A young couple’s dream holiday has turned into a nightmare, after their travel agent booked them the wrong flights to fly home.
Devon Kilkelly, 21 and Tomas Woodford Webb, 20 from Dunedin, New Zealand, booked their trip through STA Travel to return to a nursery school in Ngara that Devon had worked at in 2015.
The couple followed the itinerary given to them by STA thoroughly, until they arrived at Zambia airport on the final day of their trip after visiting Victoria Falls.
Much to their horror, they were told that their return flights were booked not from the Zambian airport they were at, but out of Zimbabwe, hundreds of kilometres away.
Devon Kilkelly, 21 (pictured left) and Tomas Woodford Webb, 20 (pictured right) from Dunedin, New Zealand, booked their trip through STA Travel to return to a nursery school in Ngara that Devon had worked at in 2015 and were left horrified when their return flights were booked out from an entirely different African country
‘We were just in absolute shock – we just couldn’t believe it, and we just didn’t know what to do,’ Ms Kilkelly said appearing on Fair Go.
Given just two hours to travel across the border to Zimbabwe airport and fill out exit and entry forms, the couple missed their flights home.
Stranded in the unknown airport with no cash, and unable to reach STA’s 24-hour help desk, the couple’s anger quickly turned to fear.
‘No one was manning the Ethiopian airlines desk and all the ATMs were maxed out and we had no USD. We couldn’t even pay our taxi driver. Our sim cards for Zambia did not work in Zimbabwe and we were 100% stuck.’ Ms Kilkelly told Daily Mail Australia.
The Smart Traveller website warns travellers to exercise a high degree of caution in Zimbabwe due to the risk of crime and the possibility of civil unrest and political violence.
The couple (pictured) followed the itinerary given to them by STA thoroughly, until they arrived at Zambia airport on their final day of their trip after visiting Victoria Falls
The couple had visited Victoria Falls, located in Zambia, with their parents on the final day of their trip before travelling to what they thought would be their returning home airport (stock image)
‘It was an absolutely horrid feeling and we felt extremely abandoned by our travel company.’ she said.
After several failed attempts to get through to STA’s 24-hour help desk, they were forced to shell out more than $5000 for new flights home.
When they were finally able to get through to STA, they were told they should have checked their itinerary, despite having never mentioned Zimbabwe.
Ms Kilkelly had asked to fly out from Zambia so she could visit Victoria Falls with her parents.
When given the itinerary by STA, it clearly stated Victoria Falls, which is in Zambia.
After STA were contacted by Fair Go, they agreed to refund the couple for their flights, costs and even their tax back from their unused flights, all of which Devon has promised to send to the nursery school in Malawi.
The couple had two-and-half hours to fill out the entry and exit forms at Zambia airport and travel over the border to Zimbabwe to make their return flights home (map image)
Ms Kilkelly had written an email (pictured) to STA Travel specifically asking to fly out from Zambia so she could visit Victoria Falls with her parents
The itinerary (pictured) given to Ms Kilkelly. Nowhere on the itinerary does it state Zimbabwe
In a statement to the TV show, STA said: ‘We would never knowingly put any customers in a position where they were unable to travel and we take any problems of this nature extremely seriously.’
‘For this reason we do ask that customers check their documentation closely and alert us to any queries or concerns.’
Ms Kilkelly told Daily Mail Australia that despite this statement, they had previously asked STA for a refund three times, all of which were declined.
‘The travel agent sent us a rude email saying ‘Sorry Tomas and I had gone to the wrong airport, and hoped we get back to New Zealand OK’.