‘Christmas miracle’: Aussie gifts flight tickets to people in need

An Aussie has gifted flight ticket vouchers to people in need instead of letting them go to waste, performing the ultimate Christmas miracle.

An Aussie has been dubbed a “Christmas angel” after he gifted flight tickets to complete strangers in an attempt to ensure they don’t go to waste.

Posting to Reddit, the Secret Santa announced they are giving away a flight home for Christmas to anyone in need — free, no strings attached.

“I originally booked flights for my family and I to visit my parents in Australia from New Zealand for March 2020,” the anonymous poster explained.

“Virgin obviously cancelled the flights due to Covid and refused to refund me.”

“I’ve been hoping to eventually be able to use them but no luck,” they said.

“They’ve now told me I need to not just book using the credit but all flights must be before the 31st of December or they disappear.”

“It leaves me in the position to perform a Christmas miracle for someone who can’t afford to get home for Christmas,” they announced.

People were absolutely blown away by the generosity and many were keen to be considered for this generous act.

Christmas season is all about gifting. Picture: iStock

“I hope that your kind gesture makes someone’s Christmas a whole lot better — thank you, kind human,” one person wrote.

“This could help someone that might really need it right now,” agreed another.

A third person wrote: “Sending out a thank you for being a wholesome person. Super thoughtful of you mate.”

While another was brought to tears upon hearing of this generous offer: “You just made this Mama cry! Your parents should be so proud of you!”

After a long process of selecting the “right people”, the tickets were given away to two lucky Aussies in need of a miracle this Christmas.

The first recipient will now be able to visit their brother in Western Australia, who suffers from a medical condition and has not yet seen his 10 month old nephew.

“Thank you so much to this person for their generosity because of you I will get to see my brother for Christmas,” the first flight ticket receiver wrote.

“My brother is my only family and he lives in WA and I live in NSW, he suffers from AS (ankylosing spondylitis) and he probably doesn’t have many Christmas’ left in him,” they shared.

“You are an amazing person and you have brought my brother and I so much joy this Christmas and we can never repay your kindness, thank you so much.”

Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease which causes some of the bones in the spine to fuse, causing pain and stiffness.

The flights will no longer go to waste. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar

The second lucky person was gifted the opportunity to fly out their husband home to Brisbane to see his parents.

“I’d love to fly my husband home to Brisbane to see his parents (his mum has dementia and his dad recently had surgery),” they wrote

“Couldn’t afford it this year, but I’d love him to see them soon before she struggles to recognise him.”

After performing a Christmas Miracle the generous gifter had the audacity to apologise to those, who he could not assist.

“I’m so sorry to those of you that I was unable to help,” they wrote.

“Thanks to everyone who shared this post around and helped me find some people to help out.”

While they did not elaborate which Virgin flight ticket voucher they had, it is the Future Flight Credits that are expiring on the 31st of December this month.

A Virgin Australia spokesperson explained the Future Flight Credits were issued to customers who purchased flights with Virgin Australia before the company entered Administration in April 2020, where those flights were cancelled.

“The new Virgin Australia does not hold any of the funds customers paid for these bookings,” the spokesperson said.

“The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has publicly acknowledged Virgin Australia’s Future Flight Credits are different to ‘COVID Credits.’”

“We have extended the expiry date for Future Flight Credits twice in recognition of the challenges COVID posed to travel,” they explained.

“These credits will expire on 31 December 2023, over three years after they were issued.”

On the Virgin website, it states that Future Flight credit can only be used on Virgin Australia operated flights, including any future services Virgin Australia operates.

Approximately 3.5 million seats have been made available to be used with Future Flight Creditss, and approximately 1.5 million of those seats have been used, enabling customers to travel to over 35 destinations across 97 routes on domestic and short-haul international network.