Scheduled Maintenance Should Not Be A Customer Problem

I usually enjoy my flights with Lift and have flown with them several times over the last six months. My last flight on 30 June 2024, however, left much to be desired. I had very deliberately booked a premium seat (R3 675). I received a call less than 24 hours before my flight letting me know that the expected plane is in for scheduled maintenance and as such a fully economy plane will be used instead. As flexible as Lift claims to be, I believe I should have received at least a couple days notice so I could plan to postpone my flight and get another without affecting plans made in advance. I booked my flight on the 10th on May 2024, so I don’t see why that wasn’t possible for scheduled maintenance on a plane.

At the airport while checking in, I was told I would receive a R1500 Lift voucher, which I did, but that is only just under half the price of a premium flight. I feel very disappointed and extremely hesitant to use Lift in the future if it means my premium booked flights won’t be honoured and then I’ll be given what is essentially half a (voucher) refund as an apology afterward.