‘I had to speak to 14 agents in foreign call centres to change my flight booking’

After seeking to modify an Opodo flight booking, one reader found herself frustrated with the online travel agency

Gill Charlton has been fighting for Telegraph readers and solving their travel problems for more than 30 years, winning refunds, righting wrongs and suggesting solutions.
Here is this week’s question:
In June I booked a return flight from London to Melbourne through Opodo, flying out with Lufthansa on January 7 2025. The itinerary cost £1,260. 
Shortly afterwards I realised I needed to change the outbound flights due to work commitments. This led me on a saga of incomprehensible interactions with Opodo, during which I spoke to 14 agents in overseas call centres, and wasted many hours of my time.
It was often difficult simply to understand what the agents were saying as the lines were so bad. At one point there was a ray of hope when I was told that I could make the change for an extra £130.
This I was very happy to do, and said so both verbally and in an email. But the agents appeared unable to process the change. They claimed seats weren’t available on any of the flights I wanted, even though I could see low-priced seats on Lufthansa’s own website. 
Finally I gave up and cancelled the booking. Opodo has repaid £841, but I feel aggrieved that I am out of pocket through no fault of my own.
–Angela Griffin
Changing dates on non-refundable tickets can be tricky. It may sound simple to make a date change, but it actually involves cancelling the original ticket and booking a new one. Often fares will have increased, so there is a supplement to pay for the new flight, plus administration fees charged by the agent and the airline. 
As you signed up for Opodo’s “premium” service option, you should have been able to “modify” your booking and make this change without paying any fees. 
I asked Opodo to explain what went wrong here. It says that there was a “temporary technical glitch” on Lufthansa’s exchange booking platform, which prevented its agents from processing your request. As a gesture of goodwill, in recognition of the inconvenience caused, it has agreed to give you a total refund on your booking by repaying a further £419. 
This is good news, but I still find it difficult to understand why none of the agents could communicate to you what the issue was, and when it might be resolved. 
Some airlines now allow Opodo to offer booking modifications online through its self-service “booking manager”, when all the fares and service options should be shown. This avoids the need to deal with call centre staff, who often only have basic training.
If you think you may need to make changes to a flight booking, it can be worth paying around 10 per cent more for a “flex” ticket, which allows fee-free date and time changes, and the ability to transfer your ticket to someone else. 
Gill takes on a different case each week – so please send your problems to her for consideration at [email protected]. Please give your full name and, if your dispute is with a travel company, your address, telephone number and any booking reference. Gill can’t answer every question, but she will help where she can and all emails are acknowledged.