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Stupid tax

Talk about amateur hour. First time booking flights – and I manage to book a return flight on the wrong date.

See, I’d been wanting to go back to Wellington since our March trip. So when Jetstar had a $37 fare sale, I jumped on it immediately. I even paid by bank deposit – not by Visa, despite my love of reward points – because airlines now charge extra fees for paying by credit card.

When my payment cleared a couple of days earlier, my itinerary was emailed to me. And somehow, I’d managed in my Friday afternoon frenzy to overlook the fact that I’d booked our return flight a week after our departure, not a day later. This had to be an overnight trip. Crap. I know how it happened, too – I was scrolling back and forth between dates, trying to get the best flight times during the sale window, and the Jetstar interface isn’t the most responsive – but I just can’t believe I didn’t notice the date discrepancy while checking out.

I managed to find $37 seats again, but I had to pay for them once more. Plus a booking fee of $8, because for some reason I couldn’t pay by bank deposit this time. Our cheap seats didn’t end up so cheap after all once that$80 was tacked on! Also, our homebound flight is now a morning one, meaning we arrive Saturday just before noon and check out right after breakfast. We weren’t planning to do tons down there but it would be nice not to be in a rush to leave. I thought our original 24-hour itinerary was nigh on perfect. I can’t help feeling like it’s almost not worth it, but since it’s now paid for, I guess we’re sticking to the plan.

Paying “stupid taxes” hurts! (Both the wallet and the ego.) Tell me your tales of stupidity!

5 thoughts on “Stupid tax

  • Reply jane June 23, 2011 at 11:52

    yep, stupid things happen when you’re trying to get a deal. My 7 pound return trip to Ireland from the UK turned into 107 pounds when I missed my flight call and had to returned to the counter ….Ryan air charged an extra 100 pound to issue a new ticket back to the UK for a flight that originally cost me 7 pound, doesn’t sound fair at all.

  • Reply Sense June 23, 2011 at 22:38

    ugh, so many stories. I actually have a category in my budget JUST for the stupid tax! sorry about the snafu, but wellington is super-awesome and I’m sure it will be worth it!

  • Reply chipsforsupper June 27, 2011 at 08:14

    I did the exact same thing! My sister wanted me to book a flight for her to return on the 30th but I booked the 20th! So $150 later (but only 10 minutes! Not fair!) and it got fixed.

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