The FAA Reauthorization Bill was passed in the US Senate but without safeguards for travel agencies forced to repay refunds to travelers.
An amendment championed by the American Society of Travel Advisors has not been included, which would have protected travel advisors from paying out customer refunds when airlines cancel flights.
The bill requires travel agencies to refund for flights canceled by the airlines even if the agency has not received the traveler’s funds.
ASTA had lobbied hard against language in the bill that potentially forces travel agencies to pay out refunds.
“Travel agencies are not positioned to float the kind of financial obligations that policymakers are strapping on their backs,” said Zane Kerby, CEO of ASTA.
“Consumer protection could have been accomplished without sacrificing the interests of small business travel advisors who work diligently every day on behalf of the traveling public,” Kerby added.
Kerby says it is down to a lack of awareness by lawmakers on the role travel agencies play.
In the bill, small agencies have been grouped with large global OTAs whose financial clout couldn’t be more different.
ASTA will continue pushing for change to protect small travel businesses, starting with the annual Legislative Day in September.
