A number of furious Qantas customers have lashed out at the airline claiming they have been charged twice while trying to book a ticket with the carrier.
The passengers, which include frequent flyer travellers, claimed they were slapped with a ‘holding fee’ that is the same price of the ticket.
Many claimed the extra costs meant they were unable to pay their rent, mortgage or groceries among other necessities.
Qantas said it was aware of a ‘small number’ of cases where it appeared customers had been charged twice, but said it was ‘not the case’.
Furious customers have lashed out at Qantas after they were charged twice for their airfare leading to a wave of backlash against the major airline carrier
One Aussie was charged $5,500 after she had already paid the same amount to purchase her ticket to fly over and see her sick father-in-law in the UK.
She said she has been left waiting to be reimbursed claiming the extra charge left her without money to buy food.
‘I haven’t eaten or been able to survive properly since last Sunday. Qantas have charged a holding fee for flights I booked,’ she said.
‘It’s been seven days and the fee should have been returned. This fee is the same as the tickets, which I have paid in full.
‘So they have taken an extra $5,500 out and I’ve had an overdrawn account.
‘I had $300 left to spend on groceries and household items, petrol — things you need to survive. I’ve never experienced this with any other airline.’
Rebecca Lynch claimed she was also forced to pay more for her family’s airfare sharing her story to social media platform X.
‘Qantas, you have double-charged my account for my family’s tickets, $8,400…and left my account near empty with no money for my mortgage repayment and groceries,’ she wrote.
Several travellers said they have previously spent hours on the phone to staff at Qantas trying to get their money back after being charged the ‘holding fee’.
Some said they spent more than two hours on the phone waiting to speak to the airline’s customer service team and were forced to wait for more than a week to receive their funds.
Lynda Shortis who used to be a frequent flyer with the airline said she paid twice for a ticket which she purchased for two separate trips.
She paid twice for tickets in March 2022 after she booked flights from Melbourne to Alice Springs and Darwin to Cairns for her and her husband with Qantas.
Instead of paying $7,000 for her airfare, an infuriated Ms Shortis told Yahoo she paid $14,000 after the amount was billed to her credit card.
Several customers revealed they were forced to wait for more than a week to recover their funds after the airline (pictured) charged travellers twice for a ticket
‘I was ropeable,’ she said. ‘It’s a fault in the system. The first time it happened, I got a call from the bank saying, ‘One of your cards is overdrawn’.
A Qantas spokesman told Daily Mail Australia: ‘We are aware that a small number of customers appear to be charged twice for flight bookings. This is not the case.’
‘Unfortunately, there is sometimes a delay when banks and payment providers release pre-authorised funds after a transaction has been completed.
‘We have worked closely with our banking and payment partners to resolve these issues, significantly reducing their occurrence.’
The Qantas spokesman said the airline was aware of some ‘further isolated instances’.
‘The pre-authorised funds are being automatically released by banks and payment providers within three to seven days,’ he said.
‘If customers need the funds sooner, they should contact their bank to request a payment release’.
Qantas conceded in 2022 that a pre-approval glitch in their payment systems was responsible for overcharging customers.
Qantas (pictured) said the error was due to a pre-payment glitch that led to several customers being overcharged for their airfare
The national carrier has endured a tumultuous time in recent months forcing former CEO Alan Joyce to step down after 15 years at the helm of the airline.
A month later the company’s chairman Richard Goyder announced he would also be stepping down from his role after five years in the top job.
The company lost a landmark court ruling in September after the High Court ruled that Qantas illegally outsourced 1,683 ground workers’ jobs in 2020.
The heads of Qantas have also been grilled at an inquiry into the airline’s anti-competitive practices.
Mr Joyce told a Senate Committee hearing that the federal government should block flights from Qatar airways from being able to operate in Australia.