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(c) Elliott Publishing.

Biztravel's Solution
Kirby's Korner · June 23, 2000

Something is finally putting its money where the airlines' mouths are.

You won't be surprised to learn it's not the airlines.

Last winter, in response to a year's worth of criticism from passengers and government officials, major U.S. airlines made solemn vows that they would improve passenger service.

One of Ticked.com's resident curmudgeons didn't believe them then, though he later acknowledged that some changes had been made.

Complaints still continue, however, as a glance at many of the recent columns on this Web site indicate. So one online travel agency decided to do something abut the complaints.

Biztravel.com, a site aimed chiefly at small-business travelers, said this week it will pay cold, hard cash for flight delays on five airlines booked through the site. Passengers get a full refund for any flight that arrives more than two hours late or is cancelled on the day of departure, $200 for any flight more than an hour late, and $100 for any flight more than 30 minutes late.

Additional refunds will be given for other hassles encountered during a flight, including reimbursement of up to $200 to buy necessities attributable to lost luggage.

The affected airlines are Air France, American Airlines, British Airways, Continental Airlines, and US Airways. Payment will not be made for delays attributable to mechanical problems.

Biztravel is also guaranteeing its own conduct, promising monetary payments for various types of service problems it inflicts on its customers.

Media coverage of the announcement was overwhelming, resulting in a crash of the site for a short time the day the announcement was made and a doubling of bookings that same day.

As a colleague said to me, "You'd be crazy not to book through Biztravel."

The guarantee obviously raises the bar for other online travel agencies, and it will be interesting to see how they respond.

I expect to see similar pledges from Biztravel competitors, if the competitors follow past practices.

When privacy started to become a major concern among Web users, and federal regulation looked like it might become a reality, the major online retailers all joined one of the organizations promoting privacy policies on Web sites.

When questions of credit card security on the Internet became important, one retailer after another started offering security guarantees.

If, as Biztravel hopes, its sales increase dramatically as a result of its passenger and customer service guarantee, competitors will have no choice but to respond in kind.

The interesting question is whether the airlines will follow suit in dealings with their customers.

I'm not going to hold my breath.

How about you? I'd love to know if your buying habits will change as a result of the Biztravel actions, and if you expect airlines to start paying compensation for their failure to live up to promises. Write me, include your name and your location, and we'll see if we can get a dialog going on the subject.

David Kirby is the editor of Interactive Travel Report. His column appears on Friday. You can reach him at david@ticked.com.