British Airways to Pay Expenses in Fare Foul-Up

The U.S. Department of Transportation said that British Airways has agreed to compensate consumers for cancellation penalties and other expenses incurred due to the carrier's erroneous offer of $40 fare between the United States and India. The carrier realized its error nearly immediately and removed the fare within minutes from its own website, but it remained on the websites of certain on-line travel agents for about two hours. During this time, more than 1,200 bookings were made covering approximately 2,200 passengers.

British Airways cancelled the bookings of all passengers who purchased the fare and, before the Enforcement Office began its review of the matter, offered all affected passengers a travel voucher valued at $300. Now British Airways also has agreed to reimburse passengers resulting from having relied on the erroneous $40 fare. These could include fees for cancelling flights or cancelling hotels, rental cars or other ground arrangements, as well as additional costs incurred in rebooking flights due to fare increases on previously held flights that were cancelled in order to book the $40 fare.

British Airways & Virgin Atlantic Passenger Refunds

Approximately 5.5 Million people who flew British Airways and Virgin Atlantic may qualify for a refund as part of a class action lawsuit settlement. The lawsuit claims the airlines unlawfully conspired to fix prices for the "fuel surcharge" that was added to base ticket prices. Customers who purchased a roundtrip ticket on either airline between August 11, 2004 and March 23, 2006 are entitled to a refund of the fuel surcharge they paid, approximately $40 U.S dollars.

The airlines are expected to release records of passengers flying during the time period in order to arrange for refunds, but have also set up an official website whereby potential claimants can provide their current contact information: http://www.airpassengerrefund.com/

Settlement Reached for Foreign Transaction Fee Case

Do you have money owed to you?
A settlement has been reached and court certified, in a class-action lawsuit certain to make International Travelers of the past 10 years at least $25 bucks richer.

Plaintiff's allege major credit card companies such as Visa, MasterCard and Diners club employed shady tactics for disclosing (or rather hiding) fees customers would be charged for using their credit card overseas.

Customers who used a qualifying card Internationally between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006 are eligible. 3 options are given for collecting, with the most basic being to accept a $25.00 payment, and the most generous up to 3% of estimated annual foreign transactions.

Look for settlement forms in the mail this week; it's not junk mail! Or visit: http://www.ccfsettlement.com/ for more information.