An Australian family was told it would cost them $800 to change the names on a plane ticket so they could travel together to a major soccer match.
Abby Woodruff and her family planned to fly from Melbourne to Brisbane this weekend to support their beloved Carlton in a must-win AFL elimination final against the Brisbane Lions at The Gabba.
The die-hard blues fans found out at the last minute that Woodruff’s father could not come along.
The family decided to take their eight-year-old daughter with them instead.
Mrs Woodruff’s husband, Kade, called Jetstar to make the change, only to discover that the request alone would cost a significant amount of money.
The couple had expected to have to pay some amount for the change, but they were shocked when they saw how much they ended up paying.
“When they said it was $800, we were stunned,” Ms. Woodruff said Yeah.
The couple considered booking another ticket, but that would have cost them a whopping $1,250.
Mrs Woodruff’s (pictured left) husband Kade (pictured right) called Jetstar to make the change, only to find that the simple request would cost them the hefty sum
“That wasn’t really an option,” she explained.
Mrs. Woodruff said they had already paid $550 for the seat reserved for her father.
She posted a message on Facebook revealing how much the couple would have to pay, prompting anger from Australians.
“How can they justify that?” someone wrote.
“Scandalous,” wrote someone else.
Others said they found themselves in a similar situation when they tried to rebook a ticket under another passenger’s name.
“I had the same problem last year. They said they would cancel the ticket and refund me, but the flight was full so they couldn’t re-purchase the ticket under a different name,” one person wrote.
A Jetstar spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia they did not charge any additional fees for changing the name on the ticket.
“After speaking with Mr. Woodruff to better understand the family’s specific circumstances, we compassionately transferred their grandfather’s fare to another passenger,” the spokesperson said.
Jetstar has compassionately waived any additional charges for changing the name on the ticket (stock image)
Daily Mail Australia understands that there is a change fee for transferring the booking name to someone else.
The compensation also includes a fare difference. This is the difference between the original price and the advertised fare for the same flight, when the name change request is made.
The aim of the policy is to prevent customers from buying cheaper tickets and selling them at a higher price.
The fees for changing the passenger name on a ticket are stated in Jetstar’s terms and conditions.