Flightcatchers trying to charge me £250 to cancel my flight.

Twia

I basically made a silly mistake of buying from a third party company since I was in a rush. Checked skyscanner and bought a flight ticket worth around £600 from flightcatchers, I missed my middle name when I was entering my details since they only asked for first and last name. 

Emailed to ask if I could change my name to include my middle name and they said the airline does not allow this. I need to cancel my booking and I will be charged £250 for this. I have checked with the airline and it's true they don't allow name change but does not charge anywhere near £250 to cancel a ticket. 

I asked flightcatchers to show me their T&C regarding cancellation fees and they showed me a screencap of these texts:


Basically said since I'm cancelling my ticket due to my incorrect name, cancellation charge applies and that would be £250. This feels like a scam especially since they don't have any written amount for cancellation fee on their website.

Any suggestions on what I can do? I paid with a credit card if that makes any difference. Thanks for reading!

onashoestring

Are you sure that you need your middle name to fly with the airline ? First and last name is all that is usually required . 

brianposter

It is unusual for airlines to require middle names and I would be inclined to expect compensation if I were refused boarding when a middle name had not been asked for.

If an airline wants the full name as it appears on a passport that is what they should ask for.

TadleyBaggie

I’ve only ever used my first name and surname when booking tickets, never had a problem. 

JGB1955

Why on earth would you want to add your middle name?  I certainly wouldn't - mainly because it's the same as my city of conception - my parents were ahead of the Beckhams!

comeandgo

I never use my husband’s middle names, he has far too many and never enough room for them.  We have never had any problems in the 40 odd years of flying.

Twia

Hi all, thanks for the responses!

To add to the questions regarding my middle name, it appears on my passport and they've mentioned my name on my flight ticket should be how they appear on my passport. And tbh I'm too scared to risk not having my exact name as it appears on the passport given the amount of time and cost I will spend for PCR tests and quarantine hotel arrangement.

comeandgo

Once again, my husband has his middle names on his passport but never on flight tickets.

comeandgo

Is this flight catchers or your airline who are giving this advice?

JGB1955

Twia said:

Hi all, thanks for the responses!

To add to the questions regarding my middle name, it appears on my passport and they've mentioned my name on my flight ticket should be how they appear on my passport. And tbh I'm too scared to risk not having my exact name as it appears on the passport given the amount of time and cost I will spend for PCR tests and quarantine hotel arrangement.

You're massively overthinking this.  You didn't 'miss' your middle name - they didn't ask for it (and didn't have a crystal ball either).

Alan_Bowen

You simply do not need to use your middle name, so long as your first and last are correct, sit down and stop worrying. And as others have suggested time and time again, by all means, use comparison sites to compare fares but avoid using the agents suggested, this agent is in Pakistan!