He, who purchased four discounted return tickets from Shanghai to Rome online in April 2011, cancele

MORE than 90 percent of airline tickets that are promoted as having discounts of over 90 percent are actually illegal, putting consumers at risk of losing money, according tour companies china to an aviation industry report.
The report, released tour companies china by Ctcnn.com and Grass Roots Consulting, said over half of online ticket agents lured customers by putting up fake low-rate ticket information that doesn t exist or requires extra charges.
Sometimes passengers can still get onboard with the tickets because of the loopholes, tour companies china the report said, but more often they are subjected to penalties and other unfavorable terms on issues such as ticket refunds due to the discounted prices.
Shanghai resident He Kang, for example, tour companies china went to court and won against a Shanghai-based airline that charged him over 8,000 yuan (US$1,256), or 40 percent tour companies china of the ticket, tour companies china when he wanted four return tickets refunded.
He, who purchased four discounted return tickets from Shanghai to Rome online in April 2011, canceled the trip for personal reasons. tour companies china After being hit with the high refund tour companies china charge, He took the case to the Pudong New Area People s Court, given that the normal refund charge was 20 percent.
Under earlier rules, airlines charged 5 percent of the ticket price when a passenger wanted to cancel the ticket 24 hours before takeoff. The fee rose to 20 percent when cancellation came within two hours of takeoff.
For instance, China Eastern Airlines charges 10 percent of the ticket price for tickets sold with less than a 20 percent discount. Passengers may get 80 percent refunded if they buy a ticket with a 30 percent discount. The airline charges 50 percent when tickets are bought at a half discount.
However, the charge may also skyrocket to 80 percent when customers buy tickets with extremely low prices from unofficial agents or from websites, a customer service representative of China Eastern said.
In another ongoing case at local court, a passenger was charged a fee up to 80 percent of the ticket price after he cancelled his flight from Beijing to Shanghai. He also took the carrier to the Pudong tour companies china court.
The refund fee of 80 percent was obviously too high, said Gu Jiangping, the lead judge on the case. The contract tour companies china was unfair to the passenger and caused financial damage to the customer, the judge said.
Passengers with discounted tickets also may have trouble getting an invoice, they may be asked to make up the price gap or even see their boarding pass rejected if they bought from an agent who pulled a price trick, according to the report.
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