British Airways Agency Debit Memo Policy - March 1, 2008
Please note that the below applies to Canada and Bermuda
Background:
British Airways has decided to publish its policy on Agency Debit Memos (ADMs) to Travel Agents to make clear the circumstances under which ADMs will be issued and the guidelines that British Airways applies.
Key Points of British Airways Policy:
ADMs will be issued through the BSP only within nine months of final travel.
A floor limit of GB£5 (CAD$10) applies to ADMs, but see 2.3 for exceptions for recurring occurrences of underpayment.
British Airways ticket issue policy mandates e-tickets where available. If paper tickets are issued instead British Airways may impose a charge collected by ADM. British Airways will not levy administration charges to cover the cost of ADM issuance by British Airways.
See below for full details of British Airways ADM policy.
1. Scope
1.1 British Airways will issue ADMs to collect amounts or make adjustments to agent transactions related to the issuance and use of British Airways traffic documents, issued by, or at the request of the Agent, regardless of which airlines are included in the itinerary of the British Airways traffic document. An ADM may also be used to collect amounts where a traffic document has not been issued, if agreed with the Agent, for example, for deposits for group sales.
2. British Airways Practice
2.1 ADMs will only be submitted for processing through the BSP to adjust sales if issued within nine months of final travel, or when the final travel date cannot be established, the expiry date of the document. To adjust refunds, an ADM will only be issued within nine months of the BSP remittance date on which the document was settled. For any charge due beyond this period, British Airways will agree with the Agent bilaterally the best settlement method and only submit an ADM through the BSP process if agreed in writing by the Agent.
2.2 British Airways complies with local BSP procedures in providing Agents with a minimum period of notice, in order to review any ADM and dispute it.
2.3 An ADM will not be issued for a value less than GB£5.00 (CAD$10) or equivalent. However, if there is a persistent practice of under-payment (multiple occurrences of under payments less than GB£5.00 or equivalent) by the same Agent (IATA location), British Airways may raise an ADM to recover the under-payments.
2.4 British Airways will endeavour to provide as much information as possible on an ADM to ensure it is specific in its detail about the reason a charge is being made.
2.5 British Airways will only include more than one transaction on any ADM if the reason for the charge is the same and will provide details with the ADM.
2.6 If British Airways raises an ADM for non-compliance with fare rules, the general principle applied is to raise the fare to the next applicable fare. Any divergence from this principle (e.g. a fixed amount penalty charge) is communicated to the Agent in advance, e.g. through notes in the fare rules, by letter or any other communication (e.g. Key News) used in the market in question.
2.6.1 It is British Airways policy to mandate the use of electronic tickets “e-tickets” on routes where e-tickets are available. Where a paper ticket is issued for an e-ticketable journey, British Airways may impose a charge that will be collected by ADM.
2.6.2 British Airways instructions specify any change fees must be collected via an MPD, and the MPD must be linked to the ticket concerned. Failure to follow this procedure may result in a charge to be collected by ADM for incorrect ticketing procedures.
2.7 British Airways will only issue more than one ADM in relation to the same original ticket, if different, unrelated charges apply. (This does not apply when an ADM is cancelled and raised again for the same reason but for a different value.)
2.8 British Airways will endeavour to handle rejected or disputed ADMs in a timely manner. Where an Agent has disputed an ADM within the dispute period, provided the dispute was sent to the address/fax notified on the ADM in question, British Airways will acknowledge receipt of the Agent’s dispute, either via a status change in BSP Link or through a separate communication and stop the submission of the ADM onto the Agent’s billing analysis. If British Airways reject the dispute an explanation for the rejection will be sent to the Agent.
Agents with BSP Link access may dispute an ADM via their BSP Link dispute facility within the ADM dispute period. If British Airways do not agree with the dispute, an explanation will be communicated to the agent prior to rejection of the dispute on BSP Link. The communication will give the agent a time period within which to respond with additional information for British Airways to re-investigate the dispute. If no response is received by British Airways within the time period indicated in the communication, the ADM will be submitted for settlement to BSP Link.
2.9 If an Agent disputes an ADM after it has been included in the BSP settlement British Airways will: Within 30 days of the receipt of the dispute acknowledge receipt to the Agent. Investigate and communicate their decision on the dispute within 30 days from the date of receipt of the dispute. In circumstances where the Agent has furnished insufficient information to support the dispute or the airline decision is subject to further commercial consideration, British Airways will communicate their decision no later than 2 months from the date of receipt of the dispute.
2.10 British Airways will not levy administration charges to cover the cost of ADM issuance by British Airways. British Airways wants to address causes that give rise to ADM issuance and for this reason the airline will contact an Agent if the volume and types of errors of that Agent’s transactions are deemed to be above average or are recurrent. British Airways will attempt to address these issues bilaterally with the Agent concerned.
2.11 Except where otherwise agreed in a market, in consultation with Agents individually or collectively, British Airways will not use ADMs to collect third party costs not directly associated with the initial ticket issuance of a passenger journey.
3. British Airways expects travel agents:
3.1 to train their staff in ADM procedures; their purpose and the dispute period that exists.
3.2 to ensure that when an ADM is disputed, the response is specific in detail and the relevant supporting information is sent to British Airways to the address/fax indicated on the ADM.
3.3 not to dispute an ADM where the reason is valid and evidence to the contrary is not available.
3.4 toraise all disputes within the BSP dispute period (according to Resolution 850m).
3.5 to ensure that their contact details (phone numbers, fax numbers and email addresses) are up to date in BSP Link.
3.6 to provide specific contact details when logging a dispute in BSP Link to enable British Airways to make contact concerning the dispute.
© Copyright 2008 British Airways PLC. All rights reserved.
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