A woman’s travel horror story has shocked TikTok users after she shared her experience of traveling to the airport and learning her flight had been canceled five months ago.
TikTok user @parishilton49 told her viewers about her experience booking a holiday package to Greece with online travel agent On the Beach. She booked the $4500AUD holiday package to the Greek city of Thessaloniki in October last year in preparation for a May summer holiday.
But when she attempted to check-in online, she couldn’t find their flight.
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So she went to Bristol Airport to inquire about her flight which was scheduled for 6am the next day. The check-in assistant told her there was no flight to Thessaloniki and that, upon further inspection, the flight she had been booked on was canceled five months earlier.
The TikTok user said, “I am such a nervous flyer as it is, I absolutely hate it, so to hear this just sent me through the biggest anxiety of my life.”
She said she had never been informed by On the Beach or the airline, nor had she received a refund.
To make things worse, the airport worker told her none of the airlines servicing Bristol Airport were going to Thessaloniki.
She and her travel partner had already paid for parking and a one-night stay at a hotel in Bristol in anticipation of their flight as they live far from the airport.
The worker told her the only way they could get to the Greek city was to drive for two hours to London and take a new flight. So they did.
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The travelers arrived at Gatwick Airport at 2am and paid an extra $1100AUD for the new flight along with more parking fees for their car.
They stayed up for another four hours to board their flight and luckily, their accommodation plans were still in place and the rest of their holiday worked out.
But when they arrived home and emailed On the Beach asking for compensation, they apologised, gave her a vague excuse that they tried to refund the flight and notify her months ago but that it didn’t process, and offered only some refunds.
While they compensated her for the difference in flight cost, the London Gatwick parking, the cost of the original canceled flight, and the transfer, they did not compensate her for any of the time she spent in Bristol or fuel costs for the drive to London .
The flight agent’s TikTok account replied to her original video after it went viral and offered a brief apology.
“You’re right, this sounds like a terrible experience and I can only apologize!” the comment read.
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in to follow up videothe TikTok user said she wasn’t that concerned about the money but rather wanted to make sure it didn’t happen to anyone else.
“It’s not so much the money that I’m worried about… It’s more the fact that we felt completely cheated of this holiday,” she said. “I don’t think this is something they can get away with.”
“I just want them to be able to take accountability and responsibility,” said the TikToker. “They have somewhat said y’know sorry it was an error but that’s not good enough.”
Viewers who followed her story were horrified.
One said, “Was just looking at booking with them… think we will pass.”
Another said, “Is this a joke??? They haven’t even refunded you for the hotel and parking you incurred because of THEIR ERROR absolutely insane.”
Many shared similar travel horror stories.
“I had the exact same thing with the last-minute, promised refund but it never came. So, [I] opened a small claims court and got all money plus parking,” said one user.
When chatting to others in the comments, the original TikTok poster suggested others “take it into your own hands with hotels and flights and don’t put your trust in them!”
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