4th July, 2022
Flight delays and cancellations have become all too common at certain airports. The industry is clearly short of resources across various organizations, be it for airlines, airports etc.
And the combined effort is not enough at certain airports. They are not able to handle the traffic or the volume of travel, going by the cancellation and delayed flights data featuring airlines, origin and destination airport.
Travel, as an activity, has picked up but this jittery feeling or uncertainty on the part of the traveller can’t be overlooked by a merchant. What if I book and the plan goes awry owing to a delay, travel restrictions or any other external factor?
It is vital for airlines (plus OTAs and others) to not only make sure they come up with a consumer-friendly policy related to flights but they also ensure travel shopper understands the refund or cancellation policy or what happens when there is a delay and one opts for a rescheduled flight. Travel companies are now promising friendly options on all these instances. But are consumers confident on these counts?
According to Trustly’s new report, one-third of UK consumers cited a strong refunds policy as a key factor when deciding where and how to shop, implying that they have every intention of using such a policy. Clearly merchants need to have trustworthy processes in place to deal with such scenarios. And this aspect when we talk of flights isn’t just related to a simple itinerary. There are cases like virtual interlining (think of virtual interlining by OTAs) or other travel products like hotels.
As we know a lot goes behind the transaction, plus the ways in which a consumer can pay is only increasing day by day, the work behind the scenes is seemingly also becoming more complex. Or it isn’t?
By Ritesh Gupta, Ai Team
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