I booked flights from London to Sydney using the online agent Travel Trolley and, stupidly, put in a typo in my surname.
I alerted it within five minutes and after a number of unhelpful phone calls (a rep told me to “Google it” when I asked how to complain about the service) it wanted £175 to amend my name on the booking.
The official Air China policy on this is £80 and Travel Trolley is refusing to explain why it has added £95 on top of this when the tickets haven’t even been issued yet. When I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was told they were on leave for a week.
This fee is a third of the price of the tickets and I will struggle to pay it.
RM, London
A couple of years ago a passenger changed his name by deed poll because it was cheaper than the fee to amend an error on his flight booking.
While some airlines will make a change for free, others charge more than £200. A few insist you buy a new ticket and, as you’ve found, if you use a third-party travel agent there’s yet another charge on top.
Travel Trolley says the total is £110, not £175, and that £80 is levied by the airline and £30 to cover its own costs.
And what are these costs? According to a spokesman, passengers who want to amend a name have to send a copy of their passport, which is verified and forwarded to the airline. The airline’s trade support desk has to give permission for the change and has to establish the airline’s charges.
“It may seem merely a name change, but the entire procedure consumes well over five minutes,” he says.
Five minutes? Money well earned.
However, the fees are on the terms and conditions so it pays to make sure that you check and recheck all the information on a booking.
If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number.
