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AGENTS say they are
vulnerable to ADMs
after an amendment to
a refunds resolution – not
communicated to them – came
into effect on April 1.
The altered ruling is available
in the Passenger Tariff
Coordinating Conferences
Resolutions Manual under
Resolution 024k. It states
that, when issuing refunds,
cancellation penalties and
the residual value eligible for
refund or for exchange towards
the purchase of a new ticket,
must be calculated using the
Iata rate of exchange (IROE)
for the currency in which the
amount is denominated on the
date of issue of the original
ticket. Agents say previously
they calculated values using
the ROE available on the date
the refund is issued.
An agent who had received
the information from one of
her Lufthansa reps took to
Open Jaw with the news. “I
posted it because I didn’t get
any notifications on it and I
was hoping someone would
tell me that I missed the
boat,” says Tracy Teichmann,
manager of Sure Adcocks
Travel. Since it was an Iata
ruling it should apply across
the board and not just to
Lufthansa, she says. Tracy
says she did a search in the
Iata handbook that came
into effect in June, and the
Iata portal. She couldn’t find
anything on the change to the
resolution, she says.
Tracy says she was
concerned because she’d
done a group booking in May
where passengers from an
SA-based company were flying
in from several destinations
and she had to cancel and
rebook some tickets. At the
time, she had issued refunds
by using the exchange rate on
the date she did the refund.
“If there’s a mistake in the
refund amounts, we’ll definitely
see an ADM,” she says.
Another agent, who preferred
to remain anonymous, says:
“When something like this is
changed, we aren’t notified
and poor agents have to pay
the price.” The agent says
airlines are the ones who
are part of Iata and it is their
responsibility to communicate
such information. “But I think
airlines don’t want to be clear
about how such rules should
be applied, because issuing
ADMs is a good way of making
money.”
Nicolene Van Blerk, BSP
Teamleader of Club Travel,
says: “Agents should be made
aware of new amendments
or resolutions by Iata and not
the airlines as it is a ruling
imposed by them. Airlines say
if you are unsure of what rule
to apply, to check with them
first, so the onus is on agents
and has been so for years.”
She adds, however, that this
ruling has apparently been in
place for years.
Delta Air Lines, Qantas
Airways and Singapore Airlines
say they are compliant and
have been for some time.
“Qantas has always applied
resolution 024K for refunds
and always uses ROE from
the date of issue. This has
been our policy for a number
of years and we have
therefore not communicated
this to agents as this
information is available to
them. Qantas raises an
ADM to agents who do not
apply the ROE from the date
of ticket issue,” says Michi
Messner, regional manager
Africa of Qantas.
Ceo of Asata, Otto de Vries,
says the resolution is not
handled under the APJC/
PAPGJC forum and therefore
the association wasn’t
informed. When TNW asked
Iata about the ruling, it issued
a statement saying the change
came into effect on April 1
and that airlines were
informed. “Member airlines
agreed to clarify how the
cancellation penalties are
applied in the refund process.
The changes are applied to
the default process, and its
usage is up to each airline
in accordance with their
commercial policy. Travel
agents should contact airlines
concerned for how they apply
the rule,” the statement
reads.
