Queuing up in vain for fares not on offer list

KUALA LUMPUR: Visitors to the Matta International Travel Fair queued up for hours on the first day with the intention of grabbing some cheap airfares by Malaysia Airlines but there were none. 

The ignorance was caused by a misleading signage at a Reliance Shipping and Travel Agencies booth which was set up to sell MAS Golden Holidays packages in Hall 3. 

Those caught in the queue, many for over two hours, said the booth looked like a MAS ticketing counter. 

“We were told that this is the only MAS ticketing counter and besides there’s a big MAS logo here,” Lily Choo pointed out. 

No doubt, the booth looks exactly like a ticketing counter but there is a Golden Holidays signage many are not aware of.  

Another signage that also misled visitors was the one announcing “Lowest Airfares” which was placed nearby. This caused many into believing that the fares were offered by MAS. 

On the other hand, the actual MAS Golden Holidays counter in Hall 1 & 1A was not packed at all. 

Reliance confirmed that the fares were offered by other airlines. 

Its marketing director Tan Kai Seng acknowledged that many visitors thought that the counter was selling cheap airfares like in previous Matta fairs. 

“If you ask me why people thought this to be a MAS ticketing counter and not a MAS Golden Holidays counter, I really don’t know,” said Tan adding that the “Lowest Airfares” were supposed to have the airlines logo next to each fare advertised. 

He said Reliance had done their part by informing those queuing that it was selling MAS Golden Holidays packages and not low fares.”But despite informing them, they still want to queue up,” added Tan. 

At noon, MITF organising chairman Ronald Chan, on seeing the queue and impatient crowd, instructed his staff to ease the bottleneck. 

“I cannot stop Reliance from dressing up as a MAS ticketing counter because only the respective airlines has the authority to give that approval or not,” he said. 

“To our knowledge there is no MAS low airfares on offer in this fair,” added Chan.