Transatlantic Carriers Cracking Down On Creative Ticketing In U.K.

<B> Transatlantic Carriers Cracking Down On Creative Ticketing In U.K.</B>

By Amon Cohen

Travel managers with responsibility for British travelers are having to think twice about buying back-to-back and other creative tickets following a severe crackdown in the United Kingdom by American Airlines and other transatlantic carriers.

British Airways and Delta Air Lines are among other carriers that have warned they will not tolerate rule-bending tickets. AA has turned away an unspecified number of passengers with creative tickets in recent months unless they were prepared to pay the difference for a full fare. American also has sent a letter to all members of the U.K.'s Guild of Business Travel Agents warning of its zero-tolerance policy and even has visited some agencies in person.

However, the hardball tactics may not last for long. The European Commission is understood to be well advanced with an investigation into airline restrictions on the usage of ticket coupons and poised to prohibit carriers from banning creative ticketing.

AA's letter is intended to protect agents who said they are increasingly being asked to issue creative tickets by clients anxious to cut costs by any means possible. Signed by AA's U.K. & Ireland business travel agency sales manager Neil Mott, the letter reads: "In the increasingly competitive environment in which we find ourselves, I am aware that your clients are demanding these 'creative' tickets from their agent, and suggesting that they will go elsewhere if you do not provide them. I trust that this letter makes American's position clear."

The crackdown applies not only to back to backs but to other devices such as throwaway ticketing, which takes advantage of cheaper itineraries starting in other European countries.

Business travel agency Amersham Travel had three clients hauled off a flight after one of the trio made the mistake of showing both his back-to-back tickets at the same time. "They were made to feel like criminals," said managing director David Giles. "Eventually, they were allowed to fly out but only after they bought a full one-way fare to travel back."

The carrier's U.K. and Ireland sales manager Matthew Hall acknowledged that "we have had some passengers upset" after being denied boarding at British airports, but "they're aware of the rules."

However, travel managers and agents are unhappy for two reasons. The first is that the airlines seem to have changed their approach with little warning. Many carriers have tacitly accepted creative ticketing since time immemorial and occasionally even encouraged the practice when training agents in the art of fare construction. "Suddenly, senior business people are being stopped at the airport and denied boarding," confirmed Mike Platt, commercial affairs director of the agency BTI U.K. "We are dismayed that this summary action should be carried out against travelers."

The other reason is that they question the right of the airlines to outlaw creative ticketing. The AA letter describes creative ticketing as "unethical" because the practice breaches its conditions of carriage and because "the intent to circumvent our tariff rules is clear." However, as a statement from Delta acknowledged, "back-to-back ticketing violates no laws and so should not be termed 'illegal.' "

U.K. & Ireland Institute of Travel Management chairman Ian Hall therefore believes that the airlines are the ones behaving illegally by inhibiting consumer choice. Hall is business services manager for Unilever and was furious when a "large British airline" threatened to bar one of his travelers with a throwaway ticket that was saving the company &pound;1,000 (US$1,600). "If I have a ticket, why can't I use it back to front or upside down or any way I want?" Hall asked.

The European Commission would appear to agree. A senior source at the commission told BTN that the competition directorate has been investigating airline restrictions on creative ticketing "for some time" and is close to reaching its conclusions. Said the source, "Conditions dictating the order in which coupons are used and the full use of the entire ticket are felt to be particularly unfair practices."

Should the commission introduce a liberal ruling on creative ticketing, it will be interesting to see whether this produces a more liberal regime on the other side of the Atlantic. If not, it may mean U.S. travel managers will start to examine the possibilities of moving some of their ticket purchasing to Europe.