On February 22, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily learned from relevant people of China Eastern Airlines that China Eastern Airlines held a meeting on the refinement of ticket refund and change rules. Since February, Air China has issued international and regional refund coupons, while China Southern Airlines has continuously issued detailed refund and change rules due to various circumstances such as wrong ticket purchases, reduced fares, and illness. Prior to this, the three major airlines had already optimized ticket refunds and changes, but after the implementation of the new regulations, there were still problems such as difficult and expensive refunds and changes. Since February, the re-optimization of the refund service is a further rectification of the airline's response to the needs and opinions of passengers, which can improve the accuracy of the airline's service and alleviate the dissatisfaction of passengers caused by the airline's rigid policies. However, after the release of the detailed rules, many consumers still complained on the complaint platform. When the problem of difficult and expensive refund and change of air tickets is still being solved.
Rules & Attitudes.
In February, the three major airlines once again optimized their ticket refund and change services after successively announcing adjustments to the ticket refund and change rules.
On February 22, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily learned from relevant people of China Eastern Airlines that China Eastern Airlines held an internal meeting on the refinement of ticket refunds and changes.
Prior to China Eastern Airlines, on February 9, China Southern Airlines issued five specific ticket refund and change rules in a row. On February 2, Air China also issued two international and regional refund coupons on the app.
The almost unanimous trend of the three major airlines indicates that the ticket refund and change services of domestic airlines are constantly improving.
Prior to February this year, Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines had adjusted the rules for ticket refunds and changes, expanding the scope and applicable scenarios of free refunds and changes, and also reducing the refund and change rates to a certain extent. However, before the Spring Festival, there was a ** report that after the passenger mistakenly purchased a ticket of 1,800 yuan, he contacted the refund one month before the departure date and was asked to charge a refund fee of 1,500 yuan, and after many communications, he chose to change and paid a change fee of 960 yuan. This puts the newly adjusted rules for ticket refunds and changes at the center of the conversation.
In fact, as early as 2018, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the Notice on Improving Civil Aviation Ticketing Services (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"). The notice points out that airlines should reasonably determine the fee standards for ticket refunds and changes, provide free remedies for passengers who have purchased tickets by mistake (such as wrong name writing, duplicate ticket purchases, etc.), and if passengers are unable to board due to illness and request a refund, they shall go through the refund procedures in accordance with relevant regulations and shall not charge a refund fee.
Some experts in the civil aviation industry said that a series of cancellation and reform regulations of the three major airlines have increased convenience, which is conducive to reducing misunderstandings and contradictions caused by the rigidity of the cancellation and reform rules.
In the view of senior civil aviation expert Han Tao, the further refinement of ticket refund and change rules is conducive to airlines to better serve passengers, and at the same time segment customer groups and improve service quality; For the industry, the detailed refund and change rules have undoubtedly enriched the types of ticket products, and different ** correspond to different refund and change rules to provide passengers with more choices.
Expand the scope of cancellation and change.
Except for China Eastern Airlines, which has not yet been announced, Air China and China Southern Airlines have different optimizations for ticket refunds and changes.
Specifically, on February 2, Air China issued two international and regional refund coupons to all registered users of its app. Previously, Air China issued two domestic refund coupons on January 1.
The rules issued by China Southern Airlines on February 9 are detailed in five aspects: the second change of involuntary change tickets, the second change of involuntary change of tickets, the cancellation and change due to illness, the handling of tickets when the fare is reduced, the adjustment of involuntary refunds and changes of tickets redeemed with points, and the refund and change of erroneously purchased tickets, and sets out detailed refund and change circumstances.
Taking the Announcement on the Rules for Refund and Modification of Erroneously Purchased Tickets (for Trial Implementation) as an example, China Southern Airlines proposes that if a passenger incorrectly enters one or more of the passenger type and flight information when purchasing a ticket, and notifies China Southern Airlines within 2 hours after purchasing the ticket and repurchases the China Southern Airlines ticket, the incorrect ticket will be refunded free of charge. In view of the rules for handling tickets with incorrect document information, China Southern Airlines distinguishes between eight actual situations, such as correct name entry, wrong name entry, Chinese name on the certificate with more than 6 (inclusive) Chinese characters, and English alphabet spelling on the certificate. In addition, it also explains the rules for the refund of tickets purchased repeatedly and the refund of tickets redeemed for points purchased by mistake.
In the Announcement on the Rules for Cancellation and Change due to Illness, China Southern Airlines has made detailed requirements for the supporting materials, requirements for medical institutions, requirements for payment invoices, and requirements for proof of hospitalization deposit when handling cancellation and change due to illness, and also distinguishes between the rules for the sick passenger and the accompanying persons of the sick passenger.
Some airline insiders said that many airlines have set more detailed regulations for ticket refunds and changes, which is a response to the increasing demand of passengers. Detailed rules such as cancellation due to illness increase the flexibility of airlines' cancellation and change, and at the same time, through the implementation of clear rules and restrictions, it can also further standardize the travel habits of passengers, which is beneficial to both airlines and passengers.
Lin Zhijie, a person in the civil aviation industry, believes that the detailed rules for refund and change are very necessary to plug the loopholes of ticket scalpers and black **. For example, if there are no strict conditions for "buying the wrong ticket", scalpers will use the reason of "buying the wrong ticket" to sell it at a low price**.
Rate transparency is on the way.
A reporter from Beijing Business Daily saw on the black cat complaint platform that after China Southern Airlines released the latest detailed rules on February 9, many consumers still filed complaints, including the consumer's description of "the family was hospitalized due to physical problems, and the customer service has been contacted for refund as soon as possible, but the handling fee is still charged", "the customer service within 2 hours after the wrong ticket is purchased**No one answers, resulting in overtime", and there are still complaints about the high cost of refund and change.
Taking a complaint on February 21 as an example, the consumer said on the platform that on February 15, the roads in Hemu and other areas of Kanas, Xinjiang were affected by a snowstorm, and he could not take the flight originally scheduled for February 16, and uploaded an official weather announcement after applying for a refund, but he was still deducted more than 2,000 yuan in handling fees. However, the friend who applied for a refund earlier was fully refunded.
As for how airlines set up cancellation rates, an airline insider said that airlines generally divide the cabin into three categories: first class, business and economy, and in order to meet the needs of different passengers, each category is subdivided into refined and preferential cabins. The overall performance is that the more expensive the ticket, the lower the refund and change fee, on the contrary, the cheaper the ticket, the higher the refund and change fee, and even the non-refundable.
The above-mentioned insiders admitted that while considering the needs of passengers, listed airlines should also be responsible to shareholders and take into account the overall revenue. The civil aviation industry is different from other industries, airlines have a high debt-to-asset ratio but low profits, and if tickets can be refunded and changed at will, it will cause airlines to waste seat vacancies, which will affect the airlines' annual indicators. Therefore, in terms of ticket refund and change, there is still a need for run-in between airlines and passengers, which is a "continuous process".
In Han Tao's view, for the customer service of airlines, after the release of the refund and change rules, it is necessary to clearly publicize them to the public, do a good job in publicity and guidance, and guide ticket merchants to assist passengers in purchasing when necessary. For passengers, when purchasing air tickets, they need to pay more attention to the specific cancellation and change rules of different airlines, so as to avoid losses if they are not clear about the rules.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Guan Zichen Niu Qingyan.