A couple were forced to rebook an airline ticket at the check-in counter over a seemingly small error—a nickname used to book a boarding pass.
The rebooking cost an additional $4,800, according to Business Insider. Phil and Kate were travelling from Brisbane to London for a month-long vacation in Europe last July. Phil arranged the tickets for his wife and himself. However, the name on his wife’s passport is Katherine and he bought a ticket for a Kate.
Phil bought the tickets through a third-party website called StudentUniverse, with the itinerary including two different airlines. The couple was scheduled to fly with Virgin Australia from Brisbane to Melbourne, then with Qatar Airways from Melbourne to London via Doha, Qatar. The problem emerged before they reached the security checkpoint in Brisbane, according to Nine Network.
StudentUniverse explained to the couple that they had to cancel Kate’s ticket and rebook it. They would only receive a partial refund and pay the difference out of pocket. The ticket was now $4,700, nearly the combined cost of their original tickets. The pair had little choice as they were already standing in the airport. Phil admitted that the error was his fault, but explained to Nine that he felt exploited:
“They didn’t have time – that was their reasoning – to issue a name change on the ticket. But they had time to sell us a new ticket. They’ve just taken advantage of the entire situation, particularly peak travel season, and time was of the essence.”
It’s vital for a passenger’s name to match between ticket and passport, especially on international trips where visas and different government agencies are involved. However, it’s not justification for all but demanding passengers pay thousands of dollars to correct an error. If the couple had more time, a significantly smaller administrative fee would have been enough to fix the problem.