Errors on plane tickets cost air passengers over 10 million GBP

Errors on plane tickets cost air passengers over 10 million GBP annually. According to flight ticket search engine CheapTickets, 60.000 mistakes are made when buying tickets each year. If the personal details on the ticket do not match the data on the passenger's passport or ID, the ticket becomes invalid. Amending this will cost the passenger, as administrative charges are incurred and additional fines are often imposed.

Most common errors on plane tickets

A small number of errors make up the largest percentage of cases. The three errors that occur most often when passengers fill out their personal details when buying a ticket are:

1. Submitting a nickname or calling name rather than the official name (e.g. 'Dave' instead of 'David').
2. Using the husband's name instead or the maiden name.
3. Simple typing errors.

Cost of errors on plane tickets

CheapTickets also calculated how much all of these errors on tickets cost passengers. According to them, the amending of these errors cost air passengers a total of over 10 million GBP (12 million euros) annually, which amounts to an average of 170 pounds per passenger. So these kinds of mistakes apparently occur a lot despite the many pop-ups often built into ticket booking sites, and it's an expensive one to make.

Plane ticket with error not valid

A ticket becomes invalid if it turns out the personal details are incorrect, as tickets have to meet the strict security measures. These measures are usually those of airports, which airlines need to comply with. So when tickets contain incorrect information, airlines are allowed to deny passengers boarding to meet those standards.

But the costs charged for amending these mistakes are often highly disproportionate, and every airline employs different rules. Some airlines charge a fine, while others only ask the passenger to cover the administrative expenses. In any case, paying close attention to exactly what you submit when buying tickets online is key!

Written by: Team Flight-Delayed