A newlywed couple missed out on their £5k honeymoon due to what they allege were 'airport errors'.
Soumaya Elliot, 30, and husband Justin, 33, splashed out a huge chunk of their saving on a four-week trip to Asia following their wedding last month. However, what should have been a dream honeymoon soon became a nightmare with flight delays, lost luggage, and expensive rebookings.
The frustrated couple from Newbury, Berkshire, decided to give up and scrap the trip due to the myriad of problems. Soumaya, a lecturer in TV and film production, said the experience upset her so much that she was in bed for days.
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She said: "It was really really horrendous. It was horrible. It was the worst experience of my life, I think.” The couple married on July 10 and had paid £5,000 to travel to Bangkok, Phuket, Tokyo and Seoul which they booked via Kiwi.com. However, after flying from London Heathrow to Vienna without any issues, they faced a three-and-a-half-hour delay at passport control, check-in and security.
Because of the extreme delay, the couple claim they missed their Saudi Arabia Airlines flight to Bangkok by two minutes. Soumaya added: "They didn’t call our gate - we were just sat there waiting.
"Then we looked at the time and we were about two minutes late, so we ran down to the airport staff, but they said we were too late and basically told us to go away. We were stuck. We didn’t know what to do.”
After contacting Kiwi.com, the couple claimed they were told they didn't qualify for a refund or new flights. They then used their wedding gift money to rebook a £1,300 flight for the next day which the agency assured them they wouldn't need additional visas for.
“At this point we were panicking, so we just went with their advice and went to rebook flights," Soumaya said. They slept on the airport floor while they waited.
Justin, who had recently broken his back at the time of the incident, said: "I had several back spasms where I had to sit on the floor for about 20 minutes to get myself to stand up straight. I wasn’t allowed to bring any diazepam through a lot of the borders because you can only bring a restricted amount, so I just didn’t bring any.
"I didn’t think I was going to be under that kind of stress.”
To make things worse, the couple say they were denied check in for their flight the next morning because they didn't have the relevant visas.
Soumaya said: “I ended up having a panic attack on the floor and I was being sick." They claim Kiwi.com refused to offer any help or a refund, meaning they had no choice but to spend £800 to return home.
Furthermore, the couples luggage got lost on the way back home which contained Soumaya's wedding dress. Now, the couple have been refunded £1,235 for the extra flights they had to purchase to get to Bangkok.
Kiwi.com has also provided them with £1.000 worth of vouchers. But this isn't enough for Soumaya who says she is after full compensation. She said: “It is just terrifying that they are happy to take two or three grand off you and not actually help or deliver a service.
“I had to argue so much with them. It was two days after our wedding which should be a happy time. We don’t want vouchers - we don’t want to use them again. They need to give us back our money."
A Kiwi.com spokesperson said: "We can't imagine the distress Mr. and Ms. Elliott went through. Once the couple missed the flight in Vienna, they contacted our Customer Support department and were advised of the Transfer Protection conditions. Given the nature of the situation, our Customer Support agent also informed of the option to purchase flight tickets directly at the airport - this option, however, requires a final agreement with our team prior purchase.
"The customers decided to select and buy a flight without the consultation and unfortunately missed the visa requirements information alerting them of specific conditions to be met at their transit airport. Given the unpleasant hassle Mr. and Ms. Elliott had to experience, we went an extra step and processed the full refund for this booking, as well as refreshments that the couple had to purchase (in total 1319.83 GBP).
"As a gesture of goodwill, Mr. and Ms. Elliott were also offered 1000 EUR and 300 EUR on top in Kiwi.com credits, contributing to future honeymoon plans."
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