Who should pay for the name transfer?

[Lunar27]

My daughter has been asked if she'd like to take the place of someone who's dropped out of a group holiday abroad.

Initially it was going to cost about £300 and is what everyone has paid. However, she's now been told that she also needs to pay another £160 to transfer her name to the pre booked flight.

If she doesn't go, the organiser will lose £300 so I'm thinking it's a bit unfair to put the entire cost on her, when the fault lies with the person who dropped out. But conversely I appreciate that someone will have to pay.

It also seems a bit steep when this typically costs about £50 so am wondering if her mates are taking the mick.

She originally wasn't going as she was in a relationship and was doing other stuff but they've since split.

She should just pay £300. The person who cancelled should pay the £160. Or if her friends are nice they could all split the cost between them. Now way should your dd pay that!

I wouldn’t go if I was her. I don’t really think it’s fair to pay so much more than the others when she is doing a favour. In an ideal world the person who dropped out should pay the transfer fee. assuming that’s not happening.

Maybe the group as a whole could pay, organiser should put it to them as X dropped out can we all kick in Y to cover their share. Or your daughter can come and they can all pay roughly half of Y to pay for name transfer.

DD pays £300, dropout pays £160.

If everyone paid why would the organiser lose any money?

Yes I agree with others. Your daughter pays the £300 cost of the holiday. Person who dropped out pays the £160 (although that's one hell of an admin fee for a name change on the tickets)

More than half the trip cost? The person who has pulled out and the organiser might split the cost with your daughter? Though TBH it would leave a bad taste to be paying so much more than everyone else,

I wouldn’t go.

£300 fine.

i’m buggered if I would pay over half as much again for the same jaunt.

Drop out pays the quite frankly extortionate fee.or my money would be back in my purse.

She should pay £300. The person who’s opted out should pay for the name transfer and be happy to recover £140.

Many thanks for the pretty unanimous responses!

I've not come across this situation before and was getting quite cross but wasn't sure if I was being unreasonable. It's more annoying that I'm a mate of the organisers dad and that he hasn't stepped in to advise his daughter. But he's probably staying out of it and am thinking I should too.

I'll keep advising her but it's difficult to watch from the sidelines.

its. Is incredibly unfair to expect your daughter to pay someone else’s fee. What age are they?

either this is naïveté or it’s a mean girl tactic.

are you sure this is a nice group for your daughter to go on holiday with. I had some dreadful teen holidays with bully type girls. I am now annoyed at the teen me for being such a walk over

We did a name change recently it was £50 per flight so £100 in total but obviously it will very depending on airline. The person going instead paid £100 name change fee but not the holiday cost. (Our choice to take the loss) but agree with others your dd should not pay the £160. I'd be polite and say "sorry I can't afford to pay the extra, feel free to find someone else. " likelihood is they will backtrack quite quickly as tbh they are lucky they are recouping the holiday cost.

You shouldn’t interfere. She needs to learn the confidence to deal with these situations herself and she won’t if you step in for her.

I would definitely not be paying an additional £160. Could they not strike a happy medium and share the cost so £80 each?

The drop out either pays the organiser £160 (if you go) or £300 to compensate them.

It sounds like her “friends” are trying to rip her off. Not a good start for a group holiday!

As a compromise, if there were 4 going, they could all split the 160 so it’s 40 extra each, but really the dropper-out should cover the cancellation fee imo.

There was an expensive name change thread yesterday too, is I becoming more of a thing?

It's obvious that if the person who cant go wants to get any money back they pay the fee and the person who steps in pays the normal cost

How could any other way be sensible?

Let your DD know that usual make change cost is £50/flight, so £100. Normal practice is that the person dropping out oats for losses. Currently that's £300. If she pitches in £300 then they can lose only £200 when they pay for the name change. The easiest approach is "Sorry, £460 is too steep for me, I'll just book something else that's £300. Have a great trip!"

I'd be very suspect about who these "friends" are who are taking advantage like this. Ask her if she can think of a reason why they wouldn't treat her fairly and explain the costs. She might be better off organising a trip with a different friend.

*name

I'd be tempted to say the total cost of that place is £460. So your daughter and the drop out should pay £230 each.
Then compromise on your daughter paying the £300 holiday, and the dropout paying the name change.
No way your daughter should be paying more than anyone else going, who had input into the plan.

Dropout pays. CFery plain and simple.

If I was your daughter I would only want to pay the £300. Drop out should pay the extra.

Has she already paid the £300 ? If not I'd drop out. It's clearly unfair to put that extra cost on her, the person pulling out should pay it, or they split it between them.

The only reasonable reason ever for your DD to pay for the holiday AND the fee is if the original person could have could have got a full refund and the holiday was just a good deal that it would normally cost more than £460.

As it is, it sounds like there are no refunds available, so the person who dropped out is down £300 (the organiser shouldn't be liable for this). If your DD pays £300 and the person who dropped out pays the name change fee the the drop out is £140 better off than they would be if no one took their place.

The organiser needs to chase the person who dropped out to pay the name change fee. Not your daughter.

The group sounds either pretty mean or a bit stupid!

If it’s causing issues your daughters best bet is to not go honestly. Because however it ends it’s going to causing bad feeling. She will either feel robbed or the person who’s dropping out it going to wrongly feel done out of money.

Thanks again.

The organiser is a friend who goes way back to primary school. They've had some ups and downs but are good friends. They've all just finished their A levels so is their first holiday alone as adults.

It's a group of 12 so my feeling was that everyone could stump up an extra £13 and it'd be done (it doesn't look like the dropout can afford the extra cost). But whilst mine has worked since 12 and is quite savvy, her mate hasn't long been working and is a bit naive. I think that's all it is, perhaps coupled with the fact they know she's a lot more solvent than everyone else.

You shouldn’t interfere. She needs to learn the confidence to deal with these situations herself and she won’t if you step in for her.

Point taken. I'll talk to her today and hopefully she'll stay firm. She's not a pushover but felt awkward about potential upset when she's so keen to go (esp when she split with her boyfriend).

I think also gently point out that some people feel entitled to a free financial ride off others who are a bit more savvy with money (save more splurge less), and to watch out for them!

£13 is about 2 cocktails each.