Why am I being double charged or seeing higher prices when booking flights?
Third-party booking platforms often cause unexpected credit card overcharges, duplicate transactions, or sudden price spikes when a screen refreshes during checkout. These surprise costs disrupt purchases and leave travelers struggling to resolve unauthorized or inflated fees after the booking goes through.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- People have been saying this in most months since September 2026.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1starting a dispute with credit card companyDid this help you?
- 2checking reservation with the airline website directlyDid this help you?
- 3Waiting until check-in at the airport to find out the feeDid this help you?
- 4Relying on community estimates from past traveler experiencesDid this help you?
- 5Contacting the hotel in advance by email to ask about early arrival availabilityDid this help you?
- 6Book the cheap fare and hope they don't cancel itDid this help you?
- 7Pay for selected seats separatelyDid this help you?
- 8Print out a paper version of the ticket beforehandDid this help you?
- 9Pay the extra seat selection fees to guarantee sitting togetherDid this help you?
- 10I book refundable so I get to pick the seatDid this help you?
- 11just letting them give you a seatDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I could not choose a seat without paying a few hundred dollars more. What, my $12k was not enough?”source ↗
“I was trying to purchase my ticket to Vietnam yesterday as I was all ready to place my order but once I clicked “purchase” the screen refreshed and said my quote expired and the price went up a little over $100.”source ↗
“The screen refreshed again and price increased by an additional $3000!!”source ↗
“United started doing this as well, basic business doesn't allow you to pick your seat.”source ↗
“unfortunately more airlines are leaning towards paying for seats even in business class”source ↗
“They usually try to add fees bit by bit. I recall that this airline made me print out a paper version of the ticket and wouldn't accept the phone image unless I paid 25 Euros/person.”source ↗
“Yeah it's a more recent thing and is definitely annoying.”source ↗
“I travel a few times a year with my family (3 young kids) and always pay extra for seat selection. For some flights, though, it’s over $100 just to pick your seat, but I do it as my kids need us to be all together at their age.”source ↗
“What happens if you just… don’t pay the extra fees? Would they actually seat us all apart?”source ↗
“I just can’t figure out if the seat selection fees are a total grift.”source ↗
“Unfortunately, the airline doesn’t provide the exact price in advance and only shows the fee during check-in.”source ↗
“However, my credit card statement now reads (2) charges which total the same amount, an overcharge of $366.”source ↗
“I was double charged.”source ↗
“Btw, I started out on Kayak.com, but somehow ended up on JustFly.com! I’m not sure how that happened?”source ↗
“Not happy to pay extra for early check-in when is not explicit info in any website pointing with that poliza from the hotel not even in hotels.com or anywhere I can find”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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