K-Will Faces Travel Woes After Booking Flight Through Travel Platform

Singer K-Will recently encountered a frustrating situation while attempting to travel to Japan. After purchasing a flight ticket through a travel platform, he found that his reservation was not recognized at the Incheon International Airport check-in counter. The airline had not received the booking details from the travel platform, leaving K-Will to bear the consequences of the mishap.

On December 19, K-Will uploaded a video to his YouTube channel titled 'Negotiating with a Global Travel Agency on the Day of My Japan Trip: A No-Show Situation.' In the video, he explained, "It felt like a lie. I paid for my flight through the travel platform, but the airline never received the payment details, so my ticket was never issued. I was told the flight was fully booked."

When K-Will visited the check-in counter, airline staff informed him that it is common for booking details not to be transmitted from travel agencies to airlines. The staff advised him to pay for a new ticket at the airport and seek a refund later through the travel platform. However, since the flight was fully booked, he could only purchase a one-way ticket if there were no-shows.

Fortunately, a no-show occurred, allowing K-Will to buy a one-way ticket to Osaka, but he had to pay a steep price of 600,000 KRW, which was equivalent to the round-trip fare he had initially purchased through the travel platform.

After finally arriving in Osaka, K-Will spent the next morning on the phone with the travel platform, trying to resolve the issue. Despite a five-hour conversation, he did not receive satisfactory answers. The travel platform explained that a system error could prevent the airline from confirming reservations and stated that a full refund was not possible due to company policy.

K-Will expressed his frustration, questioning why the travel platform could not guarantee a full refund when they had sent confirmation emails and messages assuring him that his ticket would be secured. The representative explained that a third-party ticketing agency was involved, and the refund process depended on them, making it difficult to provide a clear refund amount.

After the call, K-Will remarked, "The representative wasn't at fault, but the situation is absurd. I hope my subscribers will be cautious."

His video has since circulated across various online communities, prompting many netizens to share similar experiences. Comments included warnings about booking flights only through official airline websites and recounting past issues with travel platforms.

As the number of consumers booking flights and hotels through global travel platforms increases, reports of user complaints are also rising. According to data submitted to the National Assembly by Democratic Party lawmaker Yoo Dong-soo, there were 2,110 cases of complaints related to global online travel agencies (OTAs) from 2021 to August of this year. The most common issues involved excessive cancellation fees, with 1,073 cases (50.9%), followed by withdrawal-related complaints (412 cases, 19.5%) and contract non-fulfillment (300 cases, 14.2%). Only about half of the refund requests were processed successfully.