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Dec 16, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Katie Grant Drew
Washington, DC – Today, the Travel Management Coalition, representing six of the largest travel management companies (TMCs), submitted comments in response to the Department of Transportation’s proposed rulemaking on airline ticket refunds and consumer protections.
In the Coalition’s letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, they express their support for DOT’s goal of strengthening consumer protections and preparing for public health emergencies that could impact a customer’s decision to fly. However, they go on to note that Coalition member companies “are concerned that the requirements as proposed do not reflect the role of ticket agents, including corporate travel managers, in the marketplace. TMCs facilitate transactions between a customer and an airline. Requiring TMCs, as ticket agents, to be responsible for a customer’s refund, credit or voucher under this rule when it is the airline that is the party determining flight schedules, evaluating and issuing refunds, credits or voucher requests, would create mis-placed liability and uncertainty for travel management businesses where they have no control.”
The letter also expresses concern from the Coalition that, “loose guardrails around when a customer is eligible for a credit or voucher due to a health-related circumstance could significantly increase the time required of ticket agents to assist with these requests, and introduce uncertainty if airlines are not making decisions and clearly communicating those decisions to the ticket agent and customer in a timely way.”
In light of those concerns, the Coalition is requesting the following changes to the rule:
• Ticket agents should not be liable for refunds when the Merchant of Record (MOR) is the airline, which is the case in nearly all of the transactions Coalition members facilitate for their customers.
• In those rare circumstances where the TMC is the MOR, the rule should specify that the ticket agent is not required to provide a refund to the customer until the airline has refunded the cost of the ticket to the ticket agent. This is to ensure that the ticket agents would not be required to issue refunds without funds available to do so.
• Airlines, not ticket agents, should have the sole responsibility to evaluate, decide, and communicate to the ticket agent and customer, in a clear and timely way, whether a customer is eligible for a refund, ticket or voucher in any circumstance posed in the rule, whether it relates to a cancelled or changed flight, or a health-related reason requested by the consumer.
Click here to read the full comments from the Travel Management Coalition.