Devastated husband pays $600 for airline tickets and gets nasty surprise at airport
A couple from Ottowa, Canada paid $600 for tickets to Fort Lauderdale only to turn up at the airport to find there was no booking.
It is the ultimate scam. A couple from Ottawa, Canada paid $600 for two plane tickets - but the flight didn’t exist.
The tickets were booked online with an ultra-low-cost airline called Flair Airlines. Jamie Christensen and his wife were flying from Ottawa, Canada to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
A day before their scheduled take off, his phone pinged with the usual reminder to check in.
When he logged onto the site, he received an error message.
“It assured us on the email and on the website that if we’re experiencing any technical difficulties, not to worry about it we would be able to check in at the airport”. Christensen told CBC. This does happen from time to time.
The next morning, the couple duly got up extremely early for their flight to Ottawa. They arrived at Ottawa airport at 5 am.
It was only then that they realised something was wrong.
“It was just surreal," Christensen said. “It’s kind of like going into a store and you know, buying a television and then you go in to pick it up and they say ‘no sorry, there’s no TV here’.
Totally shocked, they called an agent and were, of course, told to call someone else.
They expected to be offered another flight or perhaps a refund but nothing was forthcoming.
“There was like no help whatsoever for our situation and we were pretty much left to fend for ourselves to find our way down there. It was very strange”.
Christensen remained remarkably calm, while others may have not been as composed, not least, because it was 5am!
The couple did manage to eventually depart later that day after re-booking on another airline.
Obviously, the cost was considerably higher than their previously-booked, low-cost flights. They now also had layovers which meant they were arriving much later than originally planned.
As we would all do, the couple made a formal complaint and asked for a refund. Customer support incredibly, initially told them that they didn’t qualify for one because they were never charged. This was extraordinary, as they had a receipt and a credit card receipt, showing otherwise.
It took the couple over two months to finally be refunded but they didn’t receive any compensation for the extra flights they had to re-book.
The airline offered a paltry apology, saying they were sorry “for any inconvenience experienced”.
“The vast majority of Flair Airlines customers have had a great experience with Flair, but a mistake was made in this case”, read an emailed statement from an unnamed spokesperson.
Flair’s reputation is already in disrepute. According to the Canadian Transport Agency (CTA), it is the worst airline in dealing with passenger complaints. This year, they’ve had 20.9 complaints for every 100 Flair flights.
