Passengers are requesting an exemption from booking cancellation fees and prepayment refunds

Passengers who canceled their spring vacation travel to Arab and international destinations said that Arab and international airlines imposed fees for changing and canceling reservations, and they refused to receive the value of the discount tickets and the amount of the advance payment that was paid within the framework of group travel, demanding that they be exempt from administrative fees and expenses when changing and canceling Reservations, explaining that the decision to cancel travel due to the outbreak of the Corona virus «Covid 19».

The expert advised travelers not to cancel the ticket, especially for the destinations he can travel to at a later time, because the tickets are valid for a full year, with resort to "opening tickets" for use at a later time.

In turn, two officials at Arab and international airlines in the country said that many airline companies collect fees for changing tickets, as well as administrative expenses, since there is no decision to prevent travel, and therefore the decision to postpone or change the reservation belongs to the traveler himself, explaining

Certain tickets, such as discount tickets, are non-refundable.

Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways and Air Arabia announced exemptions from the fees of changing or canceling reservations.

4 tickets

In detail, Ashraf Abdel Halim said that he booked four tickets to travel to his country on the spring vacation, which was scheduled to start on March 28, but after the outbreak of the virus globally and the issuance of government directives to avoid travel, he asked the airline to cancel the reservation, and the employee told him that it will be Deduction of more than 500 dirhams from the price of a single ticket, including change of reservation fees and administrative expenses, that is, more than 2000 dirhams on the four tickets, at a rate of more than 20% of the original value.

Abdel-Halim demanded the cancellation of administrative fees and expenses when changing the reservation, especially since the decision to cancel travel due to global circumstances called for a large number of travelers to cancel travel worldwide.

Salem Abdullah said, he booked tickets on one of the international airlines to spend the spring vacation in one of the European countries, but the emergence of a large number of Corona virus infections in this country, as well as local advice to avoid travel for safety, prompted him to cancel travel.

Abdullah explained that he was surprised that he would not recover the value of tickets that exceed 12,000 dirhams, because these tickets are discounted and not refundable.

He called for obtaining the value of tickets or a large percentage of them, especially since the cancellation came due to urgent international circumstances.

Sheikha Hameed said that she was planning to travel to an Arab country during the spring vacation as part of a group through one of the travel and tourism offices, and had already paid a reservation provider that exceeds 30% of travel costs, but after the virus spread globally, she decided to cancel travel, but the airline refused So far they got their money, which caused a huge material loss.

Airlines

For his part, the CEO of «Nirvana Travel and Tourism» Alaa Al-Ali called on airlines, offices and travel agencies to cancel the fees for changing reservations or canceling flights in these circumstances, with the flexibility to retrieve the advance payment and the value of the discount tickets or a part of them, which is usually It is not refundable, because the traveler is obliged to change the reservation and did not do so of his own accord or due to his own circumstances, but due to emergency health conditions at the international level, which is the spread of "Corona" and the presence of advice not to travel in order to preserve health and safety.

Al-Ali said, “Some travel agencies have now resorted to negotiating with airline companies to cancel fees and obtain part of the travelers’ dues, especially since airlines have informed travel and tourism offices of the difficulty of recovering the amounts that were paid as a down payment in group travel. ”

He pointed out that the current situation requires facilitation and facilitation for travelers, especially with regard to reservations to countries where there have been many cases of HIV infection, which is alarming in travel cases.

Al-Ali advised travelers not to cancel the ticket, especially for the destinations to which the customer can travel at a later time, because the tickets are valid for a full year, with recourse to the so-called opening of the ticket for use at a later time.

The value of the tickets

For his part, General Manager of Bin Saleh Travel, Hussein Atallah, said that “travelers are already undergoing a full loss of the value of their tickets after their decision to cancel travel on spring vacation, in the case of non-refundable tickets, which are tickets discounted with large proportions in excess of 30%, and travelers were subjected to deducting different proportions of the value of the ticket in relation to the normal refundable tickets in cases of travel delay.

He explained in this regard, that varying amounts are deducted from the value of the ticket in cases of cancellation starting from 100 dirhams and reaching more than approximately 500 dirhams in the event of changing or canceling reservations, according to the date of reservation and the method of reservation and the airline or the site through which he was booked, indicating However, there are no uniform rules for the deductible percentage in the case of electronic reservations in particular.

Atallah pointed out that airlines are based on the fact that there is no travel ban for different countries, and travel is available to various destinations, but according to the personal responsibility of the travelers.

A reservations officer in an Arab airline company in the country, (P.A.), said only that the first letters of his name were mentioned, that many airlines collect fees for changing tickets, as well as administrative expenses, because there is no decision to prevent travel, and therefore The decision to postpone or change the reservation is the decision of the traveler himself, until further notice. The reservations official of an international airline, TS, said that it is known that the discount tickets are not refundable, and that travelers are aware of this condition when booking, and passengers are informed clearly so that he does not claim its value if he does not travel for any circumstance.

Send complaints

The Director of the Consumer Protection Department at the Ministry of Economy, Dr. Hashem Al-Nuaimi, asked travelers who have complaints related to canceling their travel due to the current circumstances, to send complaints to the Ministry for consideration, and to try to find solutions with them.

Al-Naimi explained that each complaint differs from the other, and there are no rules governing all complaints in this regard.

- An expert advising travelers not to cancel the ticket, especially to destinations that can be traveled later.

Many airlines charge ticket exchange fees, as well as administrative expenses.