Jetstar is a rip off
 

I tried changing the name on a flight ticket that I am unable to take, but due to misinformation of my original call I thought that it would only cost $40 to change the name on the ticket. Well to my dismay after adding on the cost to the ticket and selling it on Trade Me I find out they will charge me $500 plus for a $113.58 ticket. It's now $50 each way to change a ticket plus the difference between the original price I paid to how much it would sell for now.

I now have to refund the prospective buyer because the cost to me is way too much and I really don't understand how a name change can generate such exorbitant fees/costs. I know they are in business to make money, but I also thought that being in business what about offering customers a good service. And this certainly isn't good service.

Of course Jetstar has also attained a certain amount of interest by having the $113.58 in their accounts which means that they are still ahead.

This whole issue now makes me rethink flying Jetstar and I will definitely now consider going back to flying Air NZ like I used to. Or the even better option is the just buy tickets as close to the time I want to travel as possible as there are certainly some good deals to be had elsewhere.

The pricing of airline tickets is ridiculously byzantine and obtuse, but I think you may mis-understand the pricing model.

The price you paid for your tickets may well be at or below actual costs. Low fare airlines price a small percentage of their tickets below cost, which gives them headline pricing for advertising to pull the other suckers in. The majority of tickets on any given flight are sold for considerably more than this.

The ridiculous price charged to change a name on a ticket is designed not to generate revenue, but to prevent customers doing what you are doing. It is designed to make it cost prohibitive..they don't seriously think anyone will pay it.

If they did not do it, all the low cost tickets would simply be bought by agents and subsequently sold on, for much higher prices later. The agents would be profitable, as they would charge a premium which covers the name change fee. This happened a lot in the early days of Ryanair, but was stopped when Ryanair inserted new terms which banned the practice.

I am not defending the pricing structures of these airlines... they are designed to mislead the consumer and far from transparent... but I hope it at least provides an explanation.