Jetstar passenger fuming after he was charged to borrow a pen midflight

The travel influencer claims he was forced to pay $5 to borrow this basic item from Jetstar cabin crew. Photo / Phillip Capper, CC2

A traveller who recently flew to South Korea with Jetstar is furious after multiple issues on the flight, including being charged to borrow a pen from a cabin crew member.

Douglas Lazickirk, a travel influencer who flew to Seoul on low-cost Australian airline Jetstar, realised in midflight that he didn’t have a pen to complete his incoming passenger card, given to travellers before landing.

In a clip posted to TikTok, which has racked up more than 22,200 views, the travel vlogger chronicles his trip, revealing the moment a member of the cabin crew refused to let him use her pen, reports news.com.au.

“She said, ‘No, you can’t borrow my pen but you can buy one for A$5 … or when you arrive, you can use one at the airport’,” Lazickirk shared.

“So you’re seriously not going to give me your pen, just to use?” he asked her.

He alleges that she replied: “I don’t have to give you my pen.”

Douglas Lazickirk realised he had no pen to fill out his incoming passenger card. Photo / 123rf

The passenger allegedly went to another flight attendant asking for a pen, who said yes immediately.

He goes on to say this was not the only disappointing interaction with cabin crew during the flight.

Before the pen incident, he tried to buy a lasagne meal, a snack and a drink for which he ended up paying a mind-blowing A$20.15.

“I handed the guy my card, he swiped it and swiped it and swiped it and then he said to me it’s not working,” Lazickirk shared.

He then gave the flight attendant a second card, which worked instantly. However, when he landed in Seoul, he realised after checking his bank account that he had been charged twice for the inflight food.

The process to get a refund took nearly an hour on the airline’s website and involved having to attach screenshots of the double payment as proof. He was then told that it would take up to three weeks even to receive a reply from Jetstar.

It could take a further 15 business days to get his money back.

“It’s taking forever just for $20,” Lazickirk fumed. “It’s ridiculous, but how many people are Jetstar doing this to?”

NZ Herald has approached Jetstar for comment.