900 business class airfares that were sold at economy prices due to computer error have brought about a friction between Australian travel agents and Singapore Airlines.
It is fairly understood that the airline had mistakenly loaded the incorrect fares between Singapore and European destinations. Due to this, the fares were sold by the online agents between Saturday and Monday at a cheap rate. Now, the Singapore Airlines is demanding the agents to inform the clients about the issue and charge them what is due to the fares they bought.
According to the airline management, the travel agents would be the ones to pay the amount if they are not able to recover the money from the clients. It has been confirmed by the Singapore Airlines spokeswoman that they had recently reassigned a subclass booking which is originally designated to economy class bookings to be used for business class bookings from December 8, 2014.
The spokeswoman said, "We have been notified that a small number of travel agents have sold tickets against this reassigned business class subclass, at an economy class fare level,"
She added that it was stated in the airfare conditions for the fare that it was only valid for economy class travel. And if the travel agents do not recover the money, they would have to pay for it by themselves.
A Flight Centre spokesman said that they have been notified of the issue on Saturday but it was not attended to accordingly until Monday. He said: "The fare showed up in the booking system that online and bricks and mortar travel agents use as a business class fare, although it was also listed as economy in the fare rules-hence our messages to the airline over the weekend."
He also made clear that they have a good relationship with the Singapore Airlines and the talk with the management team in Australia regarding the issue will continue to ensure a good outcome for their customers who have been affected by this matter.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
