London - A retired couple were charged £2 000 (about R44 000) to amend the dates of budget flights they bought online for just £143 (about R3 000) each.
Brian and Audrey Kay were travelling to Australia and New Zealand for a cruise to celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary, and paid £286 for a pair of Air New Zealand return tickets from Sydney to Auckland via British website CheapOair.
The next day, Mr Kay, 84, realised they had booked the wrong date. He contacted the London-based agency, and was charged £1 049 to amend the flight – six times more than the airline charges to make changes.
Unfamiliar with the rules because the couple normally use a travel agent, the retired chief executive paid up, and along with his 80-year-old wife flew out to begin their holiday.
But on arrival in Sydney, they discovered their passports had apparently been stolen, and the delay in obtaining replacements meant they had to amend the date again. This time, their daughter-in-law contacted CheapOair, which charged her a further £950, bringing the total cost for the two amendments to £1 999.
Challenged by the Kays’ son, Richard, to justify the astronomical fees, CheapOair’s customer advisers said they were referring the matter to their billing department for “clarity”, but failed to respond further.
But after being contacted by reporters on behalf of the Kays, CheapOair blamed human error for both charges and reimbursed the couple £1 608. heapOair said it had refunded the charges levied in full.
The website could be investigated by trading standards officials as leading travel industry figures branded its behaviour “utterly unacceptable”.
Richard Kay, 54, on Wednesday accused CheapOair of “disgraceful behaviour” and “exploitation of the worst kind”.
The businessman said: “I feel CheapOair are taking advantage of two old people and their ignorance in travel matters.”
Brian Kay, of Mawdesley, Lancashire, had gone to the website to buy flights between Australia and New Zealand. But after realising he hadn’t left sufficient time to get to the airport, he contacted them to amend the date and was charged £1 049. Air NZ says its usual fee for changing bookings on that route is £80 per person.
After their passports were taken on arrival at Sydney, the couple were supplied with temporary documents by the British consulate, but the length of their stay in New Zealand meant they would need new passports in Auckland. That meant the date of the return flight had to be changed again.
CheapOair, which is based in Chiswick, West London, declined to say how a similar “human error” could have been made twice. It said: “CheapOair has apologised directly to Mr and Mrs Kay’s son.”
The Association of British Travel Agents branded the fees “utterly unacceptable”, saying CheapOair should have passed on only the airline’s bill plus a “reasonable” administration fee.
Daily Mail