Bullish Corporates - Pay or Lose Everything

I’ve booked a Oneway flight for 2 passengers in Oct 2022 from JHB to PE and asked to keep the tickets on hold because I couldn’t use it at the time. Now, I’ve requested to use the flights for the same route, that cost less than the tickets on hold. Why am I requested to pay penalty fee for x2 passengers that amounts to the price of the current flight to PE. I haven’t even made use of the AirLink Airline service & I’ve already decided to never use it again. No matter what I decide to do with the booked tickets, I’m at a loss as a customer or I have to pay more money.

With this being said, the reservations agent Mbalenhle Thabede has been a pleasure to liaise with as she showed patience through all the questions, back & forth with deciding what to do with these flight tickets. Great customer service by her.