It’s no surprise that airlines don’t make it easy for you to change your flights, but the fees quoted to one Jetstar customer for changing the names on flight tickets are just outrageous.
To change the names on two cheap flights to Bali from Australia would cost more than one grand, according to a story published by Business Insider Australia—which failed to disclose which airport in Australia the tickets were from.
A Jetstar passenger who booked sale flights to Denpasar for AUD121 roundtrip last October wanted to give his tickets to someone else when his friends cancelled their trip, but was told by Jetstar customer service that it would be AUD1,184 to change names on tickets for two people.
But the funny part is, tickets booked today for the same flights would cost AUD550 each, so it would be cheaper just to buy new tickets, according to Business Insider.
Why so much to change the names on the tix? Apparently with Jetstar, name changes are allowed, but customers in that event need to foot the bill for a change fee and fare difference—which happens to be an astronomically disproportionate amount of money.
“This is a common and long-standing practice across the industry, which ensures there is no incentive for people to buy up sale fares with the intent of selling them on at a higher price closer to the date of travel,” explained a Jetstar rep to Business Insider. And apparently Virgin and Tiger Airlines have similar policies in place.
Here’s a screenshot of the chat Business Insider obtained from the bewildered customer who just wanted someone else to fly on his cheap tickets:
![](https://cdn.coconuts.co/public/field/image/jetstar_live_chat.jpg)
Moral of the story? If you buy sale tickets and want to change, you’re probably just better off buying new tickets.