How a misspelled name on a plane ticket ruined one family's trip

From waiting overnight at a passport office to missing their flight, things have been a nightmare for one family from Woodstock, Ont.

Ludwing Perea-Melendez and his family had recently planned a trip to Peru to visit his parents for a few weeks.

“We really need to go to my homeland in South America, because my dad is fading fast and I would like for him to meet all of my kids," he said.

Little did he know that one misplaced letter on their flight reservation would derail their entire trip.

While checking in at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, Perea-Melendez said the machine was telling them that there was an error with their flight reservation.

“It showed an extra ‘d’ on the last name and that is when I thought, ‘Oh this is going to be a problem,’” he explained.

Since he had purchased his family's tickets through a third party website, WestJet and the website operator weren't able to fix the name in the system in time for their flight.

The Perea-Melendez family camped in their minivan outside a mall housing the Service Canada London passport office. (Source: Submitted)In an email to CTV News London, a spokesperson for WestJet stated that “any third-party ticket purchased through a travel agent, or booking agency such as Expedia, cannot be modified by WestJet.”

“The third-party website told me they could not change it unless it is 24 hours prior to the trip," Perea-Melendez said.

Their family is now out $6,000 because they had to cancel their trip and book new plane tickets.

While he admits to the misspelling, the father of five wishes there was an easier way for the airport to fix the problem at the time, in order to avoid the hassle.

“There comes a point where you see the problem is so big that you have to say you know that there is nothing we can do, we might as well smile and continue with our lives.”

Last month he and his family camped out overnight at a London passport office, hoping he would be the first in line. A week prior he and his wife had already spent seven hours waiting, only to be turned away just steps from the door to the passport office.