One Kiwi traveller claims multiple flight cancellations left her $2500 out of pocket after she and her nine-year-old daughter were trapped in Bali for seven days.

On July 9, Aucklander Cathy Carpenter took her daughter to Bali for a two-week holiday. However, the trip ended up costing far more time and money than anticipated after Jetstar cancelled their flights, twice.

Months later, Carpenter is "furious" with the airline's lack of reliability and communication.

Carpenter and her daughter were booked to fly from Bali to Melbourne on Saturday, July 23, at 12.45pm. Their second overnight flight would arrive in Auckland on Sunday at 5am.

Carpenter said she would never ever fly Jetstar again. Photo / Supplied, Unsplash

Then, the day before their flight, they received an email from Jetstar saying their Melbourne to Auckland leg was cancelled. Carpenter then spent four hours trying to get through to the online customer service chat.

During the wait, she was relieved to be able to check the Jetstar website and see there were several flights from Melbourne to Auckland on Monday, July 25.

After connecting to a customer service employee, Carpenter asked if their Bali to Melbourne flight could be moved to Sunday and be rebooked one on of the several Melbourne to Auckland flights on Monday.

"I know there are no flights to Auckland after 8pm on the 24th so I wondered if we could change our first leg (Bali- Melbourne) until Sunday so that we don't have to stay in a hotel in Melbourne?" she wrote.

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Carpenter and her daughter's 2-week Bali holiday, turned into more than they bargained for. Photo / Supplied

Jetstar refused, for a reason Carpenter said travellers should be wary of.

In a message on the Jetstar website's online chat feature, she was told: "As the flight is connected or as one we cannot change the flight that has been cancelled without changing the entire return tickets. That means we will need a new flight from DPS - AKL."

Jetstar would have to rebook all return flights, the rep said. The next available flight was two days later, on July 26, and included an extra domestic connection between Melbourne and Sydney before continuing to Auckland.

Carpenter and her daughter would arrive home on Wednesday morning.

Desperate to get home for work, Carpenter asked if they could keep their Saturday flight to Melbourne, stay overnight and have accommodation costs covered. Then, they would take the next available flight home to Auckland.

The Jetstar rep said there was a direct flight from Melbourne to Auckland on July 26, however, it would be classed as a new booking, and two tickets would cost AU$1168.

"We can keep the flight DPS MEL but if we opt to change the flight that has been cancelled MEL AKL , yes, fees to book the new flight will incur."

Carpenter said the system didn't make sense and was something all travellers should be warned about.

"One leg can ruin a whole flight," she claimed.

Carpenter said she was frustrated with the 'radio silence' from Jetstar. Photo / Supplied

Refund offers little relief

The other option was to take credit or a refund for the cancelled Melbourne to Auckland flight. The refund would be for $366.18, but according to Carpenter two tickets from Melbourne to Auckland on July 25 would cost around $1000 per person.

After she double-checked there were no earlier flights, Carpenter agreed to the new flights on July 26.

Except, just days later, while preparing to leave for the airport, she got another email, cancelling their Bali to Melbourne flight due to 'operational issues'.

Second time lucky

Returning to the online chat feature, Carpenter agreed to have their itinerary totally rebooked for July 29. Fortunately, they could fly from Bali to Auckland with just one stop in Sydney.

Aside from the stress and time, Carpenter said the disruption also cost her up to $2500 of additional expenses.

When cancellations are within Jetstar's control, its policy offers customers up to AU$150 per room per night for accommodation. Carpenter said this wasn't close to enough.

"We were like seven days just kind of hanging out and dotting between hotels because they said, you know, you have to get it for this price, and I needed internet because I needed to start working again," she said, adding that cheaper accommodation didn't have reliable internet.

Once the pair finally arrived home, she lodged a formal complaint as she believes she is owed a full refund for incurred costs.

"I tried to claim and said here's the deal, it's not even that much more than you're willing to pay when you stack it up, but I do want you to refund the full amount because we had massive disruption that never even needed to happen."

Part of this cost includes a laptop, which Carpenter said she had to purchase in order to work.

"I tried for a whole day to rent a laptop so I ended up buying a cheap one so that I could start working," she said, adding that she has offered to return it to Jetstar.

Despite following up several times, she said it's been 'radio silence' and has taken it as a lesson.

"I would never, ever in my entire life fly with them again," she said, adding that their flights hadn't even been that much cheaper than other airlines.

"By the time we'd paid for things that usually come courtesy of flights, like baggage, I think in the end it was about the same as it would've been with Qantas."

One cancelled leg shouldn't ruin a whole journey, says Jetstar

When made aware of the incident, a Jetstar spokesperson said one cancelled leg should not mean an entire itinerary must be rebooked. Unless, a new flight does not allow for enough time to catch a connecting flight.

For example, when the Carpenters' July 29 flight from Bali to Melbourne flight was cancelled, a new flight would not have arrived in Sydney in time for her second flight. So, both were automatically rebooked.

However, in the first case, when the second flight was cancelled, Carpenter would have been able to make her original Bali to Melbourne fight, and only needed the second, cancelled flight rebooked.

When made aware of this particular incident, the spokesperson apologised for 'the frustration and inconvenience caused'. They said more should have been done to get Carpenter and her young daughter home.

"Given the difficult circumstances, Ms Carpenter should have been offered more flexibility to get her home as soon as possible," they said.

Although, they clarified that "a change of origin or destination is not included as part of our Starter Fare booking unless the customer has purchased FareCredit."

When a flight is cancelled, customers are notified as soon as possible via text message and email according to the spokesperson. Alternative flights can be booked via agents on the Live Chat feature, or by calling the contact centre, they said.

Customers could also be eligible for a refund, depending on the circumstances, the spokesperson added.

The airline has recently faced several disruptions to its service between Bali and Australia. Earlier this week an estimated 4000 passengers flying to and from Bali had been effected by delays and cancellations.