Very expensive Flight ticket spelling error

WorldTourist

I booked 2 flights on Thursday from London to Dubai. I booked and received confirmation quickly but did not spot any errors with the booking. I did not see the e-ticket confirmation until much later in the evening, where it said that if there was a spelling error, it had to be changed within office hours on the same day in order for it to not incur a charge. Their offices closed at 6pm and so I missed them as I did not see it in time. I phoned the company straight away the next morning but was unable to get through. I sent them an email and have been told they will charge me GBP 75 to change the spelling error. I argued that if I had booked at 9am, I would have had all day to get this changed with no fee. I was unable to get through to them on the day and therefore am going to be charged, which seems unfair. What if I had booked at 17:55pm and then noticed an error?

Does anyone know if they are legally allowed to charge this fee? I got in touch with them as soon as I could (once their office was open) and notified them of the error under 24hrs later. I thought there was something in the Consumer Rights Act about online purchases, etc?

Any advice is much appreciated. As yet, I have not paid the fee and would dearly like not to!

Caz3121

did you book direct with the airline or with an agency?
If the latter, which agent and what do the T&Cs state about administration fees?
Many airlines give a 24 hour cancellation with full refund so you could start again but this does not apply to flights booked through agents (which is why most people recommend booking flights direct with the airline?

Voyager2002

If you book something on Thursday and are allowed to make changes "on the same day", to me that means you are allowed to make changes on Thursday. First thing on Friday morning is too late.

Gleeful

This is because tickets can only be voided on the same day

The confirmation invoice would have had your name on it, exactly as shown on the e-ticket, so you should have checked this right after booking

WorldTourist

Oh I feel such a fool now. Yes, I booked online though a ticket agency as I was directed there through Momondo. I didn't notice that I had mistyped 2 letters of my fiance's middle name (put them around the wrong way). I was in lectures and then a meeting until after their office closed, so didn't see it until it was too late.

Guess I will just have to suck it up and pay their exorbitant fee 75 quid for 2 letters mistyped :mad::mad::mad::mad:

Caz3121

the general view is middle names do not matter. The check is that the first and surnames must match what is on the passport

WorldTourist

Yes. BA (who are the flight provider) say that we shouldn't have any issues checking in, but they cannot guarantee that a security official will not stop him from flying due to the spelling inaccuracy (this is if they spot it - I spelt Adrain not Adrian). I just don't know if it is worth the risk :'(

Heliflyguy

BA will make a correction of up to 3 characters after the ticket has been issued without a problem all the agent has to do is call BA trade support and reissue the ticket.

£75 is rather a lot to charge but your stuck with the agencies terms.

WorldTourist

The agency is saying that it is an automatic charge and they cannot remove it. Boo!! They also said that they have had loads of people travel with 1 letter spelling errors and never had a problem, but it is up to me to decide if I want to risk it.

I'd hate to be that person who gets a security official that says no. :-(

Caz3121

personally - if it was a first or last name I would pay to change. For a middle name I would risk it (not that I ever put my middle name on a flight ticket even though it appears on my passport)

peachyprice

WorldTourist wrote: »

Yes. BA (who are the flight provider) say that we shouldn't have any issues checking in, but they cannot guarantee that a security official will not stop him from flying due to the spelling inaccuracy (this is if they spot it - I spelt Adrain not Adrian). I just don't know if it is worth the risk :'(

Security officials don't get to look at your passport when leaving the country so I don't know how that would happen. The only people who routinely check passports as BA employees and BA don't print middle names on their boarding passes.

Unless there's a likely hood that your partner will be pulled over by security for additional security checks it's not going to be picked up.