Couple charged £436 more by travel agent than British Airways fare; agent cites 'dynamic' pricing
Customer who booked through Travel Unravel paid £1,938 for Gatwick–Trinidad tickets while direct BA fare was £1,502; Companies House filings show directors based in India, investigator reports
A couple who booked British Airways flights through Travel Unravel paid £1,938 for return fares from Gatwick to Trinidad — £436 more than a direct booking the couple’s daughter made with BA an hour later, according to a reader complaint published by the Financial Mail on Sunday.
The customer, identified as B.N., asked the travel agent to cancel the higher-priced booking and refund the difference after discovering the lower BA fare of £1,502. Travel Unravel told the couple that “flight prices are dynamic” and declined to cancel or reimburse the extra cost, the published complaint said.
Tony Hetherington, the Financial Mail on Sunday’s consumer investigator, examined Travel Unravel Holidays Private Limited’s public filings and said the company is registered to an address in Harrow, north-west London, but he was unable to locate a physical office there. Hetherington reported that one filing to Companies House lists three employees — a figure that includes the company’s directors — while a separate filing lists three directors who all live in India. Hetherington wrote that the filings indicate the company has no UK-based employees.
The disparity in the price paid by the couple and the fare available directly from BA emerged within an hour of the original booking, according to the published account. After the daughter and her friend booked directly with BA for £1,502, the couple contacted Travel Unravel seeking cancellation or a refund; the agent refused, citing the fluidity of airline pricing.
Hetherington’s reporting notes that some Travel Unravel customers believe they have been dealing with a call centre in India rather than a UK-based travel agent. The Companies House filings cited in his reply to the reader support that assertion by listing the directors’ residences in India and showing no UK-based staff beyond the directors themselves.
The case highlights common tensions between consumers and intermediaries over rapidly changing airline fares and the rules that govern agent bookings. Airline and travel-agent pricing can vary by time, inventory and booking channel; whether a customer is entitled to a refund typically depends on the fare conditions of the purchased ticket and the terms and conditions set by the agent at the point of sale.
The Financial Mail on Sunday published the complaint and Hetherington’s findings as part of its consumer-investigation column. The report is based on the reader’s account and company filings viewed by the investigator.