Jetstar failed to follow their own terms and conditions

The problem is that I had purchased these 2 tickets with the ‘Plus Bundle’ added to the standard fare. The ‘Plus Bundle’ was advertised for a ‘FREE CHANGE NAME/DATE’, and that was the reason why I had purchased it because I wanted flexibility. I realized I cannot travel on the 15th of March 2014 and saw a ticket on the 16th of March 2014, so I went ahead to buy it thinking I can change the name on the 15th of March 2014.

So, on the 16th of March at night, I called the call Centre in Manila to make changes because I would like to change the name. Mark picked up the phone, I explained my situation and without empathizing my issue, he advised I cannot change the flight for ‘Free’ because the ticket was a ‘bring a friend for free’ promotion and if I change I have to pay $399 for the 15th of March 2014, which is also the price I purchased the original flight for. I had read Jetstar terms and conditions and it states as follow:

Change fee:

‘Change Fees do not apply for permitted changes to a Starter Fare with Plus Bundle.

Fare Difference applies per passenger, per flight. Your new fare will be at least the amount of the fare you originally booked and may be more. You cannot change to a lower fare. No refund will be applicable if a lower fare is available.

Fare Difference is the difference (if any) between the fare or fare with bundle originally booked and an available fare or fare with bundle on the date of change which is at least the same fare or, if not available, the next available higher fare. The Fare Difference may be substantial.’

So, it states that the fare difference is the ‘difference’ between the fare I purchased for and the new fare – which is $399 I originally spent and the ticket on the 15th of March 2014 is also $399. So there should not be any discretion. Mark then advised, because it’s a ‘free’ fare that I’ve got, I have to pay the $399. I then told him there’s a flight on the 16th of March 2014, and it still has the ‘bring a friend for free’ deal, which is $399 and that’s exactly how much I originally paid for. He advised I cannot change to this deal because my original fare is a SALE fare and cannot change to a SALE fare, however, IT DOES NOT mention in Jetstar Terms and Condition that a SALE fare cannot be changed to another SALE fare.

Truly Jetstar is not following their own Terms and Conditions.

I know there are people that have got a refund for a non-refundable ticket.. why can’t they just change the name for me?? And I also know that if you spelt your name incorrectly, you can call up and they can change it for free. Isn’t this the same as changing the name of a passenger??

Well I’ve emailed several contacts advised on http://www.dontflyjetstar.com/news/how-contact-jetstar-phone-numbers-ema...

I understand this is a budget airline, that is why ‘budget’ people have chosen to fly with them. However, changing name should not cost a week worth of work for something that takes just 5 minutes for the operator to do.

I also was hung up by Mark intentionally without giving me warnings (like every call centre would). Besides, there were no offensive languages used during the call.