Priceline error: Family misses plane and citizenship oath

A Toronto family scheduled to travel to Winnipeg – their previous place of residence – failed to take their Canadian citizenship oath due to a logistical error by online travel agency Priceline, which incorrectly booked plane tickets.

Divya Polavaram explained in an interview with CP24 that Divya Polavaram booked plane tickets a few weeks ago for herself, her mother, and her two children, who officially became Canadian citizens through the traditional citizenship oath.

After completing the entire procedure on the Priceline website on October 3, she then received confirmation of booking four tickets on the Flair flight, according to an email sent by the discount travel agency and obtained by the media.

When she wanted to log in online the day before her flight, on October 16, she realized there was a problem. She then called Priceline who told her that Flair never confirmed the tickets.

According to her, Priceline refused to book new flights so she could go to Winnipeg or make up for it. She said getting new tickets on another airline was also impossible because costs had quadrupled.

“It was a very special occasion,” Ms Polavaram said. “We all wanted to be there. We had planned everything. My mother traveled from India to attend.

“It was a terrible experience,” she added. “And the way Priceline handled the situation made things worse.”

Contacted by CP24, Priceline did not respond to requests for interaction.

For their part, FLIR representatives stressed the importance of booking flights directly with airline companies. However, they did provide travel credit to Ms. Polavaram for future trips.