A young Australian is urgently warning travellers to Europe to pay an extra fee for their plane seats if they want a guaranteed spot.
Tiah Slattery, An Australian resident in the UK has warned visitors to the continent to pay extra airfare to avoid “chaotic” disruptions to their travels.
The expat was stranded at Tirana airport after buying a $575 ticket on a budget airline and being kicked off an overbooked flight during the summer travel season.
“I have one piece of advice: if you’re going to Europe this summer, pay for a seat. I never do that, I never have unless I’m desperate,” Tiah said in a video.
“But it’s the only way to guarantee a flight if the flight is overbooked, and I’ve never had an overbooked flight, but I’ve had two this summer alone.”
When booking her trip, Tiah refused to pay an optional £25 ($48) fee to secure a seat, leaving her stranded in the sweltering airport.
The Australian was on a waiting list with 11 other people for a one-way flight and felt “desperate” when he learned the next available flight would not leave for another month.
Tiah was told that the airline’s terms and conditions had recently changed and that passengers can now lose their place on an overbooked flight if they fail to pay.
Tiah Slattery, an Australian living in the UK, has warned visitors to the continent to pay extra airfare to avoid “chaotic” disruptions to their travels.
The Australian, who declined to name or shame the airline or deal with its “grumpy” social media team, said local airport staff had told her there had been overbooked flights throughout the summer.
And thousands of travellers shared Tiah’s outrage, saying the same thing had happened to them, especially on flights across Europe.
“1,000 percent. I went on a trip with a friend and I booked a seat and she didn’t, they reduced the size of the plane and the only people on it had paid for a seat,” said one.
Travellers insisted that although it is a “scandalous” practice, it is perfectly legal for airlines to overbook flights as 10 per cent of people often do not show up.
Many accused budget airlines Ryan Air and Wizz Air of engaging in an “infuriating” practice that was unfair to customers who had bought a ticket, but others said it was not just the cheaper airlines that were guilty of constantly overbooking flights.
“It’s common practice for many airlines, unfortunately,” one said.
People who flew with Turkish Airlines and Air Canada said they had also experienced the “insane” practice of missing a flight due to overbooking.
“That’s why I check in exactly 24 hours in advance,” one woman said.
But Tiah, who had also checked in early, said it made no difference: “Unless you buy a seat, it’s not guaranteed – if the flight is overbooked, people who have bought a seat get priority.”
