Chinese online travel giant Ctrip caught in stolen miles scandal

World Today

Ctrip.com, China’s largest travel website, is caught in another ticket controversy after a consumer complained that he was told that his ticket was invalid when he sought to board his flight.

A passenger surnamed Fu, who bought a ticket via Ctrip.com, was not allowed to board his Japan Airlines flight at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on January 7. The airlines told him that his ticket had been purchased by using another individual’s air miles.

When Fu contacted Ctrip’s customer service department, he was told that there was nothing abnormal about his ticket. In fact, the company then helped him to buy another ticket, which was also invalid.

As investigators swooped in, at one point of time, Fu was almost detained by local police for fraud.

Further investigations showed that the individual whose air miles had been used had reported that his reserve miles had been either stolen or that someone had sold them illegally.

Responding to the complaint, Ctrip on Monday claimed that one of its suppliers had illegally exchanged air miles for tickets, adding that it has ceased its cooperation with the supplier.

The company also issued a formal apology to Fu, offering him compensation to the tune of three times the value of his flight ticket and a reimbursement of his telephone bills.

In September last year, a man surnamed Li booked two return tickets between Shanghai and Singapore through Ctrip. One of those tickets was later found to have been issued in exchange for 35,000 Air Canada air miles belonging to another Chinese man.

Last week, nine Chinese airlines ended their affiliation with Qunar.com, one of the country’s big online travel agencies, following complaints about ticketing and refund issues.

Story by CCTV News