Dear Attorney General Blumenthal,
Recently I purchased airline tickets online through Hotmail.inadvertently, I chose a flight departing Hartford at 7:00 PM instead of 7:00 AM. (Swore I chose the morning flight) After contacting Hotmail within 24 hours of this error, I was informed that my flight (booked 6 weeks in advance) would now cost me an additional $150 per person. I understand the ticket is non-refundable, however, I am not asking for a refund, but simply to change the flight from PM to AM. At nealy 60 years old, I do make computer mistakes and had expected Hotwire to make the change without incident and they did not. I then contacted USAir.
I spoke with a US Air Supervisor and was told it's not only an additional $150 more, but there would also be another $59 fee, now totaling $209 per person. This is an outrageous amount to be charged for what my credit card company stated has been a common mistake made online. I simply can not arrive at 1:00 o'clock in the morning when one click of the mouse should have put me there for lunch... Yes, maybe my mistake... But this warrants you attention as other consumers are trapped in the mouse click and go dilemma as well. This could and should have been remedied by just simply allowing the consumer to verify and confirm flight information within 24 hours of booking, giving us the opportunity to make corrections and rectify mistakes, even if charged a small fee. This is not an unreasonable request from the airlines to insure the accuracy of our flight.
We contacted our Discover Card and was told they continuously have issues with airline tickets booked online. They would be happy to dispute the charge, however, we were told, the airline will win and we will be forced into purchasing a new ticket.
With the ease and convenience of computers and technology, the airlines are wrong for charging such an exorbitant amount and that the consumer is seriously being taken advantage of. A simple task, changing the flight time on the same day via the airlines web site would cost them virtually nothing. Also, $209 per person is nearly 35% more than purchasing an entire new one way ticket. So indeed, we are forced to pay for the flight a second time.
I am not expected to pay for a meal a second time at a restaurant if I ordered it incorrectly...
I am not expected to pay for clothing a second time that I exchanged for a different color...
Why am I expected to pay twice for an airline ticket because I (supposedly) clicked PM instead of AM...
I will be contacting the BBB, the media, consumer web sites and agencies to let them know that I have contacted your office with my concerns. Consumers are accustomed to reasonable fees, however, no one should not be forced into purchasing a second airline ticket because the fee to change a flight from AM to PM on the same day cost more than purchase of another airline ticket.
Respectfully
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