Covid-19 Coronavirus: Flight Center drops cancellation fee after public pressure

After mounting public pressure, Flight Center has backed down on charging travelers for trips canceled due to Covid-19, completely eliminating their fees.

The tourist booking company was criticized for charging customers for canceling reservations they were unable to use due to Covid-19’s travel restrictions.

A couple the Herald spoke to were charged a cancellation fee of $ 1,436 on a $ 2,328 holiday, booked in November last year through the Flight Center in Fielding.

They planned to take the Flight Center to the Dispute Court and complained to the Commerce Commission.

Similar cancellation rates had been the subject of hundreds of complaints on a Facebook page created by injured customers, with some claiming to have lost tens of thousands of dollars.

A Change.Org petition created to make Flight Center relax or waive cancellation fees has attracted thousands of signatures.

This week, the company announced a $ 700 limit on cancellation fees for reservations, but today managing director David Coombes said they would take it one step further.

“We have heard the feedback, both positive and negative, and made a new amendment to our refund policy to address one of the main ongoing concerns: our cancellation processing fee.”

He calculated they would reimburse some 15,000 reservations due to the Covid-19 impacts, and giving up their cancellation fees would cost the company an estimated $ 7 million.

The exemption would apply in situations where the external provider, generally the airline, has canceled the service reserved for the customer.

The fee waiver would only apply to those in the Flight Center, and not to airlines or external providers.

Coombes said they saw this as “an investment in the company’s clients who are under considerable stress, caused by financial uncertainty as a result of the significant impact of Covid-19.”

The company was also “well placed” financially to weather a prolonged slump in demand as a result of unprecedented and unforeseen government restrictions on travel and commerce, he said.

The previous cancellation policy was in line with the requirements set by the New Zealand Trade Commission, and the move was not made for fear of legal action, Coombes said.

“While our decision to waive the fees will cost our business significantly in lost revenue from work that has already been done and will continue to be done by our people, we believe it is the right thing to do in current economic conditions, where casualties and the loss of jobs is a daily occurrence for many kiwis, which unfortunately includes our own people. “

Not all travel agencies would be in a position to waive their fares, and Coombes said it was important for Kiwis to understand the “considerable costs” associated with serving customers in the travel industry, with too little revenue to cover those costs. .

“I urge the New Zealand Trade and Consumer Commission to work with us to understand this situation.

“A strong agency community will be in the best interest of Kiwi clients when we travel again.”

Since Flight Center had no control over the time it took for third-party providers to process refunds, it could take three to six months to process due to lawsuits.

“We are negotiating to secure the funds sooner and ensuring that our internal processes are faster, however we do not have complete control over this part of the
process, “said Coombes.

When third party providers, generally airlines, have not yet canceled their service, customers may still decide to cancel, however, Flight Center cancellation fees will apply.