agents welcome drop of saturday night rule

AGENTS have welcomed British Airways’ decision to ditch the overnight-stay rule on short-haul fares, claiming it will make back-to-back ticketing redundant.

The airline has ditched the rule in an overhaul of European fares that has also seen prices slashed by up to 80% on 42 routes in a bid to win back customers from budget carriers.

Back-to-back tickets – where two return tickets are bought, but only one leg of each is actually used – are favoured by business travellers who want to get a cheap midweek fare but only do so if they stay at their destination on a Saturday night.

Chris Morris, managing director of Stoke-on-Trent-based Wayte Bros, said the move will simplify agents’ jobs.

He said: “The Saturday-night rule has always been hard to explain to clients and has led to the rise of back-to-back ticketing, which is expensive and time consuming.”

Bromley-based Invicta Travel managing director Peter Gregory said: “The new structure is much more straightforward. Back-to-back ticketing is a hindrance.”

ABTA aviation board director Sandy MacPherson said the move would not hit agents’ revenues because of BA’s decision to scrap commission in favour of sector payments. Under the new structure, a midweek return flight to Paris starts at £69, instead of £298. Passengers will also be able to mix ticket classes to get the cheapest fare.

BA head of UK and Ireland sales Tiffany Hall said the fare structure would enable agents to offer a wider array of products to customers.

She also hinted that the airline is planning to launch a high-profile advertising campaign to market the fares against low-cost carriers.

EasyJet and Ryanair were both unimpressed. An EasyJet spokesman said: “You can only have a low-cost fare if you have a low-cost model and BA certainly hasn’t got that.”