Latest news with #travelnightmare
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Qantas blunder ruins couple's overseas holiday - weeks after the airline was rocked by a massive cyber attack affecting six million customers
An Australian businessman and his wife suffered a nightmare end to their US holiday courtesy of a bizarre and infuriating Qantas blunder. Craig Badings and his wife Margo had booked a long-haul flight leaving Los Angeles on Tuesday and were due to arrive back in Sydney on Thursday. They never made the flight because Qantas told them it had been it had been cancelled. The only problem was, according to Mr Badings, it hadn't been at all. Mr Badings said the flight took off when it was supposed to, just as they were making their way back from the airport after turning around due to the cancellation message. The principal at public relations firm SenateSHJ said he and his wife were instead stranded in LA. 'The best Qantas can offer us is a flight on Friday via Dallas to Sydney arriving Sunday morning - three days later than scheduled,' Mr Badings said. The initial test and email the couple got from Qantas told them that their flight - QF12 - had been 'delayed' and would be instead be leaving on Thursday. They were later told Qantas had failed to book them seats on the Thursday flight, resulting in the offer of leaving on Friday. After much back-and-forth with the airline the couple were eventually booked on a replacement flight a little earlier on Thursday morning. 'It's all been a bit of a debacle,' Mr Badings told Daily Mail Australia. 'Even a few hours before the flight, when our travel agent was dealing with Qantas, they didn't alert him that the flight was still going ahead as scheduled. 'I'm not sure whether this was related to the (recent) cyber incident, poor planning on Qantas' part, or just poor communications and a genuine mix up.' Mr Badings said the booking for their rescheduled flight on the 17th had disappeared from his Qantas app, meaning at one stage they weren't on any flights at all. 'Ten hours of calls to Qantas US (no help at all), the 24-7 Qantas number and we were finally booked via Dallas to Sydney on the 19th, arriving on Sunday the 20th. They said we couldn't get on the flight on the 17th,' he said. 'Then, when Australia woke up, we called our agent again and a few hours later we were informed we are indeed on the 10am flight (on the 17th).' With 30 years' experience advising major corporations and senior executives about communication and brand reputation, Mr Badings had some advice for the embattled national carrier. 'The message to Qantas would simply be over-communication in these situations,' he said. 'Not knowing and being able to get hold of someone when you are thousands of kilometres from home isn't great. And then keep us informed along the way.' Mr Badings urged fellow Qantas passengers to learn from his lesson and double check that cancellation texts and emails are valid. 'The message to others would be to call Qantas immediately and if in any doubt, go to the airport and speak to them in person,' he said. 'If we had done that, we would have been on the flight.' A Qantas spokesperson confirmed the mix-up was the result of an 'administrative error'. 'We sincerely apologise to Mr and Mrs Badings and understand how frustrating this experience would have been,' they said. 'The SMS sent to Mr Badings was a result of an administrative error and we are investigating how this occurred to ensure it doesn't happen again. 'The error is not related to the recent cyber incident. 'We have contacted Mr and Mrs Badings and rebooked them on the first available direct flight from Los Angeles to Sydney.' The couple will be compensated for any additional travel costs. The blunder comes after the airline fell victim to a cyber attack on June 30. Qantas was granted an interim injunction in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday to stop the compromised data of customers being accessed or released following the hack. The records of 5.7million Qantas customers were impacted when a third-party system used by an offshore call centre was hacked. The names, email addresses and frequent flyer details of four million customers were exposed. The remaining 1.7 million customers had more data taken, including their dates of birth, phone numbers, personal or business addresses, gender and meal preferences, prompting an apology from Qantas boss Vanessa Hudson. The airline has confirmed there was no evidence of any personal data being released, and no credit card or passport details or personal financial information had been accessed. 'In an effort to further protect affected customers, the airline has today obtained an interim injunction in the NSW Supreme Court to prevent the stolen data from being accessed, viewed, released, used, transmitted or published by anyone, including by any third parties,' a Qantas statement said on Thursday. 'We want to do all we can to protect our customers' personal information and believe this was an important next course of action.'
