The family, who came to New Zealand as refugees in 2016, say a local travel agency should be doing more to help.
However, the agency says while it sympathises with the family, the issue was Turkish Airlines’ responsibility, and the airline had no obligation to refund the tickets.
Dunedin couple Malak Akkam and Mohomed Ghanam said they deserved a refund for the $4000 they spent to visit sick relatives in the Middle East after their original flights were cancelled when conflict broke out along the Israel-Lebanon border.
The couple were still struggling with the debt they had taken on to afford the tickets and additional costs and were sick of the lack of answers.
In September last year, the couple and one of their children booked a Dunedin-to-Beirut return trip from Flight Centre, intending to visit family members in Syria.
However, their Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Beirut was cancelled days before its departure, as was their return flight, when regional conflict spilled into Lebanon.
The family had no travel insurance as Mrs Akkam believed no provider would cover a trip to the Middle East, but she had thought a refund was possible regardless.
They spent about $4000 on flights to Egypt to meet Mr Ghanam’s brother and his mother there but were unable to see members of Mrs Akkam’s family in Syria.
She knew it would be many years before she could see them — "we are already now minus money ... we have lots of debt".
After a month in Egypt, the family returned to Istanbul and flew back to New Zealand as intended.
Flight Centre had said it could only help the family once they had returned to New Zealand. However they were then told to contact the airline for a refund, she said.
"I tried to reach Turkish Airlines but no answer," Mrs Akkam said.
"I know it is not their mistake, because the war started in Lebanon, but they should just refund, because the flight didn’t happen .... they cancel [flights], we pay more, and that makes us have more debt."
Mr Ghanam had also paid for accommodation and urgent visas for his family to get to Egypt which totalled about $10,000, she said.
The stress of mounting debt with no clear solution was "too much" for the family and Mrs Akkam was not satisfied with Flight Centre’s response. She said they should be doing more to help.
A Flight Centre spokesperson said once the family’s flights had been cancelled, a travel agent told them Turkish Airlines would offer onward travel to some destinations but would not offer a refund for the Istanbul to Beirut trip.
"The customer [needed] to advise us and Turkish Airlines that they no longer needed the return sector they had originally booked from Beirut to Istanbul [and] Flight Centre made the customer aware of the need to communicate their plans with the airline."
The flights between Turkey and Egypt had not been booked through Flight Centre and the company had "no jurisdiction over this transaction", the spokesperson said.
The company empathised with the family’s situation and, "as a gesture of goodwill", had asked on the family’s behalf for a refund for the Istanbul-Beirut-Istanbul sectors booked through the travel agent.
"Turkish Airlines have no obligation to provide this given they were clear in their position prior to making the changes, and we informed the customers of this," the spokesperson said.
"Unfortunately, at this stage, the airline is unable to accommodate the customer’s requested change to the original agreement."
The spokesperson strongly recommended comprehensive travel insurance for anyone travelling overseas.
