It’s unfortunate that this happened, but it’s an important reminder for people that you should never, ever do this…
Never share airline ticket or boarding pass details online!
You should never post identifying details about your travels online, especially when it comes to airline tickets, and especially prior to travel. This includes posting anything that shows your airline confirmation code, your frequent flyer number, a boarding pass barcode, etc.
Why? Well, keep in mind that if someone has your airline confirmation code and last name, that’s typically enough to make changes or cancel your ticket. As much as we’d like to think that most people are decent humans, unfortunately that’s not always the case.
As the latest example of that, a TikTok user is expressing frustration after she shared her Qantas ticket details online, only to find her ticket canceled a short while later.
As she explained in a viral video, she shared details about her upcoming trip from Cairns (CNS) to Singapore (SIN) on her TikTok, a trip she had been “looking forward to” for her “whole life.” However, after posting the video online, she received an email from Qantas stating that her ticket had been canceled. While the ticket initially cost $1,200, the refund was for $800, subtracting a $400 change fee (these amounts are in AUD).
Someone apparently changed her ticket online, and following the whole saga, Qantas agreed to refund her the change fee as well, given the circumstances.
As you’d expect, this traveler is devastated, and goes on quite the rant (some of which contains bad language). She calls the person who did this “a very sad individual,” and “the lowest of the low,” and asks “how jealous can you be?” She explains that she’s “sick” to her stomach over this, and that she feels like she’s “going to vomit at any given moment.”
Of course in retrospect, she acknowledges she shouldn’t have posted that information online, but “I feel like a lot of people would do the same thing, I was excited, I just posted it, I didn’t think anything of it.”
I’m sympathetic, but c’mon folks, don’t post this stuff!
I’m sympathetic toward this TikToker. No one should have their ticket canceled by a stranger — it’s highly unethical, and it also feels incredibly violating to have someone do that. I can relate to this — I’ve had people cancel my tickets without me even posting confirmation codes online.
I feel worst for people who just genuinely don’t know better, and don’t realize that your confirmation code is the equivalent to your airline ticket social security number, in terms of what travelers can do with it. However, this traveler seemingly did know the risk, but justified it by thinking that “a lot of other people would do the same thing,” and that the TikTok was “very innocent.”
The reality is that when we prioritize sharing our lives on social media, we have to assume certain risks, especially when we’re not strategic about what we share. So hopefully this is a lesson that the TikToker can learn in terms of what she posts online in the future, and hopefully other people can learn as well.
And I think it’s also important to understand that the risk of someone canceling our travels is higher than we assume. Many people think that only evil people with some sort of vendetta against you would do this.
But the truth is that we live in a lonely yet very online world, and a lot of people like to get attention in any form, if they can. While canceling someone else’s ticket might not get them “name recognition,” many people still like being talked about.
It’s no different than people who try to call in bomb threats for flights without actually having any connection to a flight. That doesn’t stop them from getting a thrill out of it!
Bottom line
A TikToker who booked a dream trip on Qantas to Singapore learned her lesson, after she shared her ticket details online, only to then have the trip canceled a short while later. You don’t need to be some super high profile and hated person to be the target of mischievous people online, especially when they can act anonymously.
Let this traveler’s frustration be a lesson for the rest of us. Just don’t post these things online, folks!!
What do you make of this canceled Qantas ticket saga?