Coronavirus: Qantas offers Gold Coast customer $29 refund for cancelled international flight

Qantas has offered unhappy Gold Coast customer Kim Findlay a full refund on a return flight she never took – but there’s quite an unusual catch.

QANTAS has offered Gold Coaster Kim Findlay a $700 refund for a return flight to Australia – but she will have to fly overseas to claim it.

The Southport resident was planning to run seven half-marathons in eight weeks across the United States before coronavirus hit.

But she cut her sporting holiday short after the events were axed and the Australian Government urged ­citizens to return home.

Four weeks into her holiday, Ms Findlay returned early to Australia on March 22 shelling out $2000 for a new return flight. At that point Qantas contacted her about her original ­return flight she never got to take.

Qantas customer Kim Findlay has been offered $700 credit only for a return flight from the USA, or a $29 voucher for a refund of her cancelled flight from the USA after the coronavirus outbreak. Picture Glenn Hampson

“Four days after I got back they told me my flight was cancelled and I’d get a credit,” she said.

“They told me I had a $700 credit but I’d only get that if I flew a flight ­returning from the US.

“That’s not reasonable. They want me to fly back to the United States and apply for a return flight.

“(The Qantas staffer) said it’s up to me and the only other option was they’d give me a refund for $29.”

The nurse, 36, said while she was in the US no information was supplied to her by Qantas.

Unable to get a new flight through Qantas, Ms Findlay said she spent $2000 to fly from Houston to Brisbane via Auckland with another airline.

“It’s so unreasonable to expect me to fly all the way back over to the US to get my refund – or get $29,” she said.

“If they said they’d let me use that credit for any other flight, like a ­domestic flight, I’d understand but to expect someone to go back overseas so they can get a refund is ridiculous.”

Qantas customer Kim Findlay is unhappy with the carrier’s offer. Picture: Glenn Hampson

The Qantas website says flight credits can only be redeemed if the new fare amount is equal to or higher than the original fare and the flight is departing from the country in which the original booking was made.

A Qantas spokesperson said passengers whose flights were cancelled were automatically given a flight voucher for a later date.

“If they’d like to look at other options they are advised to contact Qantas and an agent will be able to assist them,” the spokesperson said.

“We are experiencing a high volume of customer queries so we do thank customers for their patience.”