If you refuse to fly money will not be returned
Foreign airlines are not obliged to reimburse the ticket price. This verdict was made by the court of second instance on the appeal of the airline Lufthansa on the decision of the magistrate of the Lyubertsky district of the Moscow region. The professional community regarded this fact as an illustrative example and useful experience.
The point of the case. A certain citizen purchased two Lufthansa tickets from the Russian online agent Internet Travel (the average cost of the flight Moscow - Berlin at a non-refundable fare from the carrier is 3-6 thousand rubles) For some reason, the citizen refused to fly, which notified the agent. She was reimbursed only a fifth of the cost of tickets, motivated by the provisions of the rules of the carrier. The size of the return woman was not satisfied, and she appealed to the magistrate, who decided to return the full cost flight-ticket. In turn, the German air carrier successfully challenged the decision of the judge, who did not take into account the peculiarities of the application of international law on the territory of the Russian Federation.
“The world judge is not obliged to thoroughly understand the nuances of air law, he most likely was guided by the general articles of the Law on Consumer Rights and the Civil Code when making the decision,” said Anton Zverev, Unex’s sales and marketing director.
In turn, on the professional forum TourDom.ru, information appeared that “according to Art. 3 of the Air Code of the Russian Federation, if an international treaty of the Russian Federation establishes other rules than those provided for by this Code, the rules of an international treaty apply.” In addition, any airline operates on the basis of resolutions of the International Association of Air Carriers (IATA). According to Resolution No. 737 “On the refund of the fare”, the refusal of a passenger from transportation is not a mandatory basis for the refund of the ticket price. And, most importantly, the consumer should be familiar with the tariffs. There is a simple rule: the cheaper the ticket, the greater the penalties for refusing to fly.
Therefore, the court of second instance made a completely fair and correct decision. Even if the client could not understand the conditions for the provision of a ticket (in the Internet Travel system it is really difficult), then, paying for the service, he automatically (as part of the offer) agrees to the algorithm of purchase and sale proposed by the seller.
The story with Lufthansa tickets caused a very heated discussion of the professional community. First of all, because the latest bankruptcies in the market literally push the consumer to book tickets, hotels and other components of the holiday. “We must understand that independence means sole responsibility for the decision made,” said Mr. Zverev. Sometimes the desire to save leads to additional expenses. As the case has shown.”
Source: tourexpi.com