COVID-19: Airlines accused of providing inaccurate advice that may cause passengers to be prevented from traveling | travel news

[ad_1]

Major airlines have been accused of providing inaccurate information about COVID testing requirements – with the watchdog warning that this could turn passengers off flights.

Mysterious shopping exercise which? Agents for British Airways, EasyJet, Jet2, Ryanair and TUI were often found unable to provide clear, consistent or accurate answers.

If a passenger follows the advice given to him on nearly half of the calls made, he will be denied boarding and will not be able to get a refund.

Posing as travelers, which one? I called each of these airlines three times – and asked the same four questions about test requirements before a trip to mainland Portugal.

At the time the calls were made, passengers needed to be tested, regardless of whether they had been vaccinated or infected previously.

Only PCR tests were accepted for entry, and only children under the age of two were exempted.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s mystery shoppers received incorrect or contradictory advice on seven of the 15 calls they made.

Two airline agents and two Tui agents provided details that would have seen passengers turned away from their flights.

Some representatives have told confidential researchers that testing is not required if they have been vaccinated, and one said that children under 12 are exempt.

Only two of the agents – one from Jet2 and one from Tui – answered all four questions correctly.

In some cases, following the airline’s advice may be enough to board the plane, just to prevent the passenger from entering their destination country.

Please use Chrome browser for an accessible video player

Travel chief welcomes prospect of UK easing restrictions

While the UK is responsible for setting the rules for testing people returning home, it is up to foreign governments to set guidelines for arrivals.

Six agents which one? They spoke to – two from British Airways, two from easyJet, one from Jet2 and one from Ryanair – also said they had never heard of lateral flow tests.

The watchdog is now urging travelers to get travel advice and information about testing requirements from the FCO and not from their airlines.

Which? Rory Poland, Travel Editor, said: “When airlines are responsible for deciding whether or not a passenger can board their flight, it is essential that their staff have a thorough and thorough understanding of the rules. Otherwise, passengers can be left out of their pockets for the full cost of their flight or vacation. If they follow the wrong advice.

“The most reliable place to look for information about travel test requirements to your destination is the FCDO website – here you will find the latest information on entry requirements, traffic light changes and other important information before you travel.”

Please use Chrome browser for an accessible video player

‘Devastatingly expensive’ PCR tests have a ‘significant impact’ on travel

A British Airways spokesperson said: “Our colleagues are trained to notify our customers that they are required to verify that they meet the entry and testing requirements for the country they are visiting. We also provide information in emails and on ba.com.

“While we do not believe the issues raised in the three Who? calls represent the hundreds of thousands we are dealing with, we have reminded colleagues to continue referring clients to gov.uk to avoid unintended confusion.”

An easyJet spokeswoman said: “We constantly review the information we provide our agents with and provide them with ongoing and extensive training, and so we continue to do this to ensure that agents provide accurate and consistent advice to customers.

“However, we always remind clients that it is ultimately their responsibility to ensure they meet entry requirements and will continue to advise clients to check local government requirements prior to departure.”

A Jet2 spokeswoman said: “Our call center teams are dealing with an unprecedented number of inquiries, while simultaneously dealing with the ever-changing travel advice from the UK government, which often comes with little or no notice.

“We would like to thank Who? for bringing this to our attention. Although we provide consistent messaging for our teams to use, in conjunction with regular training, we will take steps to address this feedback.”

A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This is fake news from Who? All COVID-19 travel requirements are fully outlined on the Ryanair website, and emailed to all passengers 24 hours before travel. We do not expect our call center agents to be experts in the multiple COVID travel restrictions, which apply in 40 different countries.”

Toei said: “This research highlights the complexity of frequently changing entry and testing requirements.

“We always strive to provide the best possible service to our customers, and our agents are constantly trained and updated with new information.

“Additional training is provided to support combat-specific inquiries only, and to further assist customers, detailed and current entry requirement information is available on our dedicated COVID Center.”

[ad_2]