Under the epidemic，There is nothing wrong with airline companies trying their best to "decompress" the capital chain，But how to save yourself at the same time，Balance the consumer、Interests of upstream and downstream cooperative enterprises and other parties，It has also become a key to the "war against the epidemic"。March 23，Many ticket agents reported to Beijing Business Daily reporter，Since March，Including Malaysia’s AirAsia、Thailand Lion Air、Singapore Scoot、A number of low-cost airlines (also known as low-cost airlines) such as Philippine Cebu Pacific Airways have successively announced，Refund a large number of air tickets directly，Changed to the voucher refund (EMD) mode。One stone stirs up a thousand waves，Consumer、Ticket agent、It is difficult for online travel platforms to “buy in”。To this point，Air ticket refunds and changes that have been criticized have once again encountered new problems。

Aviation expert Qi Qi pointed out，The epidemic is a force majeure，So changing the original refund policy by airlines is also a "stopgap measure"，But the interests of consumers should also be taken into consideration，In terms of the use period and transfer of vouchers，Add more flexible terms。Also，Calling on relevant parties to study new ways to “realize” voucher mortgages。

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"The most worrying thing is，The number of foreign low-cost airlines that refund vouchers is increasing，And more and more foreign full-service airlines have already 188bet app joined or are preparing to join this ranks。"A domestic air ticket agent told a Beijing Business Daily reporter。To this，The person in charge of the air ticket business of a domestic online travel platform also confirmed，As of March 23rd，There are already 8 foreign low-cost airlines on the platform that use the voucher-only refund method，Also，Including Qatar Airways、Air France-KLM、Full-service airlines such as Air Canada，Coupon refunds are also starting to begin。

A Beijing Business Daily reporter saw this on the official website of Singapore Scoot，The company updated the self-service ticket refund and change service information on March 18，Clearly “launching self-service refund service option on the official website from now on，Applicable to all bookings made before March 15, 2020，Passengers whose flight departure date is before May 31 (including the same day)。This function allows passengers to easily submit online refund requests，Refunds will be in the form of Scoot vouchers，Complete within 30 working days，Passengers who purchased tickets from a third party or travel agency，It is recommended to contact the original ticket purchase channel for assistance。”The company’s domestic customer service is also called，If the voucher is not accepted，Consumers can try to feedback order information and appeals to the headquarters through Scoot’s official website，And waiting for reply。

Among the five major types of refund applications released by AirAsia，There are 3 categories where you can only choose to withdraw "credit account" or "change flight"。To this，Related AirAsia staff responded，"The company complies with local governments、Civil Aviation Administration，and recommendations and regulations from global and local health authorities, including the World Health Organization，We have formulated relevant ticket refund 188bet app and change policies。”But for the Beijing Business Daily reporter’s question，"Approximately how many domestic air tickets cannot be directly refunded？” and “For consumers who do not want to choose ‘Credit Account’ or ‘Change Flights’，What are the plans？" and other questions，As of press time，The other party did not reply。

“From the latest refund policies of many foreign low-cost airlines we obtained，Including refunding ‘credit account’、‘Travel Fund’ etc.，It’s just a different way of expressing it，In the industry’s view，They are all methods of refunding ‘vouchers’，"Ticket agent Li Ming (pseudonym) said，“Actually，There have been cases of refunding vouchers before，Consumer does not accept，Agents can only refund money first and then process the vouchers themselves，However，This time involves a large number of air tickets、Huge amount，No one can digest it。”

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Seeing that I can’t get a refund，Vouchers are flying everywhere，“Don’t know what to do” becomes a domestic consumer、A common confusion among ticket agents and even travel platforms。“First of all, most vouchers are time-sensitive，It is difficult for consumers to accept，It is difficult for consumers to accept；Also，Many platforms and ticket agents have advanced funds in advance，Refunded the ticket to the user，Feeling ‘very troubled’ by the airline’s decision to refund vouchers；Not only that，Previously submitted tens of millions of refund demands to airlines，It is not clear how this will be handled。" Li Ming told a Beijing Business Daily reporter。

As a large domestic ticket agency whose main business is selling cheap overseas air tickets，Li Ming’s company represents dozens of foreign low-cost airlines，“Before the epidemic，Benefiting from the rising popularity of outbound travel，The company’s average daily 188bet app download international ticket issuance volume can reach 5,000，Millions of dollars in daily turnover。Incomplete statistics are currently available，Thousands of orders will have their vouchers refunded，In addition, there is still a refund of 70 million yuan that has not yet been refunded，No accurate answer on how to proceed，Putting ticket agents in a difficult situation。”Beijing Business Daily reporter also noticed，Many consumers began to complain online about the unfair refund policy，Even defend rights on various complaint platforms。

The person in charge of the air ticket business of the aforementioned online travel platform also said bluntly，First of all, consumers do not understand the coupon refund policy，I think you should get a refund if you spend money on tickets，Some customers even mistakenly believe that OTAs or agents should bear the obligation to refund money together with the airlines，Therefore the coupon refund cannot be accepted。Secondly，In order to speed up refunds to consumers in the early stage，Agents and OTAs made large advances，Nowadays, airlines only refund coupons and they can only be used by the passenger，As a result, the advances made by agents and OTAs cannot be recovered，Thus causing large financial losses，It is not ruled out that some agents may even go bankrupt as a result。final，Each airline has a different coupon refund policy，There is a certain operational complexity，Affects the time limit for refund。

Not without solution

The "Black Swan" has arrived，No company can win alone。The industry generally believes that，The global civil aviation industry has suffered heavy losses during the epidemic，From airlines to OTAs、Agent，Always try to reduce losses for users as much as possible，Accelerate refunds for user cancellations。But with the global spread of the epidemic，Flights are largely suspended，The situation has gone far beyond what one party can afford to resolve，188bet sports betting app download All parties are also under huge financial pressure。Airlines、Agent、OTA、Consumers need to understand each other。If any party just insists on its own interests，The final outcome is likely to be mutual harm，Cause greater losses。

“Now we have seen foreign low-cost airlines declare bankruptcy，It can be seen that the life of enterprises is indeed difficult，In order to last longer in this harsh winter，Use a voucher instead of a refund，It is also a helpless move，" Civil aviation expert Li Yi pointed out in an interview with a reporter from Beijing Business Daily，"But，Airline companies should set more favorable conditions for vouchers，For example, extending the use time、Relax user restrictions, etc.，Increase consumers’ willingness to accept。”Another industry analyst also proposed，If the airline can make some additional commitments，For example, unused vouchers，Can still be redeemed after one year, etc.，This not only solves my urgent need，It also brings greater confidence to relevant parties。

Aviation expert Qi Qi also suggested，In extraordinary times，Some financial innovation methods need to be adopted to “realize”，“Actually，Air tickets inherently have certain financial attributes，Next，Online travel platforms, ticket agencies and relevant departments can further explore，Use air tickets as collateral，New method of replacing funds for ‘blood transfusion’。”

*Source of this article: Beijing Business Daily, for人：Xiao Wei, original title: "No refunds, only vouchers. Who has been hurt by the refund and change policies of many foreign low-cost airlines during the epidemic》.