An Aussie family were told it would cost them $800 to change the name on a plane ticket so they could travel together for an important footy match.
Abby Woodruff and her family wanted fly from Melbourne to Brisbane this weekend to cheer on their beloved Carlton in a must-win AFL elimination final against the Brisbane Lions at The Gabba.
The diehard Blues fans found out at the last minute that Ms Woodruff’s father wouldn’t be able to make the trip.
The family decided to take their eight-year-old daughter instead.
Ms Woodruff’s husband Kade called Jetstar to make the change, only to discover the simple request would cost a hefty amount.
The couple had expected to pay a fee for the change but were shocked by how much they would have to fork out.
‘When they said $800, we were gobsmacked,’ Ms Woodruff told Yahoo.
The couple considered booking another ticket instead, but found it was going to cost them a whopping $1,250.
Ms Woodruff’s (pictured left) husband Kade (pictured right) called Jetstar to make the change only to discover the simple request was going to cost them the hefty amount
‘That wasn’t really an option,’ she explained.
Ms Woodruff said they had already paid $550 for the seat that was booked for her father.
She uploaded a post to Facebook to reveal how much the pair would have to pay, where Aussies were quick to express their fury.
‘How can they justify that much?’ one person wrote.
‘Outrageous,’ another person wrote.
Others said they faced a similar situation when they tried to rebook a ticket under the name of a different passenger.
‘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 rebuy the ticket under a different name,’ one person wrote.
A Jetstar spokesman told Daily Mail Australia they didn’t charge the extra amount to change the name of the ticket.
‘After speaking with Mr Woodruff to get a better understanding of the family’s specific circumstances, on compassionate grounds we have transferred their grandfather’s fare into the name of another passenger,’ the spokesman said.
Jetstar did not charge the extra amount to change the name of the ticket on compassionate grounds (stock image)
Daily Mail Australia understands the process of transferring the booking name to someone else incurs a changing fee.
The fee also includes a fare difference, which is the difference between the original price and the advertised fare, for the same flight when the request to change the name is made.
The purpose of the policy is to prevent customers from purchasing cheaper tickets and selling them at a higher price.
The cost of changing a passenger’s name on a ticket is specified in Jetstar’s terms and conditions.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk