A Qantas passenger has faced a ‘nightmare’ return to Sydney after being stranded at a US airport for more than 24 hours, only to learn her suitcase was also missing.
A Qantas customer who was one of around 200 passengers on a delayed flight to Sydney has been told her luggage is still in the US state of Texas.
Laura Taylor, whose QF8 flight from Dallas Fort Worth Airport was delayed more than 24 hours, told SkyNews.com.au she had a “catastrophic” experience from the time she had booked his tickets.
The Boeing 787-9 flight took off 25 hours after its scheduled departure time and landed in Sydney on Friday morning.
But when it came time to collect her luggage, Ms Taylor waited for her suitcase, only to be told she was still in Dallas.
“So we have already been waiting for a long time and we waited and waited for all the bags to go around and I kind of saw that they stopped coming out and there were still a lot of customers waiting,” a- she declared.
Ms Taylor said she and around 20 other passengers on board were asked to complete a report before being given a number to call.
“And the look on my face would have said it all,” she said.
But lost luggage was just one of many setbacks Ms Taylor faced during her experience with the national airline.
The couple had booked return flights to Dallas for a wedding in April when Qantas accidentally charged them double the price.
“So what should have been a little over $6,000 for the two of us, they ended up charging a little over $12,000,” she said.
The pair got their money back after several attempts to contact customer service.
The QF8 flight back to Sydney was delayed due to a technical problem after the plane pushed back the gate, a Qantas spokesperson told SkyNews.com.au.
“Due to the longer than expected duration of the resolution and curfew restrictions at Sydney Airport, the flight had to be delayed a second time,” they said.
Ms Taylor said passengers were given an ‘A4 piece of paper’ telling them they had been booked in for a flight at 11.30am the next day.
“We arrived at 9am to check in and there was no Qantas employee to talk to,” she said.
The airline then told passengers the flight had been rescheduled for 10 p.m. that evening.
“We were supposed to leave at 10 p.m. so it got delayed just because there were two check-in counters in operation, we waited in line for over 2 hours,” she said.
“I passed, boarded the plane, sat for an hour and a half and finally took off at 11:30 p.m..”
The mother-of-three, who had young children waiting for her at home, described the whole experience as an “absolute nightmare”.
“We are a Qantas family, we have always flown with Qantas and that was definitely not what it was anymore,” she told SkyNews.com.au.
“There were quite a few people in the queue mentioning the same kind of thing. It was an absolute nightmare. I’ve never had a travel experience like this.
“We have three small children, they stayed home with my parents, so I was beside myself knowing we couldn’t come home.”
A Qantas spokesperson previously told SkyNews.com.au they understood it was a ‘difficult situation’ for customers whose plans were disrupted and apologized for the inconvenience caused.
“Our team at Dallas Fort Worth Airport provided assistance to customers after the initial delay and again prior to the delayed departure,” the spokesperson said.
Ms Taylor said that although the airline issued an apology via the media, it would be appreciated if she sent a personal message.
“We don’t really feel like they apologized to us,” she said.
“Don’t get me wrong, the airport staff were very apologetic and sensitive to our situation, but I just feel like we’ve just been added to the queue for all these complaints .
“My heart goes out to the multiple families who have had these little children.”
SkyNews.com.au has contacted Qantas for comment.
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