24-hour cooling off period call for online air bookings
Tuesday, 15 Sep, 2009
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A passenger watchdog has renewed a call for airlines to improve the process of booking tickets online.
The Air Transport Users Council wants more carriers to introduce a 24-hour ‘cooling off’ period to allow passengers to change bookings or get a refund if necessary.
The AUC first raised the issue in June last year in a report on the potential pitfalls when booking air tickets online.
Some airlines have responded by bringing in 24-hour rules but others need to follow suit, according to the AUC.
The issue was first raised because the council was becoming “increasingly disappointed” by the way some airlines handled complaints when passengers had problems booking tickets on the internet.
In a new report today the AUC said: “We want more airlines to introduce a 24-hour cooling off period.
“And for those airlines that have already committed to a cooling off period for telephone reservations, we want them to update this commitment to include online reservations.
“In addition, we want them to be generally more sympathetic to those passengers who inadvertently make an error during the booking process.”
The AUC said it would continue to campaign on for better practice by airlines on the issue.
“A 24-hour rule would cut out haggling between airline and complainant about where the fault lies and allow customers to book air tickets over the internet with greater confidence.”
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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