"Canceled After Five Days and Lost 770,000 Won"... Hit by Steep Fees After Pressing the Cancel Button

Consumer Alert Issued on Air Travel Services Ahead of Chuseok Holiday
7,438 Applications for Air Travel Dispute Resolution in Three Years, Annual Increase of 37%
Ticket Cancellations and Fee Disputes Account for Over Half of Cases

#Mr. A purchased seven round-trip tickets from Incheon to Da Nang through a travel agency in October last year, paying 2,918,000 won. Five days later, he cancelled the reservation, but the agency deducted a fee of 770,000 won. This included an airline cancellation fee of 80,000 won per person, in addition to a 30,000 won service fee from the travel agency. As a result, he was unable to get back 26% of the amount he paid.

As demand for international travel has recovered, there has been a noticeable increase in consumer complaints stemming from flight cancellations and delays. Many passengers who purchased tickets through overseas online travel agencies (OTAs) ended up paying fees to both the airline and the agency, or experienced disputes due to an inability to correct the English spelling of a passenger's name on their ticket.

On July 7, the duty-free zone at Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport was bustling with travelers as the airport reached a cumulative passenger count of 1 billion. 2026.7.7 Photo by Kang Jinhyung

The Korea Consumer Agency and the Fair Trade Commission announced on the 14th that, ahead of the Chuseok holiday, they had issued a consumer alert regarding air travel services. Claims for relief related to aviation services filed with the Consumer Agency increased from 1,705 cases in 2023 to 2,532 in 2024, and last year reached 3,201. Over three years, the total was 7,438 cases, with an average annual growth rate of 37%. This is more than double the average annual growth rate of outbound travelers (14.1%) over the same period. Of all the claims for relief, 4,341 cases (58.4%) were related to flight ticket cancellations. Contract violations such as flight cancellations and delays accounted for 2,020 cases (27.2%), while 394 cases (5.3%) were related to unfair practices.

When buying airline tickets through a travel agency or an overseas online travel agency (OTA), cancellation fees can be charged twice—once by the airline, and again for refund or change processing by the travel agency. Even for identical tickets, the refund amount may vary depending on where the ticket was purchased.

There are also cases where consumers suffer losses due to incorrectly entered booking information. Mr. B bought three round-trip tickets from Incheon to Istanbul from a global OTA for 2,185,400 won. Later, he discovered that one passenger's English name was misspelled. Although airline policy allowed for a correction, the OTA refused to make the change. Problems with checked baggage are also frequent. Out of 131 cases of checked baggage complaints filed last year, 98 involved bags or suitcases. By type, there were 103 cases of damage, 16 cases of delay, and 12 cases of loss.

The Korea Consumer Agency stressed that consumers should always check both the airline's and the travel agency's or OTA's cancellation and change fees before purchasing tickets. The agency added, "Immediately after buying a ticket, confirm the English name and passport information," and "If your baggage has been damaged or lost, you must report it and obtain a confirmation letter from the airline desk before leaving the airport."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.