Cooling Off Period?

I just realized I had 10 days ago bought an airline ticket in the wrong direction, in that I need to go from A to B but bought B to A by mistake messing up my return also - what remedy do I have for this genuine mistake?
(I bought in the cheapest most restrictive class known to man and call the airline and they basically said I can get 40% of the ticket price back but I think this isn't enough... Ideas?

{mcuth: now moved to the Other Airlines forum}

[Decker]

How did you pay? Via a web site? From what country?

Via Switch, on the Website in the UK.

I once booked for the wrong day with EazyJet - 4 tickets too - all the could do was cancel, and refund the tax.

I guess unless youuse this carrier a lot then you are going to be scuppered?

Which airline is it? Do you have any sort of loyalty card with them or previous bookings?

[Bazz]

Would have thought 40% was a pretty good return if the ticket is as restricted as you say it is. Be sure to let us know if you find away around it.

Always worth reading the confirmation before pressing GO! I've done it before, sometimes had to repay, sometimes it worked in my favour (like arriving on the wrong day at EWR with a flexible PE ticket to an overbooked flight and being upgraded!).

In your case, 40% is a good offer, take it and promise yourself that you'll double check next time.

[mcmbenjamin]

Hmm. Maybe a long shot but possible upgrade the booking class and switch dates.

Felt odd posting about another company on a Virgin Forum but ultimately it is a genuine query about air travel so I guess I am okay.

Held: 25 Quid "Admin Charge" per passenger for each "Cancellation" and you get the rest of any Taxes Paid back - My ticket was with BMI and total cost for two people was about 110 Quid, so just cause I made a stupid mistake I only get back 44 Quid in total therefore leaving me out of pocket of 66 Quid - this for a MOST restricted ticket flying within the UK, all because of a genuine human error not detected till 12 days later...

Conclusion: Don't make a mistake when booking your ticket like booking B - A when you really want A - B and worse, if booking in the lowest fare classes, I was lucky that I even got anything back I guess for a genuine and albeit silly error, I will fight it though as I think this is ridiculous in that genuine mistakes do happen and for example if I bought the wrong thing from a shop I can cite a whole myriad of Statuory Aids that will secure me the full purchase price but in the unfathomable chance that you make a wrong choice when booking an airline, no matter how genuine your mistake it, you're pretty much screwed!

Originally posted by kmhtkmhtkmht
Felt odd posting about another company on a Virgin Forum but ultimately it is a genuine query about air travel so I guess I am okay.

It's fine, this place is about travel too - hence the Travel, Other Airlines, Hotels & Cards section. What I may well do tonight is move this thread to the "Other Airlines" forum.

I will fight it though as I think this is ridiculous in that genuine mistakes do happen and for example if I bought the wrong thing from a shop I can cite a whole myriad of Statuory Aids that will secure me the full purchase price but in the unfathomable chance that you make a wrong choice when booking an airline, no matter how genuine your mistake it, you're pretty much screwed!

Good luck with that, but I think you'll find that your statutory rights are extremely limited in the area of "genuine and albeit silly" errors. Statutory rights will protect you in the event of purchasing goods that are faulty, unsafe or not fit for purpose - they don't protect the consumer from making mistakes. That said, in practice, most decent shops will allow mistakenly purchased goods to be exchanged as a measure of their customer service/goodwill.

Caveat Emptor!

Cheers

Michael