Beware the $2300 travel typo
A simple typing error made when booking an airline ticket to the United States has cost a Christchurch couple more than $2300 to fix.
When Brian Green purchased two airline tickets for about $3000 through MyTrip.com in October to fly to a family wedding in Boston, he had no idea his wife’s first and last name would end up swapped on the ticket.
‘‘I can’t honestly say whether it was my fault and I input the name wrong or it was a glitch, but irrespective I accepted that there may be a charge for a name change … but I thought it would be $100 to $150.’’
Green was shocked to then receive a bill for $2322.40 from the Greek company.
‘‘They’re effectively reselling me a seat I’ve already purchased.’’
Green’s ‘‘honest mistake’’ reveals how easy it is to get into high-cost situations because of online booking agents.
Green said the agency did not tell him there was an issue with his wife’s ticket until three weeks before the flight.
A MyTrip employee, who did not want to be named, said: ‘‘If you enter the wrong passport [number] there is a way for us to actually correct that but if you enter the wrong name, basically we have to follow the rules of the airline when it comes to name change or correction.’’
In an email to Green on Wednesday, MyTrip.com’s travel operations department wrote: ‘‘The amount corresponds to a fine of $250 and $2022.40 fare difference from the airline, as well as $50 as service charge from us.’’
The booking company said on Thursday that it had not yet reissued the ticket, despite Green already footing the $2300 bill.
MyTrip.com billed Green another $30 for the fare difference yesterday, which had gone up in the hours between Green paying for the reissue and the company’s office in the Untied Kingdom paying for the reissued ticket.
Following inquiries, Green said United Airlines was prepared to refund $2022.40 to him. United Airlines would not comment.
Consumer adviser Maggie Edwards said the Greens would have had rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act if they used a New Zealand travel agent to book their tickets, but because MyTrip.com was based in Greece it was ‘‘very much buyer beware’’.
Any legal disputes with MyTrip.com would have to be done through the Athens court system, she said.
She recommended international travellers take care to match their ticket with the name on their passport, get any necessary visas in order in advance, and ensure their passports had more than six months until they expired.