Warning as simple $50 mistake leaves Aussie tourist stuck at airport: 'It's the only way'
Tourist Tiah Slattery is urging people to do one thing to avoid the same fate as her when holidaying in Europe.
An Aussie tourist has issued an important warning to fellow travellers after a little-known $50 mistake left her facing weeks stuck at a European airport.
Aussie Tiah Slattery paid over $570 for her Ryanair flight out of Tirana airport in Albania on Monday but because the flight was overbooked, she was left stranded along with 10 other passengers. While travel expert Quentin Long told Yahoo News overbooking flights is "standard practice", Slattery explained the group were told if they'd done just one thing it would have likely saved them from their fate.
"I have one piece of advice if you're travelling in Europe this summer — pay for a seat... it's the only way to guarantee yourself on a flight if a flight is overbooked," she explained on social media.
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In Tiah's case, travellers were told they would need to wait until the next flight which was scheduled in 30 days. It was then that Tiah wished she'd paid the additional charge, which was less than $50. It appears she has since got to her destination, however, she was in complete shock the airline was able to overbook so many passengers, claiming airport staff said it's been a recurring issue with several airlines.
Long told Yahoo News that "offloading people" after overbooking is common across airlines, and low-cost carriers are especially notorious for it.
"They'll force the people with the cheapest fares to move first and obviously there's not much you can do about it... they do not give a flying f**k," he said. "In some rare circumstances, cargo is more important than passengers."
Long confirmed that yes, buying a seat for an additional cost is the most "logical" approach to minimise your chance of being booted off a flight.
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