Hidden costs of holidaying at home

REBECCA Woolfe had nowhere to go. She and her family were forced to shell out $4300 to get where they wanted.

“WE HAD four kids at the airport and nowhere to go. What choice did we have? It was $4300, and we had to pay it.”

Rebecca Woolfe and her husband, from Dubbo in western New South Wales, planned a special summer holiday for their children in Melbourne and Perth.

It was December 30, and just as they were returning their hire car at Melbourne Airport, they got a text message saying their flight to Western Australia had been cancelled.

“We rang the call centre and they told us not to stress, because the ladies at the desk were working out how to get everyone on flights. We lined up, and there were only three people ahead of us, but then we were told there were no flights,” Ms Woolfe told news.com.au.

“We offered to pay to get ourselves to Sydney if they could find a flight from Sydney to Perth for us, but they couldn’t change the origin of our tickets.

“We had no options unless we wanted to wait in Melbourne until January 3 to fly with Tiger, because at that time of year all the tickets were sold out.

“Even if we stayed in Melbourne, we would have had to pay for everything all over again and we already had accommodation booked in Perth.”

In the end, the family had no choice but to accept a refund. However, it would take six weeks to redeem the $1200 they spent on the original flight.

“The kids were worried, they were asking: ‘We’re still going, aren’t we?’ And my husband and I said, ‘Yeah, don’t worry, it will be fine’,” Ms Woolfe said.

She told news.com.au the family tried booking a Jetstar flight, but it was impossible to find enough seats for six people.

Eventually, they booked seats on a Virgin flight, shelling out $730 per person — a total of more than $4300 — for the expensive last-minute tickets.

Rebecca Woolfe’s family missed out on a trip to Rottnest Island.

The kids had a great time at the beach, but Ms Woolfe said they had to miss out on a lot of other things, like snorkelling at Rottnest Island, due to the cost.

“Even when the refund comes through, we’re still going to be $3000 short. We agree with the whole ‘You get what you pay for’ thing, that’s totally true,” she said.

“My husband works away, so it’s just me and the four kids at home. He works really hard. Looks like saving for our own home will take just that little bit longer.”

Like most Australians who holiday at home, they didn’t have travel insurance.

However, statistics from finder.com.au shows that more than a third of people who travel domestically experience some kind of hiccup.

It’s not just problems with flights, either. For example, more than 7 per cent of people have been involved in a car crash on holiday, while more than 5 per cent have had their accommodation cancelled or had plans affected by severe weather events.

“You think since it’s domestic, you’ll just be able to sort out whatever happens, but disasters can happen at home just as easily as somewhere else. You get lulled into a false sense of security,” finder.com.au’s Angus Kidman told news.com.au.

He said insurance gives you options you wouldn’t have had otherwise. In terms of flights, insurers can chip in to help you find accommodation or book flights with a different airline, rather than waiting for the original airline to sort itself out.

“It gives you more opportunities to sort things out and be flexible,” he explained.

Storms threw a spanner in the works of Mandy Collins’ Gold Coast holiday. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Mandy Collins, who’s based in Sydney, travelled to the Gold Coast with her husband and two adult children a few years back when severe weather hit southeast Queensland.

She and her husband flew back to Sydney, but on approach, the pilot told passengers they’d missed curfew and would have to fly back to the Gold Coast.

She said landing in the wild weather back at Coolangatta was terrifying, and that it took two approaches to touch down due to the strength of the wind gusts.

“When we landed, the airline did offer accommodation, but they told us if we had alternate accommodation to please access that because it was going to be crazy trying to find places for everyone to stay,” she told news.com.au.

“Our kids were still there, we’d rented a three-bedroom apartment they were staying in, so we just went and stayed with them.”

However, even though they didn’t reach their destination, the fact that they’d checked in and boarded the plane meant they were considered ineligible for a refund.

“It was very badly handled, I thought. That’s not boarding our flight! We didn’t even take the accommodation, and now you’re telling me you can’t do anything about it? Eventually they agreed to do our flights, but it was a nightmare. My husband got out two days later, and I got out the day after him,” she told news.com.au.

However, as there were no flights departing from the Gold Coast, they had to get themselves to Brisbane and then shell out for their own accommodation as well.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be a huge expense to add a sour note to your trip.

One in 20 domestic travellers are affected by natural disasters. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

Edward Wong had been on holiday in Sydney, and was driving back to Adelaide with his partner in 2014 when they were caught out by huge bushfires.

“We had two cars, and there were barricades set-up on the roads, and police and what not, and we had to turn back to the nearest accommodation for the night, which I think was Swan Reach,” he told news.com.au.

They spent about $180 on accommodation for the night, plus extra travel costs such as food and fuel, and were able to finish their journey the next day.

Of course, you can always choose to pay for unexpected costs as they arise.

On top of that, one of the big drawcards of travelling domestically is that Medicare or your own health insurance will cover any unforeseen medical expenses.

However, is it worth the disruption while you’re on holiday?

Originally published as Hidden costs of holidaying at home