ADM – swear word for those in travel. This is like a *fine* to travel agents who make errors in the system. This is imposed by the airlines. So when a travel agent says they cannot do something listen to them as chances are there is a real reason behind it. ADM stands for Agency debit memo. I have some prime examples of ADM’s that I have received myself at Travel247 .
The first one:
Booked a client to fly to Dar es salaam return in a business class ticket. The total fare of the ticket was aprox R11 000. Now as it was a corporate client he needed to change his return date by a day. Now the only seat available was an economy class ticket, I down graded him just to get him home. Once he returned home we were sent an ADM for R642.52 as downgrades are not permitted on this ticket. So the client would have had to stay in DAR until the next available date in business class even though the economy class ticket is cheaper. Crazy really crazy.
Next example:
Had a client that flew to New York from Bloemfontein. Now with SAA, SA airline and SAX you need to book in different classes. I booked the international segment from JHB to New York in the correct segment however an incorrect class from JHB to Bloem. When SAA kindly sent me the ADM they raised the ADM for the whole trip ie all the way from New York to Bloem. This resulted in us recieving an ADM for over R4000. Now just to illustrate how crazy /desperate of the airline it is a fare from Johannesburg to Bloem one way is R930 in full Y class – this is the most expensive fare for a one way to Bloem. So how in the right mind can SAA create an ADM for the whole direction from NYC to BFN.
Lets explain a bit more on the process of ADM’s – ADM’s / ticket auditing is outsourced by the airlines to 3 rd parties such as Zero Octa who audit the tickets classes dates fares and taxes as well as every dot, letter in between to find faults with tickets that have been issued. They then raise the ADM which is deducted from BSP, it is then up to the agency to dispute the amount or reason and try and reverse the ADM. So next time a travel agent says they cannot do something or seem to be stuck in the mud it is due to the big ADM hammer that hangs over our heads.
Let me finish off with one more example on how crazy rules and regulations can be by the airlines. I had a client on a Delta youth ticket, now on this ticket rerouting is not permitted. The client flew: Johannesburg to Atlanta to Miami and on the return they wanted to visit some friends in New York. So their return was booked to fly Miami to New York to Atlanta to Johannesburg. Now they were traveling around and needed to fly home, they found themselves in Atlanta and wanted to change their ticket to fly home from Atlanta without the side trip from Miami to New York and via Atlanta to Johannesburg. On contacting Delta in SA we were advised the passenger had to travel to Miami and fly via New York to use the ticket home. – Let me leave it there as the facts speak for themselves.
