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Coronavirus - Ticket Refund Policy – 8 April 2020Dear Travel Agent, Our TOC members have agreed a national coronavirus related ticket refund policy as described below: Refund Administration Fees for Anytime and Off-Peak Tickets This agreement is in place for all tickets valid to travel on, or after, Tuesday 17 March. Advance Purchase Ticket Refunds Advance Purchase tickets sold after 23 March, for travel on the reduced timetable, will be eligible for refund, free of charge, only if the service is later disrupted or cancelled, and the customer decides not to travel. Advance Purchase Ticket Changes Please note that if the new tickets are more expensive when the client requests a change of travel plan, then the client will have to pay the difference. This agreement will be in place for all tickets valid to travel on, or after, Tuesday 17 March.
Therefore, we have relaxed the usual timeframes required for submitting refund requests. The current requirement for refund submissions is that your clients must submit tickets for refund to your agency no later than 28 days from the expiry date of the ticket. Your agency should then ensure that the refund application is submitted during the same accounting period. As from 27 March, clients have up to 56 days from the expiry date of the ticket, to send their refund requests to you, enclosing documentary evidence such as a dated refund form/letter, confirming the date the request has been sent to your agency. Refund requests sent by travel agents to TARS will continue to be accepted for up to 2 months from the date the refund was received at your agency. This arrangement will continue until further notice.
As a result, it has become extremely difficult for ticket holders, wishing to apply for a refund, to return them to the place of purchase. For this reason, TOCs have agreed that travel agents can accept refunds upon receipt of an image of a destroyed (cut in half) ticket. If you wish to accept an image of a destroyed ticket, then please ensure that you advise your clients not to dispose of the ticket until you have confirmed that you have a clear and eligible copy of the ticket, enabling you to process the refund. This arrangement will continue until further notice.
As a result, travel agents using the Evolvi Auto Refund system will be permitted to process all coronavirus related refunds (as per the instructions above) without having to charge any admin fee. This means it will no longer be necessary for travel agents to send their coronavirus related refunds to TARS if they have access to Auto Refunds, as the system is now permitted to process admin fee free refunds. This arrangement will continue until further notice. Where travel agents do not have access to the Auto Refund system, they can continue to send their refund requests TARS for processing, at; TARS
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