Jazeera Airways defends policy on online booking

Dubai: Kuwaiti budget carrier Jazeera Airways has defended its new policy of not letting people travel on India routes if their online bookings are not made using their own credit cards.

Several people have complained that their relatives were barred from boarding aircraft as credit card payment was not made by the ticket holders themselves.

The airline insists that bookings on a credit card for India flights must be made by the traveller or that person has to be one of the passengers in case of multiple ticket purchases.

Jazeera Airways spokes-man Fawaz Al Sirri said the new rule came in response to fraudulent credit card transactions on India routes and was introduced in the beginning of this year.

One man complained the airline is "not informing people" about the new rule and a ticket he had bought for his son was not accepted by the airline. He said his son flying from Delhi to Dubai was "harassed" at the airport and the ground staff "cancelled his ticket on the spot."

Prior information

Al Sirri rejected the claim, saying people are adequately informed about the payment policy when they make bookings online.

Anu Ralhan Verma, who works for a bank, demanded that the airline should return the money if it does not allow a passenger to travel. However, she admitted that she booked a ticket for a family member despite pop-ups on the website advising her not to proceed.

The airline insists it cannot make exceptions to the rule.

"This policy is for protection of our passengers. If we make exceptions, then there is no point in having a policy," Al Sirri said.

To check how the system works, Gulf News tried to make bookings for flights to India and immediately came up against a pop-up window warning: "Please do not continue with this online booking if the credit card holder is not travelling. The credit card holder must be a member of the travelling group and produce credit-card at check-in for verification."

There was no such warning for destinations outside India.