The common airplane mistake to avoid could cost you up to $3,000 extra while traveling

A Queensland couple were forced to spend thousands of extra dollars on their European holiday after making a simple mistake with their plane tickets.

Phil and Kate were excited to visit family in Britain and travel around Europe for a month, but hit their first roadblock before boarding their flight.

Phil had booked their flights in July last year for what he thought was a good price through a third party travel website called Student Universe.

However, when filling out the details for their cards, he accidentally used his wife’s nickname, Kate, instead of her birth name, Katherine.

The couple flew with Virgin from Brisbane to Melbourne and then from Melbourne to London via Doha with Qatar Airways for a price of $2,400 each, return.

Virgin noticed that the name on Kate’s plane ticket did not match the name on her passport, and told her she would not be able to board the plane without resolving the discrepancy.

The information had to be the same so that it matched the rest of the couple’s documents, including their visas.

While most airlines offer detail changes for a small or administrative fee, third-party websites often charge exorbitant rates for the service.

The couple claimed that Student Universe told them to cancel Kate’s original ticket, of which they received a small refund, and purchase a new ticket with the correct information.

“They didn’t have time, that was their reasoning, to make a name change on the ticket, but they did have time to sell us a new ticket,” Phil said. A current issue.

However, since they now bought a last-minute flight, Kate’s new ticket cost $4,700.

“I begged them on the phone, ‘Please, you can’t do that, all our holiday money will be gone in an instant,'” Kate recalled.

Although Phil has taken responsibility for the mistake, the pair feel as if they have been unfairly undone by Student Universe.

“They just took advantage of the whole situation, especially in peak season and time was of the essence,” he said.

When asked for comment by Daily Mail Australia, a spokesperson for Student Universe said it is “required to adhere to the change and cancellation policies set by the airlines.”

The couple (above) booked the ticket through Student Universe and were told to cancel it and buy a new plane ticket

“In this case, name changes were not allowed, meaning the only option was to cancel and rebook the ticket,” they said.

‘As we were only informed of their error by the customer within three hours of the flight’s departure, this led to further charges being levied by the airline, which could have been avoided by acting earlier.

‘We advise all customers that they should carefully check any errors in the name and notify us immediately.

‘In most cases where an error is noticed on the same day the booking is made, the customer will not be charged any penalties if they wish to cancel and rebook, in accordance with the airline’s standard policy.’