The firm representing Amadeus and Booking.com says the new laws, as written, was leading to more activities for their people and travelers.
Justin Dawes New governmental regulations on flight garbage fees and payments are intended to shield customers, but Laura Chadwick, president and CEO of the Travel Technology Association, says they overlook the transportation of making it happen. Among the agency’s people are the three key global supply systems: Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport, client online travel companies Booking Holdings, Expedia Group, and Skyscanner, and corporate travel agencies Amex GBT and BCD Travel. What has happened is that the Department of Transportation has put a burden on our member companies and all ticket agents of all sizes, but they have n’t given us the tools to do so, according to Chadwick. Travel sellers — like Booking.com — can share information about schedules and fares with customers trying to book flights using the information that airlines share with global distribution systems. However, the airlines are not required to provide those global distribution systems with information on fees, such as those for changing luggage or changing tickets. ” The consumer- facing ticket agents rely on those intermediaries to get the information”, Chadwick said. That is a fundamental characteristic of the travel distribution industry, and we think the department ignored that when making this final rule. Chadwick fears that when purchasing tickets from third-party websites, there might be errors and confusion due to the lack of information. The airline representatives reaffirmed the Department of Transportation’s position in the rule, saying it did not want to disrupt business relationships between airlines and GDSs. That ignores the fact that global distribution systems negotiate with airlines and have tried to obtain ancillary fee data over the past ten years, Chadwick said. And some airlines decline to hand it over. Airlines have six months to begin sharing data. Agencies can set up systems for displaying that data for up to two years, depending on their size. ” Had the department given us the tools to comply, this could have happened within months, but they are setting a two- year timetable for this to happen”, she said. According to the new rule,” consumers deserve transparency right now.” Airlines are also required to offer refunds without notice within seven days in cases where flights are significantly delayed or canceled, checked baggage is delayed, and ancillary services are not provided. The exception to this rule is for travel agents who are regarded as the merchant of record, though it typically only applies when an agent is selling a vacation package, she said, not typically for a single flight sale. Chadwick pointed out that the airline is required to notify the agent when the traveler is eligible for a refund, but that this does not specify when the agency needs to pay the invoice. That could cause the agent to have to pay the bill as they wait for airline reimbursement, which could be particularly bad for small travel agencies. In a situation where there would be a lot of refunds, Chadwick said,” We would have to lay out the refunds for customers with a hope and prayer that airlines will ultimately make us whole.”
