Airlines cashing in on booking mistakes

Airlines are making a profit from passengers' online booking mistakes, according to a new report from air passenger watchdog the Air Transport Users Council (AUC).

Where customers make mistakes, many airlines charge for errors to be corrected and, in some cases, even force passengers to buy a new ticket, without refunding the cost of the original booking.

The AUC is accusing airlines of often causing these booking mistakes by "continually tinkering" with their booking systems.

"We had a problem with somebody whose ticket was bought in a group booking as Harry - the name he was known by," said an AUC spokesman. "He told the airline the name on the passport was Henry and he had to buy another ticket. The carrier made £800 out of that passenger."

The AUC say that complaints about online reservations have doubled over the past three years, and there has been an 11% overall rise in complaints and enquiries, with 415 because of booking problems.

"This included passengers being charged twice for a booking, incorrect names or dates being entered into the booking and general confusion for consumers about the fees airlines charge to change reservations," says the report.

"We felt that the risk of something going wrong was being loaded too much onto passengers. Too many times they were being left out of pocket following problems with bookings."

The top three sources of passenger discontent were cancellations, delays and mishandled baggage.