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Stay home this Chinese New Year

SINGAPORE — In what seems like a most unusual move for an airline, Jetstar is encouraging Singaporean families to amend their travel plans for Chinese New Year, and to stay home to spend time with their families instead.

A snippet from the social experiment video Jetstar conducted with 11 young travellers. Photo: Jetstar Asia

A snippet from the social experiment video Jetstar conducted with 11 young travellers. Photo: Jetstar Asia

SINGAPORE — In what seems like a most unusual move for an airline, Jetstar is encouraging Singaporean families to amend their travel plans for Chinese New Year, and to stay home to spend time with their families instead.

The Singapore-based low-cost airline will be waiving all change fees and fare differences to move flight departures on Jan 27 and Jan 28 — the eve and first day of Chinese New Year.

Change fees usually start from S$50 per sector per passenger, and fare differences can vary depending on the changed date. Jetstar says it will bear the costs for any and all valid applications (that are in accordance with its terms and conditions) for changes during these two days.

Chantal van Wijnbergen, Jetstar’s regional marketing manager for South-east Asia, said the airline came up with the idea as it discovered that more Singaporeans are getting away during the festive season.

According to an article in The Straits Times, two major travel agencies saw a significant increase (between 10 to 20 per cent) in Singaporeans going overseas during Chinese New Year in 2016, compared to 2015.

Jetstar conducted a survey with 4,000 passengers last year and posed this question: If money was not an issue, would you travel over Chinese New Year? “75 per cent of respondents said yes, suggesting peak travel prices were preventing people from leaving, rather than family values,” van Wijnbergen said.

“The sole purpose of this campaign is to encourage everyone to think about how special their family is at this important time of reunion,” she said. “The waive in change fees and fare difference is a gesture to those that have already booked to leave Singapore and may be reconsidering, so as to allow them to stay home for family gatherings.”

“This is the time we should stay home as family comes first,” she added.

A check on Jetstar’s website at around 7pm yesterday showed that its 9.40am flight to Hong Kong for Jan 27 had only one seat left, while the 6.55am flight to Phnom Penh had two seats left. The 5.20am flight to Bali on the same day had three seats left, and the 7.05am flight had four seats left.

As part of its campaign, Jetstar has also launched a video on a social experiment it conducted. Eleven young travellers — who were chosen from the pool of individuals who participated in the Jetstar travel survey — were first asked whether they would accept free flights that left on the eve of Chinese New Year. After viewing what their families had to say about the importance of the festive season, they were asked again whether they would take up the offer.

“This (the video) resulted in some very touching moments, with genuine and authentic reactions and everyone wanting to stay home for reunion and to celebrate the Chinese New Year with their loved ones,” van Wijnbergen said.

To change your travel dates, submit your request at www.jetstar.com by Jan 22, 2017.

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