British Airways disallows card payments for private fares
BRITISH Airways notified the
travel trade recently that it
would no longer accept credit
cards as a form of payment for
private fares.
The airline will still take credit card
payment for corporate fares and
published fares. Lodge cards and
eNett’s virtual card solution will also
no longer be accepted for private
fares.
Marco Ciochetti, ceo of XL Travel,
explains that by not accepting credit
card payments for private fares BA
is forcing agents into one of two
scenarios when clients don’t want
to pay cash or make an EFT. Either
agents will have to quote corporate
or published fares, which are priced
with payment methods such
as BSP.
The group said it was
looking into implementing
a permissions process for
agent cards in line with Iata
TIP implementation.
Exceptions where agency
cards may be used include
internal bookings for travel
agency employees, charges
processed through airline
contact centres and ancillary
service purchases where
BSP is not available as a
payment option.
Dinesh Naidoo, group
operations director of
SWG, says they have been
using eNett cards for the
last two years and that
this development affects
their workflow process.
He adds that SWG is offselling
carriers that have
barred virtual cards where
possible, following similar
announcements from
Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa,
Qatar and SWISS.
“We find this decision
surprising as airlines take
on far greater risk when
processing a client’s card.
eNett is one of the most
secure debit cards in the
market and charge-backs
do not apply to them.
Additionally, an increase
in BSP cash ticket sales
also substantially impacts
an agency’s cash flow due
to higher Iata guarantee
requirements.”
Asked about the new ADM
policy, a BA spokesperson
told TNW that the airline had
never allowed general usage
of agent cards and that the
latest release had been
issued in response to an
increase in agent questions
about its policies.
