There is something fishy about selling air tickets. Where Ali went to Ctrip was named.

Many consumers are used to booking air tickets in Ctrip.com, Qunar.com, Ali Travel.com and Tongcheng.com, but these websites are hidden.

65438+February 65438+May, the paper media reporter learned from the news briefing held by the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee that the above four online platforms either set various conditions to prevent consumers from refunding tickets, or deduct the refund amount that consumers should get back, or package ordinary air tickets into promotional products, or change the travel itinerary of e-tickets.

Tang Jiansheng, deputy secretary-general of Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee, revealed that in recent years, with the online booking of air tickets being more and more accepted by consumers, complaints about air ticket consumption have also increased significantly. 20 13, Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee received a complaint about air ticket consumption1503; 20 14, the number rose to 4806; Since 20 15, this number has reached 7874.

Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee: Four major network platforms are tricky.

According to the survey of Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee, consumers tend to choose the sales agent platform to purchase tickets. The data shows that 67% of consumers choose Ctrip.com and Qunar.com to buy tickets, 1 1% choose Taobao and Ali to buy tickets, 6% choose WeChat and Tongcheng.com to buy tickets, and 16% choose airline official website to buy tickets.

In the investigation of the primary factors to be considered in purchasing air tickets, the price of air tickets is the most attractive factor to consumers, accounting for 79%, followed by airlines, conditions for returning and changing tickets and space. At the same time, the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee pointed out that most consumers recognize air tickets with low fares but high refund and change fees, but only if there are obvious tips.

Since consumers like to buy tickets through the platform and recognize tickets with low fares and high handling fees, how do consumers experience it in the process of purchasing tickets and refunding tickets?

Recently, Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee conducted a consumer observation on booking air tickets online, and purchased air tickets in two ways. One way was to sell air tickets through the online platform, and four well-known online platforms, namely Ctrip, Qunar, Ali Travel and Tongcheng, were selected. The other is to buy tickets through airlines in official website, including Spring Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Air China, Jixiang Airlines and China Southern Airlines. Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee purchased 6 air tickets/KLOC-0 through the above channels, and refunded them immediately. By simulating the process of purchasing tickets and refunding tickets, this paper investigates the present situation of booking air tickets online.

After investigation, the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee found that compared with the airline official website, the online platform for selling agency tickets had a poor experience, and Ctrip, Qunar, Ali Travel and Tongcheng, which were popular among consumers, were more or less tricky in the process of refunding tickets, which harmed the interests of consumers.

Ctrip: Packaged products cannot be refunded.

People from Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee randomly bought a ticket from Guangzhou, Ctrip.com to Shanghai on June 5438+February 65438+February 0 1. The airline is Spring Airlines, and the fare is 520 yuan. After clicking "Book", the order shows a total of 645 yuan, including an adult ticket, a 520 yuan, a civil aviation development fund (airport construction fee), 50 yuan, insurance 40 yuan, hotel coupons and 25 yuan. The order also shows that the product does not support unsubscribe. The Consumer Protection Committee wanted to refund the ticket after payment, but found that the button for refund could not be found on the page.

At the same time, members of the Consumer Protection Committee immediately logged into Spring Airlines official website and booked the same flight and the same cabin, with a total of 6 10 yuan, including the ticket price of 560 yuan, airport construction fee and fuel fee of 50 yuan. According to the official website Refund Rules, if a flight applies for a refund 24 hours before the departure time, it must pay a refund fee of 10% of the original ticket price. The Consumer Protection Committee successfully applied for a refund and got a refund of 538 yuan.

Why official website, an airline, can refund tickets, but Ctrip. Com can't?

Ctrip's public relations staff said that the above-mentioned air tickets purchased on its website are all travel package products. Besides air tickets, there are hotel coupons. If consumers want to cancel their reservation, they must return the ticket together with the hotel coupon. "Once the consumer pays for the package product, our website will send an electronic code to the consumer, which is the hotel coupon, and the consumer can go to the hotel to deduct it at any time. However, if consumers unsubscribe from the package products, the air tickets will be refunded and the hotel coupons can still be used. Therefore, we make it clear that such air ticket package products cannot be refunded. "

In Ctrip's package price, there are also airport construction fees, insurance fees and other expenses. Why can't this part of the expenses not incurred be refunded? Where did the money go?

Ctrip public relations said that Ctrip. Com provides a platform for Ctrip to purchase air tickets from suppliers, and the rules for returning and changing tickets are also directly entered by suppliers, and all the capital flows generated by returning and changing tickets are also collected by suppliers.

Ctrip added that although the air ticket package products cannot be unsubscribed on the page, Ctrip will still monitor the usage of customers. "This ticket is valid for one year. If the customer does not use the tickets in the package product within the validity period, our customer service will take the initiative to remind the customers who do not use the tickets one month before the expiration of the validity period whether they need to change their tickets or refund their tickets later. "

In addition, Ctrip said on the spot that the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee observed that the air ticket package products could not be refunded, which was indeed a defect in product design, and would optimize the pages of such products to ensure that consumers could refund some money in the future.

Where to go: package ordinary air tickets into promotional products.