The Sun
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
EastEnders star details nightmare turbulence on flight after travel hell while battling with chronic illness symptoms
EASTENDERS star Melissa Suffield has revealed her nightmare journey home from a family holiday while battling her chronic illness. The actress - who used to play Lucy Beale in the BBC soap - was diagnosed with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) after experiencing "horrible nausea" in 2023. 2 2 And it has had a huge impact in her life - which makes her family holidays and quality time all the more precious. But today she has revealed that she had the journey from hell home - undoing the good the holiday did. Taking to Instagram, Melissa wrote: 'I've been a bit quiet because life has been a LOT. The trip away was so restorative but honestly the act of getting home undid it 'The ship didn't make it into the final port of my trip due to very bad weather, but obviously my flight was booked from there! 'So booked a flight home from the next available port very last minute, which was a midnight flight, which was delayed by 2 hours because of weather again, and then the ENTIRE 3 hour flight was mad turbulence and lightning out the window I s*** you not. 'I'm not a nervous flyer but I was on that flight. 'Honestly, not a fun experience, followed by only 4 hours of sleep and then a 3 hour train journey home with River and all my luggage. 'On the list of things I simply do not need in my life, this experience was a high ranking one.' Melissa added: 'Not aided by the fact that towards the end of the trip, my symptoms started getting worse. 'I think the combination of not eating anything other than steak and potatoes, as well as the stress of making a new very last minute plan and the childcare and everything that went along with that is probably what did it. Former EastEnders star has had '40 doctors appointments' and spent 'over five figures' amid gruelling health condition 'Also my period always makes everything worse- I've actually just had a test arrive that looks at your DNA and hormones to see if I can pin point anything I'm missing. 'But anyway, I am home now safe and sound, I have done all the washing, I've got full control over my diet again, and I've got my boy back. But I am feeling rough in a way that I haven't in a while, so l'm focusing all my energy on resting. What is SIBO? SIBO is also known as Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. Melissa experiences nausea, reflux, constipation, and other symptoms like her hair falling out and suffering from dry skin. According to the Mayo Clinic, the condition occurs "when there is an abnormal increase in the overall bacterial population in the small intestine — particularly types of bacteria not commonly found in that part of the digestive tract." Symptoms are listed as a loss of appetite, abdominal pain, nausea, bloating, an uncomfortable feeling of fullness after eating, diarrhea, unintentional weight loss, and malnutrition. 'I've got a really busy week next week too, so I've really got to try and get back on top of things quickly tbh. But when your nervous system is frazzled, that time limit way of thinking is completely counter productive.'
Daily Mail
05-07-2025
- Daily Mail
How a $6,000 mistake by a Qantas worker turned an Aussie couple's trip of a lifetime into a nightmare
A chronically ill woman missed out on her birthday 'trip of a lifetime' after a Qantas worker sent the replacement tickets to the wrong email when her flight was cancelled. Nadia Hall, 40, and her partner booked a flight from Perth to London, which departed on May 5. Due to an unexpected medical episode mid-flight, the plane was forced to make an emergency landing in the Maldives, where the couple became stranded. They waited for hours without knowing what to do until, Ms Hall received an email from Qantas advising that the flight could not be rebooked. Without any way of calling the airline and no sign of Qantas staff at the airport, the Melbourne couple made the difficult decision to head home after an eight-hour wait. They tried to find alternative options to get to the UK but local airport staff simply just 'shrugged' without offering help, Ms Hall claimed. Qantas didn't provide any reason for the cancellation at the time, so Ms Hall had no other option than to fork out the money for new flights to return to Australia. Things did not get any easier when they returned home, where Ms Hall waited two months before Qantas finally agreed to provide a refund. Ms Hall believed she only received the refund because she went public with her nightmare ordeal. 'I literally had to take this to the media before Qantas would lift a finger for me,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'This has been a huge setback. We're relieved it's over but I'm still recovering.' Ms Hall endured 65 hours without sleep and spent 34 hours in the air across five countries and five time zones as she worked to get back from the Maldives. Ms Hall has fibromyalgia and dysautonomia, which are triggered by stress. She had planned to spend her 40th birthday in the UK reuniting with family she hadn't seen in decades. She hopes to head there next year but has vowed to not fly with Qantas. 'We'll probably try booking the trip again in April or May next year, on a different airline obviously,' she said. The return trip home took Ms Hall and her partner through Kuala Lumpur and Auckland before they finally returned to Melbourne. When they returned, Ms Hall found out that she had in fact been provided a replacement flight from Qantas, which she never received. An airline employee misspelled Ms Hall's email, which meant she was never notified of the details about the replacement flight. 'I don't like to throw the word traumatised around, but given what this trip actually meant to me... It was my source of joy for so long... I'm heartbroken,' she said. 'Something so tiny took away something so big.' Ms Hall spent $6,109 to get back home, which she then needed to fork out another $200 to get back thanks to her insurance excess. Qantas has confirmed that it will fully reimburse Ms Hall.
