Northwest collects extra fees from JAL passengers by mistake

Wednesday 22nd October, 04:46 AM JST

TOKYO —

The government said Tuesday that Northwest Airlines collected fuel surcharges by mistake from passengers who used points from its mileage program to take domestic flights with alliance partner Japan Airlines.

There were 2,582 such cases totaling some 13.9 million yen between Sept 15 and Oct 10, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

A glitch occurred in the ticket booking and issuing program when Northwest started collecting fuel surcharges from passengers using mileage points for international flights on Sept 15, according to the ministry.

The U.S. airline mistakenly collected $50 per person for round trips from JAL passengers who took domestic flights using points from Northwest’s mileage program.

The ministry instructed Northwest to refund the surcharges and take measures to avoid a recurrence of similar problems.

Northwest said it will pay back the affected passengers.

JCN

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4 Comments

fatloser at 11:04 AM JST - 22nd October

JAL screwed up AGAIN!!! Last time it was with AC-----AIR Canada!!
electric2004 at 12:38 PM JST - 22nd October

Isn't it strange, that such errors by the companies in most times are negative for the customers?
JPYuki at 01:44 PM JST - 22nd October

I don't think JAL was at fault here. It was Northwest's computer glitch that resulted in the collection of the surcharges. If it wasn't caught, would Northwest have refunded the money?
elbudamexicano at 03:55 PM JST - 23rd October

North Worst? Oops, I meant to say North West, yeah right! It was just a mistake guys, and all of these jet-lagged, dead tired passengers will never even notice the extra $50 they are getting gypped? Nothing from crappy ass North Worst surprises me. It is like the NOVA of airlines in the Pacific Asia Rim!