The Crusader: Refund for £360 fee after flight ticket date mistake

Then understanding and fairness won the day much to the relief of Tom and Pam Dixon whose mistake keying in details online is one all too easy to make. Booking some six months ahead of departure, their return flights with Air Canada from Heathrow to Montreal were for specific seats in economy class and they paid the airline directly.

"But the moment after I printed off the bookings I realised I had reserved the morning flights not the afternoon ones and changed them the same day, cancelling the outbound flights and rebooking the nominated seats," Tom explained.

If you've been affected by this issue or feel you've been a victim of injustice, please contact consumer champion Maisha Frost on maisha.frost@express.co.uk

"But the moment after I printed off the bookings I realised I had reserved the morning flights not the afternoon ones and changed them the same day, cancelling the outbound flights and rebooking the nominated seats," Tom explained.

"I accepted it was my fault when I was rushing, but it was expensive so later I checked again and discovered a full cancellation of our booking within 24 hours was fully refundable. My first understanding was that the amount I had been charged wasn't correct. I told the airline and how I wished I had done the full cancellation and I had only understood the terms after making the change."

Fearing his point might be overlooked and asking Crusader if we could appeal to Air Canada's better nature based on his reasoning, we did and the airline responded immediately saying it would look into it. Tom then received their £360 refund. "Thank you all," he responded. [names have been changed]

Before paying for a flight reservation

Essential travel precautions when avoiding trigger finger booking syndrome. Before making any detailed change online it's likely you will be experiencing a degree of anxiety so first have to hand the replacement details. Then pause to regroup before going ahead.

When you are making a new reservation even more checking is needed beforehand. As well as all the timings and the price, read through the cancellation conditions section. Check the flexibility to change flight times, dates and destinations and how long you have to do that before departure and if that includes the check-in process.

Check what change fees are applied and when - per passenger and flight. If the new fare is higher, passengers pay the difference, if it's lower don't expect a refund. Find out first too if you would have to pay a fee because of a spelling mistake and must you pay if a title is changed? If you are making a small alteration also check what to compare, how the rules differ should you cancel a flight outright and then rebook.

Ideally have travel insurance in place before booking and if not do it immediately after, again check the section on cancellation cover and rights.