The Sun
09-06-2025
- The Sun
Three-hour flight to Brit holiday hotspot turns into nightmare 32-HOUR saga as ‘passengers left vomiting & no food'
A THREE-HOUR flight to a Brit holiday hotspot turned into a nightmare 32-hour saga, with passengers left vomiting with no food. The Condor flight DE1234 was embarking on what was supposed to just be a simple flight from Zurich to Heraklion in Crete, Greece - but lasted over a day. 4 4 4 Despite taking off half an hour late, the flight seemed to be on course to reach its destination. And after two hours, the plane began its initial descent to the holiday hotspot Greek isle. But trouble began when the plane's landing was hindered by powerful winds, forcing it to spend hours circling round before the pilot decided to divert to Athens and refuel. The plane landed at the Greek capital at 11:24am - a whopping three hours after it originally departed Zurich. Around two-and-a-half hours later, the crew made another attempt to get the 137 people onboard to Heraklion - but this wasn't achieved, again. During the flight, many passengers were reportedly vomiting due to the terrifyingly powerful winds. And to add fuel to the fire, flyers were only given a glass of water during the whole flight. With weather conditions remaining severe, the plane circled around again before getting diverted to Kos to refuel. On the nearby Greek island, they landed at 3:28pm after a tiring, hour-and-a-half long flight. And with the aircraft again running low on fuel, another divert was made to Thessaloniki, the second largest city in Greece. Dramatic moment boozed up passenger is hauled off busy plane after VOMITING on another flier Here it was finally decided that passengers and flight attendants should spend the night. The plane touched down at 6:04pm - an unbelievable 11 hours after initially leaving Zurich. Passengers were reportedly forced to pay for their own hotel rooms but are entitled to reimbursement under European aviation guidelines. After a nights sleep, the next day at 9am, one last attempt was made to get to Crete - but wind continued to hinder their journey. Another diversion was made to Athens where it was agreed to give up and fly back to Zurich - 32 hours after their initial departure. Condor reps said: 'Due to extreme weather conditions and strong winds, takeoffs and landings at Heraklion Airport were only possible to a limited extent.' 4
The Sun
09-06-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Horrifying photos show the true cause of man's itchy eye – after he found a LEECH feasting on his eyeball
A BRIT travel agent's trip to test holiday hotspots became a "nightmare" when he discovered a leech sucking on his EYEBALL. Tony Exall was on a jungle tour near West Papua, Indonesia on May 22 this year when his left eye began to irritate him. 6 6 6 The 58-year-old blamed it on sweat or a tiny bug but two hours later a fellow visitor spotted that he actually had a leech on his eyeball. A horrifying photo shows Tony's bloodshot eye with the small black bloodsucker latched to the white area called the sclera. Tony grew concerned it might wriggle its way behind his eye so ended his trip early to find medical help. After six hours and trips to two hospitals a doctor extracted the leech using tweezers - despite the creature pulling on his eyeball tissue to hang on. Tony, who owns travel company Philippine Dive Holidays, was in Indonesia to test out locations for customers when he decided to head on a photography trip. The travel agent avoided catching an infection and achieved his aim of snapping a rare king bird-of-paradise minutes before the incident. He posted the video to Facebook where users described it as 'stuff nightmares are made of' and like 'something from a horror movie'. Tony, from Oxted, Surrey, said: "I came over here to investigate different places to work with in Indonesia so I thought, while I'm here, I want to do a bit of bird snapping. "We were waiting for the bird to turn up and I was sweating buckets. "I could feel something in my eye but I just thought it was a bug. I tried to get rid of it but couldn't so I tried to ignore it. NHS animated video on eye health "There were leeches everywhere and I must have used the back of my hand to wipe the sweat so I essentially wiped it into my eye. "A couple hours later we went to move on to somewhere else and one of my spotters pointed out the leech in my eye. "My biggest concern was that it would get round the back of my eye. He tried to pull it out with his fingers. "He was pinching my eyeball to get it out but the leech was fixed onto my eyeball. I tried rubbing it but I couldn't get it out." Tony had trekked two hours through the jungle near Malagufuk, West Papua, to reach an area known for king bird-of-paradise sightings. After having the leech pulled from his eye, Tony was prescribed eye drops and antibiotics to make sure he didn't develop an infection. Tony said: "We went to two hospitals to find someone that knew something about eyes. "At first he tried to remove it and that was quite sore because a leech grabs hold of something and starts to suck the blood. "He started to gently pull the leech which was quite sore as it was something pulling on my eyeball. "My next concern was how do you get it off my eye without leaving anything behind. "You hear these stories about tropical diseases and infections and having one in your eye is not the best place to have one. "The doctor then squirted some anaesthetic drops onto my eye, got some tweezers and pop, off it came. 6 6 6 "The tissue of my eye was being pulled. I have never had that sensation before." After sharing the "squeamish" photos of his eye on Facebook, freaked-out users were quick to comment on his bizarre experience. One user said: "I'm not usually squeamish but that is stuff from horror movies! Hope everything is okay now." Another added: "Omg you need a trigger warning on this post. Sounds awful, hope you recover quickly." A third said: "Stuff nightmares are made of." A fourth added: "Dangerous stuff, this photography."
