Virgin Australia Airlines review: Altering a fare while booking online.

On Saturday 4 November, my friend and I were sitting side by side to book the same flight from HBA to Gold Coast on Friday 19 April 2024. (BR FSGADV)

I selected a flight for $179.01 and worked through the booking online and she followed me through the process. I got to the end of the transaction (after selecting seats) and my screen shows a cost of $280. An increase of $100 in the space of a couple of minutes! Then my friend finished her transaction (after selecting seats) and she was given the $179.01 fare (+ seats)

I understand that fares can increase due to availability on a given flight, however I want to know why I did not get the cheaper flight when I processed the online booking ahead of my friend and there were a great deal of seats still available?

My initial reaction, had I done the booking on my own, that seats at the cheaper price were all gone, but I know for a fact that I was the first doing the booking! This is totally unethical. I did ring the 136789 number at the time but they just gave scripted responses so were of no help. I would appreciate an explanation and a refund for the additional cost I incurred for booking that flight. Surely if you have selected a flight at a particular cost and the system accepts that you have selected that fare, then it cannot charge you a higher amount whilst you are doing the booking. I would like this rectified before escalating to an outside organisation. regards Liz Jessup