Booking a holiday has never been easier. Go online and in just a few clicks you can choose a destination, book a flight and pay by bank card. All that's left for you to do is look forward to your holiday.
But, if you book with budget airline Easyjet, you might turn up at the check-in desk to find you're going nowhere, all because of a suspected fraud that may never actually have happened.
Watchdog has received emails from Easyjet customers who have had their flight bookings cancelled at the last minute. However, the only explanation the airline would give was that the tickets they'd paid for were no longer valid because of 'suspected fraud'.
The Easyjet passengers affected were left with a dilemma - pay up for replacement tickets to complete their journey or give up and go home. For some, this was followed by a struggle to get a refund, or even an explanation from Easyjet.
Easyjet let down club DJ
Ibiza DJ Lee John was told by Easyjet that they were "not in a position" to deal with his complaint after his flight booking was cancelled without prior notification because of a suspected fraud link. Lee travels all over Europe DJing in clubs and was a frequent flyer with Easyjet.
In April 2009, Lee was told at the airport that he couldn't use the ticket he'd bought for an Easyjet flight to Spain. Lee needed to get to a gig so agreed to pay extra for a new ticket, to his surprise, Easyjet allowed him to pay for it using the very same card they were suspicious of.
As soon as he landed Lee called Easyjet to find out exactly what they thought had gone wrong with his card, Easyjet told him to contact his bank. Lee phoned his bank but was told that they had no record of any fraudulent activity on his card. Despite calling and writing to Easyjet Lee has not been offered any compensation or a refund.
Lee describes Easyjet's customer service as 'terrible', his treatment by Easyjet has left him feeling let down by a company he regularly travelled with. And Lee is not the only passenger to be less than satisfied with Easyjet's handling these mysterious cases of suspected fraud.
Couple's short flight turns into long haul
Rosemarie Farrow and John Jenner bought plane tickets to Malaga, and paid using Rosemarie's son's debit card. They arrived at Stansted for an early morning flight, but, instead of being welcomed on-board, they too were told their booking had been cancelled by Easyjet.
According to Rosemarie, the Easyjet employee that informed them of the problem with their booking said their flight had been paid for by a 'fraud credit card'. Rosemarie was keen to stress that the booking was, in fact, made on a debit card not a credit card and, as far as she knew, there was no problem with the card.
However, Easyjet staff refused to let the couple travel unless she and John bought replacement tickets.
But, none were available on the flight they were originally due to fly on, from Stansted. Rosemarie asked when the next one would be and was told that that it left later that afternoon, from Gatwick airport, on the other side of London.
These replacement flights cost them over £400 on top of the tickets that had initially been purchased. Not only that, but the couple also had to pay their bus fare to catch their flight from Gatwick airport.
Before they had even taken off, Rosemarie and John had already paid out all of their holiday spending money. They eventually got to Malaga, some eight hours late.
Rosemary was left concerned about the suspected fraud that Easyjet referred to. So she checked with the bank. They assured her there was nothing wrong with the card.
It had no record of the fraud that caused Easyjet to cancel their original booking.
Rosemarie and John felt that the incident marred their holiday and were left disgusted by the incident.
The Air Transport User's Council concern with Easyjet fraud system
James Fremantle of the Air Transport User's Council has also received complaints about this problem.
"Easyjet has a system in place for looking out for fraudulent cards which, of course, all passengers welcome. But, obviously, something has gone wrong with this system and it has picked up cards that are fine and said that they are fraudulent," he said.
"This means the reservation has been automatically cancelled. It's a real concern to us that this can happen and of equal concern is that passengers weren't advised of this before they actually arrived at the airport," he added.
Easyjet statement
"Fraud costs UK airlines tens of millions of pounds each year and all major airlines have policies of how this can be minimised. Customers are deliberately not told that about the cancellation of their ticket, because this could be part of an ongoing police investigation. Our policy is to refund customers for the ticket and associated costs when a genuine mistake has been made. However, due to the potential ongoing investigations we are unable to comment on individual cases."