People from Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee bought a ticket from China Southern Airlines Shanghai to Chongqing on February 65438+February1May. According to the product tips, this ticket is V-rated, with the original price of 700 yuan and Qunar.com price of 420 yuan. Plus airport construction fee 50 yuan, invoice express fee 10 yuan, the consumer protection committee has been paying 480 yuan. However, after the ticket was issued, the Consumer Protection Committee found that the cabin printed on the e-ticket travel travel itinerary was R cabin.

At the same time, members of the Consumer Protection Committee bought tickets for the same flight and the same R cabin in official website, China Southern Airlines, but failed to find a ticket for 700 yuan. To buy a ticket in official website of China Southern Airlines, the above-mentioned people * * * spend 470 yuan, including the ticket price in 420 yuan and the airport construction fee in 50 yuan.

The consumer protection Committee wants to refund the tickets bought through two channels. By comparison, it was found that Qunar.com claimed that the products purchased were less promotional products, and only the airport construction fee and fuel fee were refunded. According to official website rules of China Southern Airlines, the refund fee is 2 10 yuan two hours before departure, and consumers can get more refunds than Qunar.

Because it is the same ticket, the price of Qunar.com and the price of China Southern Airlines official website are both 420 yuan. Why are the refund rules completely different? Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee questioned Qunar.com's over-packaging products, packaging ordinary air tickets as promotional products to attract consumers to buy, thus increasing obstacles in the refund process and harming consumers' interests.

In this regard, where to go. Com argued about where to go. Com still implements the refund and change of air tickets according to airline rules. Qunar.com is only a third-party platform to display the products of various air ticket agents, so the data entry of products is completed by agents, and it is not excluded that individual agents exploit loopholes.

According to the suggestion of Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee, Qunar.com responded that the so-called "self-operated" ticket was actually provided by the agent, but compared with other products, the "self-operated" product provided the key service guarantee of Qunar.com. For example, if the agent didn't issue the ticket within 15 minutes, passengers could enjoy a full refund.

Ali Travel: You can't express the return and change rules before purchasing tickets.

People from Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee booked a ticket from Yanji to Shanghai on February 6th of Eastern Airlines on Ali Travel's website, 16, which was sold by the agent Baiyi Airlines. The website page shows that the ticket price is 500 yuan, and the ticket price purchased on the website is 492 yuan, in addition to the airport construction fee and fuel fee in 50 yuan. It also stipulates: "This cabin is a special cabin, and the specific rules for returning and changing the visa are subject to the airline. If you refund or change your ticket, please contact the airline or merchant for confirmation first. "

The Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee pointed out that from the website page, consumers can't understand the rules of returning and changing tickets before purchasing tickets. After that, the staff of the Consumer Protection Committee operated the refund, but they still didn't know the handling fee for returning and changing the visa. After the actual operation, it was found that the refund amount only included the 50 yuan airport construction fee and fuel fee.

People from the Consumer Protection Committee bought a ticket for the same flight and the same cabin in China Eastern Airlines official website, 550 yuan. According to the official website rules of China Eastern Airlines, a refund fee of 80% of the actual ticket price is charged two hours before the scheduled departure time of the flight, and the Consumer Protection Committee paid a refund fee of 150 yuan in China Eastern Airlines.

In this regard, China Eastern Airlines said that there will be regulations for the return and change of each cabin on each flight. The return and change of the normal class will be given to the agent, and a small number of special class agents may not know it.

The person in charge of Ali Travel explained that the ticket purchased by the Consumer Protection Committee belongs to a special category, and the standard for returning and changing the visa can only be known after purchase. In order to prevent the agent from causing harm to consumers, Ali Travel reminds consumers to contact the airline for advice on how to apply for refund and change after issuing the ticket. The person in charge also said that there are about 20% ticket products on the website, and Ali Travel does not know the rules for returning and changing the visa. This part of the refund is directly contacted by the consumer and the agent. "If the agent fails to refund the ticket according to the airline's standards after receiving the consumer's complaint, our company will fine the agent 500 yuan every time and compensate the consumer 500 yuan."

Same journey: change the travel itinerary of e-ticket.

People from Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee saw an Air China ticket product from Tianjin to Chengdu in February 65438+February 65438+May, with a face price of 387 yuan. However, after clicking on the reservation, it is found to be a package product, and passengers are required to buy supporting insurance products, otherwise they cannot buy them. In addition, the page also reminds consumers that if they want to refund the ticket, they will voluntarily accept the expenses incurred by the refund and do not provide the refund invoice.

After the Consumer Protection Committee paid for the ticket, it was found that the electronic ticket was found on the same journey. The fare for the O-class cabin in the travel itinerary is 375 yuan. Consumer Protection Committee inquired about the e-ticket verification of China Civil Aviation Information Group through the ticket number, and found that the ticket number was E and the fare was 330 yuan.

In this regard, Tongcheng explained that it is incorrect not to provide refund invoices. The website provides refund invoices to all consumers. As to whether Tongcheng.com was suspected of tampering with the travel itinerary of e-tickets, the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee suggested that cabin O and cabin E belong to economy class, and there is no grade difference, but the seating areas arranged are different, and there is no difference in the tickets themselves.

However, after inquiring about the information, the reporter found that the prices of different cabins marked by airlines are different. Take the air China ticket purchased by the Consumer Protection Committee as an example. Air China's customer service staff told reporters that the O cabin represents the first-class mileage redemption cabin, that is, the free cabin that airline members redeem with mileage points, while the E cabin represents the special cabin of economy class.