Etihad Airways is charging agents US$50 (R775) if they contact the airline’s call centre for help rather than using their GDS.
A message on www.etihadhub.com says:
“Our call centres are busier than ever right now. To make sure we are able to prioritise our agents’ time for those who need it most, we will charge US$50 (R775) for any enquiry that could have been handled through your GDS.
Examples of scenarios where the fee will not apply are:
- Unable to synchronise the EMD with the ticket because EMD was issued by EY directly
- Need to verify if guest was a no show
- Require information on tickets that were exchanged by EY directly
- Cannot do name corrections
- Need schedule change/codeshare information that may not reflect on the passenger’s PNR
An email to the trade from senior vice president of sales and distribution for Etihad Airways, Duncan Bureau, reiterated this message: “I am reaching out to kindly request your support in refraining from calling our contact centres. Instead, we ask that you refer to etihadhub.com for the latest travel updates, and use your GDS system to manage all travel plans. This is the quickest and simplest way to assist your customers and ensure that our contact centres are available to help guests who need urgent assistance.”
Agents have also told Travel News that a recorded message on the airline’s website advises agents to have their credit cards available so that the service fee could be debited while the agent was on the line.
“Travel agents have a dedicated website hub https://www.etihadhub.com/en-ae/. The Etihad Hub is designed as a one-stop source for all Etihad reservation policies, products and service, which keeps agents up to date with the latest operational news within Etihad. Travel agents are able to find all relevant information pertaining to Etihad. The Etihad hub covers a multitude of self-service options, with a ‘how can we help you’ search facility,” says country manager global sales of Etihad Airways, Karlene Barkley.
“Available to the agents are: Policy Libraries, Etihad Academy, Superseller, Help, News, Most Searched Topics, Latest Updates, Travel Guidelines, Network Updates, Stopovers, Etihad Guest, Etihad Wellness (COVID-19 Insurance/PCR testing) etc,” she adds.
