How to Avoid $14,000 Airline Ticketing Errors

Even when you do everything right, airline tickets can still contain errors. Here are some ways to suss them out.

Q: My husband and I, and our two children, had frequent flyer tickets booked with Delta to fly on Virgin Australia from Los Angeles to Sydney last summer. We had confirmation numbers, seat assignments, and reconfirmed all tickets two weeks before our flight. When we showed up at the airport on our travel date, Virgin Australia said our teenage daughter did not have a ticket. We tried to resolve the situation with both Virgin Australia at the airport, and with Delta SkyMiles on the phone. We were left with two choices: one, accept a possible solution from Delta, which was that our daughter might be able to get on a later flight that day, and would fly back from Sydney after us, which would cause her to miss our return flight from LA to Massachusetts; two, with a nearly full flight, all Virgin Australia had available was a business-class ticket for $14,578.

Leaving our teenage daughter alone in L.A. was obviously not an option, particularly given that she is a fearful flyer. Canceling the trip, which had a sizable portion that was prepaid and nonrefundable, was also not an option. With the flight about to leave, we did the only thing we could do, which was purchase the last-minute ticket and board the plane.

We contacted Delta, but it is unwilling to reimburse us for the additional ticket we had to purchase. Can you help? – Suzanne N., Weston, MA

A: That is an expensive ticketing error, and one that was clearly not the fault of Suzanne or anyone else in the family. In this case, they did everything right. Not only did they book the tickets correctly, they reconfirmed the reservation more than once, even though it wasn’t required. They also flew to Los Angeles a day early from Massachusetts, because that flight and the flight to Australia were not part of the same itinerary.

I contacted Delta to find out what happened and to ask if it could review the case again. It’s unclear how the problem occurred, but it did acknowledge the error and agreed to reimburse the cost of the extra ticket. Suzanne sent a picture to us of her husband holding the $14,577.90 check with a smile on his face. As a goodwill gesture, Delta also deposited 12,500 miles into each passenger’s account and provided four Sky Club passes. While Suzanne and her family would have preferred an earlier resolution, they are pleased with the final result.

Personally, I was surprised and glad that Delta reconsidered. In general, even if an airline makes an error, if it can find an alternative flight for the passenger, then it doesn’t have to pay compensation. There are some exceptions to this, particularly in the European Union, where airlines must compensate if the reason for a delayed arrival of three or more hours is within their control. Delta initially claimed that it had provided an alternative flight option for Suzanne’s daughter, but when it was time to board the original flight, that was still not clear. And it would have required a teenager to fly alone without prior warning, which can have unintended consequences. When taking all factors into consideration, Delta determined that the reimbursement was warranted.

Once you book flights, the first step is always to review all tickets on a reservation and correct any errors by immediately contacting the airline or booking agency. Next, it’s a good idea to reconfirm, particularly if there are multiple airlines involved or if it’s an international itinerary. Still, that may not be enough. As Suzanne said after this was resolved, “It is important to know that a confirmation number (even when you can use it to access online functions like choosing a seat) is not the same as a ticket number. I now record all ticket numbers after I book flights.” Ticket numbers are discrete, thirteen-digit numbers that should be included on your receipt. Once you have them, check with each airline on your itinerary and ask that it verify your reservation against the ticket numbers. Then, do it again a couple weeks before your departure. It doesn’t guarantee your reservation will be error-free, but it’ll bring you one step closer, and hopefully allow you to start your vacation on time and financially intact.
