ALL DRESSED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO
It wasmeant to be a once in a lifetime holiday, but it has become a year-long hassle with a travel agent, and time is running out.
An elderly couple in Wellington are still waiting on nearly $12,000 for refunded flights a year after Covid-19 scuttled what was to be their last big overseas adventure.
Michele Haines and Vernon Phillips planned to celebrate their 70th birthdays with their children and grandchildren in Fiji last April. It was the most they had ever spent on a holiday.
While accommodation costs had been swiftly refunded, getting the $11,600 for flights booked through Flight Centre Palmerston North had been much harder.
Haines said chasing the refund had been amaddening mission. The travel agents had initially told them it would take a couple of months, then it became eight months. Now all they were told is a nebulous ‘‘soon’’.
‘‘Normally we wouldn’t spend that muchmoney. But this was special... it was going to be a once in a lifetime family holiday... and it was going to be Vernon’s last chance for a big trip.’’
Her husband had health issues, including Parkinsons’ disease, that wasmaking travel increasingly challenging.
The family still held out hope they could rebook the trip – but it depended on when the refund came through and when and how international travel reopened.
‘‘Having a lot of family along to look after us helps, but there’s a limited window where Vernon will still be able to go.’’
It was frustrating the only explanation they could get for the delays was that some airlines were still swamped with refund requests.
A Flight Centre spokeswoman said once a customer paid for flights or accommodation the money was sent directly to suppliers, so the travel agency couldn’t give a refund until the airline or hotel had paid it back.
‘‘We understand the wait, in some cases, is long, and it can be a frustrating experience for customers.’’
She said the travel agency applied to Fiji Airways for a full refund last July, and have been in constant contact with the airline to chase the matter up. ‘‘We hope to have this resolved as soon as possible.’’
In March, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment estimated about $690million of Kiwis’money had been locked up, most of it for overseas travel, due to pandemic related cancellations. Nearly half of it had been returned.