Overseas travel agents have been causing problems for Kiwis who paid for holidays they never went on and have been chasing their travel credit ever since.
Kiwis have been encouraged to explore their ‘backyard’ to support domestic tourism after the country’s borders closed.
Among them,Taupō couple Fiona and Carl Musticone, who hoped to visit Queenstown after their trip to Fiji was cancelled due to the pandemic. But two years on, they still haven’t been able to access their airline credit in order to fly to a local destination.
The Musticone's booked through the online travel agency Expedia, so to rebook flights, they had to go back through the company. But when Fiona called up Expedia, she says she was told Air New Zealand wouldn’t let her use the credit, unless it was to book the original route, which was to Fiji.
That option was not only impossible at the time, it wasn't Air New Zealand's policy.
Suzie Watling in Papaioea, Palmerston North was also going around in circles with an online travel company. She booked tickets to Rarotonga through the company CheapOair back in 2019.
After Covid-19 struck, she says CheapOair changed its free 0800 number to an overseas toll number “and it just became more and more difficult to even talk to someone”.
Fair Go raised her situation with Air New Zealand and the airline has intervened to make a way for Suzie to directly access her credit without having to go through CheapOair. A representative of the parent company of CheapOAir has now also been in touch with Suzie and says they are reviewing her case.
As for the Musticone's, a spokesperson for Expedia.co.nz told Fair Go they extend their apologies to Fiona and Carl and are providing a full refund.
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