AGENTS and operators have
vented their frustration
at having to work around
‘illogical’ airline group payment
policies that require clients to
prepay up to 130% of the invoice
value of their booking.
Chrisna van der Merwe, md of
Sure Travel Scene, says many
airlines now require agents to issue
group tickets themselves.
“Most airlines now ask us to pay
an EMD deposit of 10%-30%. When
we issue tickets before departure,
100% of the group booking costs
are deducted from our BSP . We
then submit a refund for the initial
deposit but while airlines claim
that the refunds will be processed
within six weeks, we are sometimes
out of pocket for up to four
months,” she says.
Chrisna says, depending on
group size, deposits can add up
to between R40 000 and
R70 000 per group. As the
agency is too small to carry these
amounts, it has had to ask clients
to pay in over and above the value
of their invoice in order to meet the
airline’s payment requirements.
“It is very difficult to explain to
the client that we require them to
pay between 110% and 130% of
the value of their booking. We have
also been experiencing ongoing
refund delays from Turkish Airlines,
Virgin Atlantic, SAA and SA Express,
which strains relations further.”
Martine Sanderson, groups
sales manager for World Leisure
Holidays, says she can understand
how difficult these policies could be
for smaller agents to work around.
“Luckily, as a larger tour
operator, we are able to carry
the overpayment and wait for the
airlines to refund the group deposit
without inconveniencing our clients.
As a result, we see a lot of smaller
agencies opting to book their group
tickets through World Leisure rather
than directly with the airlines.”
Debbie Kidson, groups manager
for Thompsons Holidays, agrees
that payment policies are an issue.
“Each group booking is analysed on
a case-to-case basis but wherever
possible we ask the client to carry
the deposit overpayment.”
Amanda Lerena, Virgin Atlantic
commercial manager for South
Africa, says the airline requires
group deposits to be paid in South
Africa, as it does business with a
number of non-Iata agents and tour
operators that it is unable to ADM
if a booking does not materialise.
She explains that, in the UK, Iata
agents are required to sign a
the group tickets are not
issued according to policy,
the agents are issued with
an ADM. She says Virgin is
currently reviewing its local
group policy to close off the
deposit payment option to
Iata travel agents.
Tour operators will still
be able to use the deposit
option going forward, she
says.
“We have had challenges
with refunds taking longer
than the prescribed time,
however our refunds team
is making every effort
to avoid these delays in
future,” confirms Amanda.
Tlali Tlali, hod: media
relations for SAA, says
the airline requires a 25%
deposit to secure the seats
and freeze the group fare.
He says group refunds
are processed within 21
working days once the
agent has applied for the
refund via BSPlink, has
attached the initial EMD
deposit and has sent
copies of all tickets to the
groups department.
“Refunds can be delayed
when agents do not apply
for the refund immediately
or if they do not supply
us with all of the required
documents,” says Tlali.
SAX and Turkish Airlines
had not responded to
TNW regarding their group
payment policies at time of
publication.
