sukanta das’ Post

Ok- So here is my rant. I booked a ticket direct, online, with a major US airline for a roundtrip business class ticket from Europe to the USA. It's for next year. I was given an upsell of about $200 for a ticket that would be refundable less a fee. But the fee was not disclosed at that time nor could I retrieve the fare rule when I got to the check out page. So I decided to buy the ticket, assuming the fee might be about EUR 250, and would check with an agent once the ticket was purchased. I have called and chatted three times with said airline agents and not one knows how to pull up a fare rule. ( I doubt they know how to pull up a tariff, much less what a tariff is). They each kept me on hold and reminded me I can cancel the ticket for a full refund since I am still within 24 hours of purchase. I said "I don't want to cancel, just let me know the cancel fee SHOULD I want to cancel later on". Not one agent can answer my question even with putting me on hold for lengthy times. So, tell me, why should a consumer invest time with an airline which does not know its own system and how to pull up a fare rule? One agent suggested I try to cancel after 24 hours and see what the system tells me. Really? And this ia a carrier that really wants agents to push NDC. What do people need to do to get an answer to a very reasonable question?

I don’t know how I got into this mess… But the only way forward was to find a way to fix it. Last week, a client reached out to book tickets, which I arranged and sent them a confirmation. They confirmed everything was correct. However, just a couple days before their trip they informed me that we booked the wrong date. There seemed to have been a misunderstanding, likely because they didn’t double-check the itinerary. I could have said, “Sorry, but you’ll need to pay again and rebook.” But I wasn’t going to do that. This was an important client who had recently spent over $150k on commercial tickets with me. I considered them a highly valued customer. The three ‘wrong’ tickets in question cost only about $800, and I wasn’t going to let go of my client for that amount of money. I would rebook them and take the loss. The problem was that no more flights were available on their desired date, so my team spent the better part of the day scrambling to secure seats on a fully booked flight. All's well that ends well and we managed to get them into the air at the right time. Lesson: Mistakes happen. Don’t dwell on them. Address them and move forward. The only mistake is the one you don’t correct. By the way, have you ever taken a loss to retain a valuable customer? #thecorporatetraveler #corporatetravel #travel

Interesting perspectives regarding airline ticket fees.

Distributors: lessons from American Air’s (AA) stupidity? 1.       Backstory: AA invented their Airpass program in ’81 to lock corporate, travel-warriors into 5-year, bulk-mile contracts. Buy 10K-mile blocks/year for 5 years of coach or first- class status. AA quotes a discounted rate, you pay cash upfront. a.       It worked! United and others copied.   b.      But, many corporations wanted to control the airpass usage through agencies. c.       AA quietly stopped issuing new Airpasses in Dec ’22 and let existing ones expire. 2.       And, some genius decided to also dis-allow agencies to do the bookings to pocket their commission. How to PO both agencies and their corporate clients! Lessons: 1.       Do dictate new terms for small, growing-nowhere, net-unprofitable customers to make them profitable. Some will leave to paralyze your analytically ignorant competitors - good! 2.       Use your order fulfillment slack to both naturally and proactively target better customers with better service. 3.       I’ve experienced cases in which this strategy has generated incremental operating profits of 100K to 1.2MM from just one target account v AA losing 50% of all profits from best customers. 4.       Don’t look at your business through a financial-cost-efficiency lens, but rather with best customer-profitability analytics.                               

You don’t want that money back Federal Rule requires Airlines to Pay Cash Refunds It’s presented as a win for consumers, While that may seem like the case They can keep the cash, but - give me the points instead Currently, most airlines attempt to rebook you on the next flight out when flights are oversold (you’re bumped), or a flight is canceled With the rule change to an automatic customer cash refund, airlines have no incentives to accommodate customers beyond the cash refunds Purchasing a flight ticket last minute can be extremely costly, and Some airlines may refund customers simply because it’s a cheaper expense than the alternative It’s not all bad nonetheless - the “no hidden fees” part is a nice touch. For those traveling on points, speculatively booking backup flights is in fashion Freely cancel and get your miles back. My newsletter is about leveraging daily spending for travel. Link in bio - Tap in

Our focus this week with #isitrelevant? is on fare rules. Try and explain a min/max rule, or a “refund is for the fare only portion part of the fare" to anyone under 30 today, and you’re bound to lose their interest within 10 seconds. The same for min, max, Saturday night stayover rules - those things are again completely foreign to a modern traveller. And just look at LCCs ...these are not factors they consider when determining price. In 2024, are fare rules - like we have them today - relevant? Absolutely not. I know TMCs spend a big portion of their time making sure they understand a fare’s (in many cases extreme) rules. Get one tiny little thing wrong with those and you face an ADM. They also spend plenty of time on refund processes made more complex thanks to those elaborate fare rules. These rules are overly complicated and explaining them to clients all the time must be extremely frustrating, not to mention time consuming. How can we even begin to think of supply and demand driven pricing when we still have these limitations? How can we even begin to think of a more dynamic sales relationship between TMCs and airlines when fares are a) still filed and b) in this way? What is the answer? In my opinion, all airlines should sell their product (not fares) like LCCs do - it’s a product, it has a price (and yes, it can increase/decrease in price based on demand). I appreciate that has a big impact on many other elements of how air content is sold, but this is exactly the issue - we’ve been band-aiding it all….let’s stop! What would your answer be, if indeed you agree with me that fare rules are not relevant anymore? #isitrelevant? #timeforchange

Here are more specifics about the Airlines passenger's fees rule changes, According to US Department of Transport Fee disclosures: Airlines and ticket agents are required to display certain fees upfront, and individually. Information related to fees must also be provided to relevant companies such as third-party platforms, so that consumers can access it no matter where they are purchasing tickets. Fee policy explanations: Airlines and ticket agents must explain the airline’s baggage, change, and cancellation policies before travelers buy a ticket—that includes weight and dimension limitations. Seat-selection notices: Airlines must tell travelers that seats are guaranteed. If offering seat selection for purchase, travelers must be given the following notice: For example A seat is included in your fare. You are not required to purchase a seat assignment to travel. If you decide to purchase a ticket and do not select a seat prior to purchase, a seat will be provided to you without additional charge when you travel. Addressing bait-and-switch tactics: Airlines cannot use —bait-and-switch tactics anymore, that may be used to hide the "true cost of discounted flights." Given that some airlines would offer deceptive discounts that often only apply to a portion of a ticket price, the new rules stop airlines from advertising such discounts that don’t apply to full fares.

How to Get a Refund for a Delayed or Canceled Flight

After receiving thousands of comments and holding a rare public hearing, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a joint Final Rule (Rule) requiring the issuance of refunds for ancillary fees and tickets by domestic and foreign air carriers and ticket agents. In addition to modifying the consumer protection rules in 14 CFR 259 and 399, the new Rule establishes two new parts in the DOT's Economic Regulations: 14 CFR 260 "Refunds for Airline Fare and Ancillary Service Fees" and 14 CFR 262 "Travel Credits or Vouchers Due to a Serious Communicable Disease." Air carriers and ticket agents will now be required to issue automatic refunds to consumers when they do not receive the ancillary services they paid for, or if there is a "significant change" to, or "cancellation" of, a scheduled flight. This new Rule comes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the lack of clarity on when refunds were due to consumers caused a great degree of confusion for air carriers resulting in millions of dollars in penalties against both domestic and foreign carriers. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eZmcKk2B By Alexander Marriott