard Rock Cafe Moscow

Ending our Moscow Metro train ride we exited at Smolenskaya Station to continue towards HRC in Arbat Street. It's only about 250 meters from the station.

Arbat Street

After buying some souvenirs at HRC, we also did some shopping at Arbat Street. Many shops offered some form of discounts, especially the famous Matryoshka Doll, t-shirts and fridge magnet.