Airlines

General guidance: Best practice for avoiding and managing chargebacks.

Set up email chargeback alerts so you never miss a notification.

• Using a shared inbox, e.g. disputes@yourcompany.com could help to avoid delays during staff absences.
• Whitelist the email address elavondisputes@elavon.com to make sure our messages reach you and check spam folders regularly.

Train staff on chargebacks, so frontline teams understand how disputes work and feel confident in knowing how to spot risks. Process refunds correctly always refund the original card used. Don’t use cash, bank transfer, or a different card.

Reply on time to all chargebacks. Never miss the “Respond By” date – especially around holidays or busy periods. Avoid additional refunds once a chargeback is issued. Accept the case or provide a full defence, but make sure you don’t double-pay. Keep your merchant details updated, including trading names and addresses, to avoid disputes due to confusion or mismatched info.

Provide clear, disclosed Terms & Conditions and refund policies.

• Face-to-face: include on receipt or get signed consent.
• Mail order/telephone order (MOTO): send terms by email and get written confirmation.
• E-commerce: use clear click-to-accept boxes with visible terms and refund info.

Avoid links or cloud-based files when submitting evidence. Use PDFs, images or text files only. Prepare standard response packages with Ts & Cs, refund policies, screenshots, and user guides to make defending cases easier.

Fraud prevention

Use secure transaction methods:

• Chip & PIN or contactless for in-person.
• 3D Secure for online.
• Avoid manual card entry unless absolutely necessary.

Train staff to spot unusual behaviour, especially attempts to distract during payment or enter details manually.

Disable manual entry if not needed for MOTO transactions and switch instead to secure pay-by-link methods where possible. Use fraud filters and Address Verification Service (AVS)/Network Access Control (NAC) checks. If the check fails, consider declining the payment.

Always link flight details to the payment in your systems for easy reference and look out for unusual bookings, such as those with mismatched cardholder/ passenger names. Explain baggage fees clearly and link them to tickets where possible to defend against double-charge claims. Use Code 10 to request voice authorisation if a transaction feels suspicious.

Authorisation issues

Authorisation issues Don’t force transactions if the card is declined. Make sure you follow prompts carefully: if a voice referral is requested, call the number provided. Don’t treat it as a PIN request.

Use authorisation codes only when issued by the system, never accept authorisation codes from customers. Use authorisation codes only once and don’t reuse or reverse codes after a transaction has been completed.

Avoid splitting transactions to bypass limits — this can trigger disputes. Avoid offline transactions where possible. If using inflight systems, close batches promptly after landing.

Processing errors

Always use the correct refund method, onto the same payment card. 

• “Void” or “Reversal” for open batch transactions.
• Full refund for closed batch issues.
• Use the same currency chosen by the customer and display the conversion rate clearly at the point of sale.

Monitor for duplicate transactions using Elavon Connect and issue prompt refunds if found. Respond with full documentation for duplicate charges or “paid by other means” claims — invoices, receipts, and system logs.

Customer disputes

Keep a standard document pack ready for disputes, containing booking terms, refund policy, signed agreements, and website screenshots. Keep a record of all complaints, resolutions and customer correspondence — especially for claims like “service not as described”. Provide full evidence of any resolution steps taken.