Originally Posted by
planestupid
Thanks for your replies so far. He bought the ticket himself, from an on-line travel web site. The ticket has not been issued. The travel agency is refusing to let him cancel the booking as they say it's a non-refundable fare and he fits the bill anyway with his UK government employee status.
This has fraud written all over it. More than likely the "ticket" won't be honored anyway. He should go book the correct ticket through a legal method and initiate a chargeback as to the fraudulent website, noting in the chargeback that he was sold a ticket for which he's not eligible. To protect himself, he also ought to report this to his Ministry.