A lawyer is locked in a legal battle with Jetstar after finding a loophole in the airline’s “Return for free” promotion and booking 58 flights for $0 each.
Tyrone Barugh booked a flight from Auckland to Sydney for $171, receiving the return fare for free as part of the promotion.
Barugh then canceled the outbound flight and received a Jetstar credit as a refund, with the free flight remaining on the booking.
He then used the credit to book another flight before repeating the process another 57 times.
Barugh said he didn’t intend on using any of the flights, but instead hoped to receive a settlement from Jetstar.
The lawyer has taken the matter to the Disputes Tribunal of New Zealand, claiming he is also entitled to a refund on the taxes owed on the flights, which add up to about $2,971 ($4,500 AUD), due to a combination of Australian legislation and Jetstar’s policies.
Speaking to news.com.au, Barugh said Jetstar claimed he didn’t have the “most saintly of intentions” when taking the matter to the tribunal.
“They’re not out here with the most saintly of intentions either,” he said.
“They have terms and conditions that are designed to potentially avoid having to do the right thing by a lot of their customers and limit their liability to their customers, and they’re pretty happy to pull those out when it suits them.”
Barugh said he is owed the $2,971 ($4,500 AUD) due to the Passenger Movement Charge Collection Act 1978 — which is a $40 ($60 AUD) charge the Australian government collects when a person departs Australia.
He said he was enjoying the “banter” of the case and that he would be happy with a settlement of a “small flight credit and a toy plane.”
“There is a spirit of larrikinism,” he said, using an Australian term for mischief.
A spokesman for Jetstar declined to comment.
“As this is a matter before the Tribunal, we won’t be making any comment,” it said in a statement to news.com.au.
The matter returns to the tribunal next week.
