BA reviews its controversial refunds policy

BRITISH Airways is reviewing its new

refunds policy, following an outcry

by agents who see it as “a way to

make more money”.

The airline sent out a notification

saying it would, from May 10, start

introducing a new “simple and

automatable refunds process”, which

sees the airline now charge a refund

fee per sector, rather than per ticket.

The current policy states that “all

fare components are refundable minus

the largest cancellation fee”, whereas

the proposed new policy states that

“all fare components are refundable

minus the cancellation fee for each

fare component”, the airline said in the

statement.

The new policy is part of a “global

standardisation bench-marking

process” intended to streamline the

current policy. “The automation will

lead to a reduction in the time taken

to process refunds for British Airways

customers. We will begin the process

with public fares and later private

fares, helping to streamline the overall

customer experience,” the airline said.

When TNW asked BA for further

comment, a spokesperson for the

airline said: “The new refunds policy is

being reviewed and might change but

we will only have confirmation of this

early next week.”