On Monday Gary wrote about a Canadian man who booked a mistake fare for he and his girlfriend, but they have since broken up. The aspect that has turned this into a story is that he's now looking for a replacement travel companion with the same name as his ex. Free travel, no joke. So…
Continue reading: Will The Real Elizabeth Gallagher Please Stand Up?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
@Ben and everyone else, a question that I know will seem silly/elementary but I think has real merit:
Why aren't airline tickets transferable?
It seems to me that if I purchase two airline tickets and my companion can't go at the last minute, I should be able to sub in someone else to take his/her place.
I get that it is, of course, a huge revenue stream for the airline, but even if they charged a $150 fee, it could still be worth it.
Hotel reservations can be (mostly) transferable. If I buy a sweater and don't like it, I can give it to a friend. Why can't airline tickets act more like other fungible goods?
A similar experience happened to me back in 2006. I was dumped but my ex was nice & adult enough to at least pay for the cancellation fees of our trip. All ended well. I've moved on.
As for the Canadian guy, he did state in an interview that he thinks "she's an incredible person and remains a great friend."
I wish him the best too but I'd think anyone would rather be with family & close friends during the holidays/new year rather than be with a stranger.
When I lived in Beijing, me and my girlfriend would travel home to see my parents. This would be the 2nd time she would meet my parents.
We booked flights Shanghai - Paris for October because we would move to Shanghai over the summer.
This would be my first time on the A380. I love flying and it took me way too long to finally sit on this megaplane. *super excited* ofcourse.
The whole move to SH didnt go as planned as she never came. 3 months later we were scheduled to fly to Paris. Not together anymore but as 'friends' you know how that goes...
Most painful flight I ever had. As she never gave me a real explanation to why she broke up, I saw a 10 hour flight in a closed tube as the perfect location to finally ask the big reason. I ended up being starred at by 200 chinese people because the rude white boy foreigner made this little chinese girl cry...
Not fun. Landed in Paris, seperated our ways.
Going back to SH we did not sit next to eachother. good choice!
Looks like one showed up....
Travis - Brilliantly played like the Devils advocate here! Damn I missed this post as I was travelling then 🙁
The first possibility you mention where the ex can cancel the tickets yes it's on. But the second possibility listed by you where you say what happens if more than one Elizabeth Gallagher shows up at the airport on the day of departure? Well once the guy has identified the new girl (which he has now ) he will update the new Elizabeth Gallagher's passport details on the reservation. This would ensure that only *this* girl will be able to check in!!