TICKET TROUBLES

A SUPPOSEDLY exciting holiday trip to Phuket turned to disappointment when a family of five were prevented from boarding their flight due to the shortened spelling of their names on their flight tickets.

Mohamad Affan Mohamad Nassruddin, 22, said that they bought their round-trip tickets from Penang to Phuket online via Expedia thinking that it would cost them less and save them from all the trouble to travel to the ticket outlets.

However they ended up spending more due to the problem.

“The details, including our names, shown on the Malaysia Airlines apps were all correct, however, when we printed out the itinerary, our first names were shortened to six letters.

“My name for instance, was written as Mohamad Nassruddin/Mohama, while my sister’s, Nur Alyana, was written as Mohamad Nassruddin/ Nuraly.

“The shortened spelling was also shown on our tickets. Due to the difference in the spelling of our names on the tickets and passport, we were denied from boarding our flight that day,” said Affan.

Affan added that they were forced to drive all the way from the Penang International Airport (PIA) to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) that same day and buy new round-trip tickets to Phuket.

“Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) staff explained that changes can be made only if the spelling error involved not more than three letters, meanwhile Expedia’s customer support, when contacted, told us that the changes can only be made within 12 to 24 hours.

“We were forced to buy new tickets, which of course, cost us more now as compared to earlier purchase online. Our only hope is that we can get a refund and compensation for our losses and all the trouble we had to go through.” said Affan.