Amex travel agency flight change fees
 

Hi All,

Not strictly a BA question, but I thought some of you may have an answer.

I know BA have a rule whereby a booking made directly with them can be cancelled at no cost within 24 hours.

Having made a reservation via Amex which cater my employer's corporate travel reservations, I have tried to call and modify one of my bookings. Told there was a 60 pounds fee to do so. Asked if I can cancel it under BA's 24 hr cooling off policy. I was advised that's not possible as the booking is not with BA direct. Is this correct ? Seems unfortunate that Amex appear to have a less flexible policy than the carrier?

Thanks,
k

Travel agents can, if they wish, charge fees for cancelling/changing reservations - over and above any fees that may/or may not be charged by operators.
They should have made you aware of any of any applicable fees at time of booking.
FWIW on one trip we were unable to use an hotel booked through American Express Travel. Even though it was a non-refundable booking we decided to do the right thing and cancel the reservation. Called the hotel direct: they said Amex needs to cancel. Called Amex: yes they would cancel booking, but it would cost £20. Needless to say we simply no-showed!!

Indeed, and if you want to change or cancel a BA ticket booked through Amex, you will have to pay both BA's fees (as defined in the fare rules) and Amex's own service fees which I believe are the aforementioned £20.

I don't think travel agents are able to avail of BA's 24-hour cooling off period - but they can do other things such as holding bookings without ticketing them immediately, and they may have an agreements with airlines to waive X number of airline change fees per month or similar.

I am pretty sure this is not correct. Sounds like another case of a travel agent taking the piss.
I have a suspicion that most travel agents charge 'secret' fees these days, especially where change fees are concerned.

Any more thoughts on this - have just booked a BA flight via AMEX for the £50 discount and realise the dates are wrong....

Will AMEX be able to effect the 24hr cooling off policy if I call in the morning?

My daughter works for a travel agent, and I asked her this question. In her case, the agency offers a general $20 'same day' cancellation and within 24 hours for some airlines. She also noted it depends mostly on the relationship a given travel agency has with the airline in question.

Travel agents can charge whatever the hell they like. The simple fact is that you have a contract with them, not the airline, and if they want to impose a cancellation fee they are well within their rights to do so, as long as they are upfront about it and do not hide it away without informing you first. Whether you choose to read these T&C is entirely up to you.

It's how the likes of edreams and the other European con-artists make any money - they undercut the airlines slightly to get to the top of search rankings, then cream it in when the customer needs to cancel and make a change. Unfair and underhand? Yes. But totally legal.

Travel Agents charge what they like and what they think they can get away with. Any travel agent can cancel a BA ticket within 24 hours and they will be charged nothing by the airline. However, they can and will charge a fee if they can get away with it.

Im an agent, and out fees are clear and transparent

With BA we can void the ticket FOC the same day (until 2359) the day the ticket was issued
After which we get charged the Airline cancellation fee plus our admin fee which is £20 per ticket.

We have special corporate fares with many airlines that allow FOC refund or changes

Some airlines allow us the 24 hour rule, but this then becomes a manual process

Hope this helps

Expedia do not charge for same day (note not 24 hour) cancellations to British Airways flights.

Thank you. Unfortunately the AMEX helpline only works 9-5 or so. I'll give them a bell in the morning to try and unpick!

Will report back.

Have they not got a 247 number?

Just to put my experience of Amex Travel UK across, I once booked American Airlines flights and wanted to cancel shortly after I booked. I called them up and they told me, OK, because the tickets haven't been issued yet we won't charge you the cancellation fee.

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It is always worth researching the fees and other associated costs associated with a TA. The cheapest ticket at time of purchase is not always the least expensive when one is done.

TA's are free to levy fees above those imposed by the carriers and thus free to charge that fee if the carrier charges none.

OK, AMEX state that the 24hr cooling off period doesn't apply to them.

Now, while I can change the ticket (I class), the cost of changing is going to be more than simply starting again as there's some fare repricing aspect as well. Heathrow flights are cheaper that Gatwick!

So that's been a great use of my £50 off a £200 spend at Amex Travel. Am sure the objective was to encourage people to book with them - not sure i'll bother repeating the experience. Buyer beware (and note to self - pay more attention to when mother's day is).