Customers paying twice for Easyjet flights
But, if you book with budget airline Easyjet, you might turn up at the check-in desk to find you're going nowhere, all because of a suspected fraud that may never actually have happened.
Watchdog has received emails from Easyjet customers who have had their flight bookings cancelled at the last minute. However, the only explanation the airline would give was that the tickets they'd paid for were no longer valid because of 'suspected fraud'.
The Easyjet passengers affected were left with a dilemma - pay up for replacement tickets to complete their journey or give up and go home. For some, this was followed by a struggle to get a refund, or even an explanation from Easyjet.
Easyjet let down club DJ
Ibiza DJ Lee John was told by Easyjet that they were "not in a position" to deal with his complaint after his flight booking was cancelled without prior notification because of a suspected fraud link. Lee travels all over Europe DJing in clubs and was a frequent flyer with Easyjet.
In April 2009, Lee was told at the airport that he couldn't use the ticket he'd bought for an Easyjet flight to Spain. Lee needed to get to a gig so agreed to pay extra for a new ticket, to his surprise, Easyjet allowed him to pay for it using the very same card they were suspicious of.
As soon as he landed Lee called Easyjet to find out exactly what they thought had gone wrong with his card, Easyjet told him to contact his bank. Lee phoned his bank but was told that they had no record of any fraudulent activity on his card. Despite calling and writing to Easyjet Lee has not been offered any compensation or a refund.
Lee describes Easyjet's customer service as 'terrible', his treatment by Easyjet has left him feeling let down by a company he regularly travelled with. And Lee is not the only passenger to be less than satisfied with Easyjet's handling these mysterious cases of suspected fraud.
Couple's short flight turns into long haul
Rosemarie Farrow and John Jenner bought plane tickets to Malaga, and paid using Rosemarie's son's debit card. They arrived at Stansted for an early morning flight, but, instead of being welcomed on-board, they too were told their booking had been cancelled by Easyjet.
According to Rosemarie, the Easyjet employee that informed them of the problem with their booking said their flight had been paid for by a 'fraud credit card'. Rosemarie was keen to stress that the booking was, in fact, made on a debit card not a credit card and, as far as she knew, there was no problem with the card.
However, Easyjet staff refused to let the couple travel unless she and John bought replacement tickets.
But, none were available on the flight they were originally due to fly on, from Stansted. Rosemarie asked when the next one would be and was told that that it left later that afternoon, from Gatwick airport, on the other side of London.
These replacement flights cost them over £400 on top of the tickets that had initially been purchased. Not only that, but the couple also had to pay their bus fare to catch their flight from Gatwick airport.
Before they had even taken off, Rosemarie and John had already paid out all of their holiday spending money. They eventually got to Malaga, some eight hours late.
Rosemary was left concerned about the suspected fraud that Easyjet referred to. So she checked with the bank. They assured her there was nothing wrong with the card.
It had no record of the fraud that caused Easyjet to cancel their original booking.
Rosemarie and John felt that the incident marred their holiday and were left disgusted by the incident.
The Air Transport User's Council concern with Easyjet fraud system
James Fremantle of the Air Transport User's Council has also received complaints about this problem.
"Easyjet has a system in place for looking out for fraudulent cards which, of course, all passengers welcome. But, obviously, something has gone wrong with this system and it has picked up cards that are fine and said that they are fraudulent," he said.
"This means the reservation has been automatically cancelled. It's a real concern to us that this can happen and of equal concern is that passengers weren't advised of this before they actually arrived at the airport," he added.
Easyjet statement
"Fraud costs UK airlines tens of millions of pounds each year and all major airlines have policies of how this can be minimised. Customers are deliberately not told that about the cancellation of their ticket, because this could be part of an ongoing police investigation. Our policy is to refund customers for the ticket and associated costs when a genuine mistake has been made. However, due to the potential ongoing investigations we are unable to comment on individual cases."
Customers paying twice for Easyjet flights