TO CORRECT a spelling on an airline ticket, Flight Centre and Etihad charged Souhala Toughlajian $650 - that was with a discount.

Like many born in non-English-speaking nations, Mrs Toughlajian's name is spelt differently on her Lebanese passport (Souhaila Toghlajian) from her current Australian passport (Souhaly Toughlajian).



To complicate matters, she goes by Souhala Toughlajian.



So Ada Toughlajian rang her mum in Belmore from a CBD Flight Centre to check the spelling for a booking in June but the 78-year-old quoted her expired Lebanese travel document.



Ada knew there was a risk her mum had it wrong but it was the last day of a sale.

Ada didn't want mum to miss a seemingly cut-price Beirut return fare of $2060. She didn't know of the obscene $750 fee for fixing spelling - or that the fare would drop more than $200 after the "sale".



In July Flight Centre waived its part of the charge, which it said was $100. But this week I discovered Flight Centre's true take was $420. How? I just asked Etihad what its share was. The response was about the only straight answer I got from the United Arab Emirates carrier.



Etihad spokeswoman Anne Tullis even asserted it was not possible Mrs Toughlajian's name could be spelt different ways on different passports, despite them being issued 40 years apart. Canberra's

Lebanese embassy said this was common among former citizens.

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Ada, angered by the treatment, arranged a Malaysian Airlines ticket for just $1500 with another travel company.



She also took Flight Centre to the NSW Consumer, Trade and Tenancy Tribunal. Although it is now off the hook after promising me it would cough up its true take, the CTTT made Etihad a respondent to Ada's action.



Coincidentally in coming weeks I'm writing on CTTT experiences.

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Originally published as Airline's high price of spelling