Singapore Airlines has cancelled its plan to automatically include travel insurance when booking flights, following a negative reception from customers.
The feature, which was introduced last year, will include the travel insurance premium in the flight’s price, unless the consumer opts out during the booking process.
Customers have complained on internet forums that the bundling of travel insurance was not obvious during booking and would only be visible when they clicked the “more details” link. As such, some customers felt that they were being charged with a fee they did not consent to.
Singapore Airlines issued a statement, saying that they “have taken customer feedback into account” and that insurance would be offered as an ‘opt-in’ feature, instead of being ‘opt-out’.
This is the second instance in recent times where the airline made a U-turn due to negative reactions from its customers. Earlier this year, it announced that it would charge a credit card service fee of 1.3% of the fare amount, with a maximum of SGD$50, for Economy Lite-class passengers.
The following day, Singapore Airlines backtracked and reversed its decision, citing public criticism.
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