MSE News: Airlines catch up with Air Passenger Duty changes

callum9999

Kendo76 wrote: »

I am in the same boat, BA get to invest money thats not there's in some ponsy scheme until such times as they can refund the monies which conveniently can only be refunded exactly a month after you fly\return. Meanwhile BA's shareholders are like :beer: which makes me .

To add to this I can still remove car hire to my booking or change hotels to a cheaper hotel for a small admin fee and reduce the cost of the holiday. When would I get that refund.

Yes, I'm sure a company with several hundred million pounds in the bank is making a special effort to earn 10p interest on your APD over payment....

BA have no legal obligation whatsoever to refund the APD, so if they say they will but only after you fly then just wait until after you fly.

I'd assume their systems are programmed to make refunds for holiday changes so presumably you'd get the refund within a week or so.

nanima

I paid for flights with BA on 14 January 2015 for 5 grandchildren under 12 years and all having a seat on flights Edinburgh/London/San Francisco. The flights were taken on 10 June 2015. I have had no refund from BA yet. I have written twice and have had no reply.
I am presuming that I should receive the APD paid for these flights for children.
Can someone advise me please before I pick up the phone to BA?

Westin

Are you sure that you paid the APD on the kids ticket in the first place?

As you booked after the announcement of the abolition of APD on tickets for children under 12 it is likely that BA did not charge you in the first place for this tax.

Caz3121

BA stopped charging APD for travel after 1st May, back in December 2014 so, if you did not book till January 2015 you will not have been charged it. It is only those that purchased tickets prior to the announcement that will be due a refund

Shopgal

I purchased Virgin Atlantic flight tickets online with Travelup, via Skyscanner and the options were infants, children aged 2-11 or adults 12+. Therefore I priced 3 adult tickets as my daughter is aged 13 at the date of travel. On the booking page I entered the dates of birth obviously indicating her age but this made no difference to the quoted price for 3 adults. So I am assuming they have charged me the APD on her ticket. I have contacted Travelup but they are saying APD wasn't charged on children's tickets purchased after Decemeber'14. They are completely ignoring the fact it is an 'under aged 16 ticket' which comes into effect March 2016....different to the legislation relating to children aged 2-11.

I have requested a breakdown of the price of my tickets including all taxes...which is something I have always received from other agents but they have failed to do this.

Has anyone had previous experience in dealing with this situation ?

leylandsunaddict

Shopgal wrote: »

I purchased Virgin Atlantic flight tickets online with Travelup, via Skyscanner and the options were infants, children aged 2-11 or adults 12+. Therefore I priced 3 adult tickets as my daughter is aged 13 at the date of travel. On the booking page I entered the dates of birth obviously indicating her age but this made no difference to the quoted price for 3 adults. So I am assuming they have charged me the APD on her ticket. I have contacted Travelup but they are saying APD wasn't charged on children's tickets purchased after Decemeber'14. They are completely ignoring the fact it is an 'under aged 16 ticket' which comes into effect March 2016....different to the legislation relating to children aged 2-11.

I have requested a breakdown of the price of my tickets including all taxes...which is something I have always received from other agents but they have failed to do this.

Has anyone had previous experience in dealing with this situation ?

As much as Travelup are as shonky as they come, they can only charge APD if the airline is still charging, and currently Virgin are. They haven't updated their system yet. They don't have 11-15 yr olds in a separate category. If you'd have booked direct with the airline, which is always the better way, you would have been able to see that is the case, from the front page of their website and they actually say on the flight selection page "UK APD no longer applies to passengers aged between 12 -15 travelling in economy from 1 March 2016.
Our systems are still being updated to reflect this but don’t worry – we’ll refund the APD amount before you fly!"

Kendo76

“I am in the same boat, BA get to invest money thats not there's in some ponsy scheme until such times as they can refund the monies which conveniently can only be refunded exactly a month after you fly\return. Meanwhile BA's shareholders are like which makes me .

To add to this I can still remove car hire to my booking or change hotels to a cheaper hotel for a small admin fee and reduce the cost of the holiday. When would I get that refund.
Originally posted by Kendo76
”Yes, I'm sure a company with several hundred million pounds in the bank is making a special effort to earn 10p interest on your APD over payment....

BA have no legal obligation whatsoever to refund the APD, so if they say they will but only after you fly then just wait until after you fly.

I'd assume their systems are programmed to make refunds for holiday changes so presumably you'd get the refund within a week or so."


No legal obligation to refund fair enough should therefore tell their customers they have no intentions of refunding and commit PR suicide. Slight sarcastic overtone on the ponsy scheme comment although with many thousands of people booking and flying daily that 10p may amount to a few quid more of and btw £142 is the figure not refunded.

Friends who booked with Virgin at the same time got full refund before travel, I am month after travel still awaiting a refund from BA but the customer services department are not currently accepting calls and havent been for the last 2 weeks apparently.

I reiterate I added car hire to the booking and was able to pay more yet they couldnt refund. A sham I tell thee!!

Caz3121

Kendo - from your post it sounds like this is a BA holidays booking
If you have paid for the holiday in full and followed the direction on the BA website re actions required, the refund will be received a month after you completed the actions
If it is not paid in full then the balance due will be adjusted
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/gsanswer/public/en_gb?faqid=5180

there is nothing there that states this is only processed after travel (quite the opposite)

Shopgal

Thanks Leylandsunaddict for the reply. I have now checked the Virgin Atlantic website and it states they will refund 11-15 APD if you booked direct with them but if you booked through a travel agent they have to refund you....and Travelup are saying they have not charged me for this and I know they have. Should I continue to pursue Travelup or should I approach the airline myself?

leylandsunaddict

Shopgal wrote: »

Thanks Leylandsunaddict for the reply. I have now checked the Virgin Atlantic website and it states they will refund 11-15 APD if you booked direct with them but if you booked through a travel agent they have to refund you....and Travelup are saying they have not charged me for this and I know they have. Should I continue to pursue Travelup or should I approach the airline myself?

When Virgin have got it all sorted they should refund the agent, then the agent will refund you. That may not be until after you travel though. The airline can't refund you direct. It has to go back to the people that paid for the ticket.

Their website says "Travel agents and providers are currently updating their various systems to reflect the changes to APD rates for young persons aged 12, 13 14 and 15 years travelling on or after 1 March 2016.

If APD is collected incorrectly they will make refunds directly to eligible customers. Please contact them directly."

You will probably need to chase Travelup though. From your first post it sounds like they are referring to under 12s. They should be aware of the changes for under 16s but nothing would surprise me. Sorry, but they are one of the less reputable OTAs, so good luck.