An Australian family still waiting to return home from Bali four days after being caught up in the world’s biggest computer meltdown have spoken openly about their holiday hell and being stranded on Jetstar.
David and Livia Sharp, from Sydney, and their two daughters, aged eight and 12, spent the recent school holidays on the Indonesian island and were due to return home last Friday.
But it was only when the family arrived at Denpasar airport that they were informed that their flight had been cancelled.
His plane was grounded due to a faulty CrowdStrike update that caused computers running Microsoft Windows to crash around the world hours earlier.
“We had a late flight so it was already 8.30am (Bali time), it was getting quite late, the kids were tired and there was no communication before we left for the airport,” Ms Sharp said. News from heaven.
The family said Jetstar offered them $10 meal vouchers and told them to return to their hotel and the airline would send them updates.
But when the family had not heard from the budget airline 24 hours later, the stranded Sydney residents called Jetstar but said they had received no help.
The family have vowed never to fly with Jetstar again.
David and Livia Sharp (pictured) said it was only when the family turned up for their flight on Friday night that they were told they could not fly home.
More than 150 Jetstar flights had to be cancelled on Friday night due to a worldwide technological glitch (pictured, a Jetstar self-service check-in not working on Friday)
“There was no compensation for lodging or anything, food, etc., which is probably going to run into the thousands of dollars at this point,” Sharp said.
While the family’s travel insurance should cover additional accommodation costs, they say Jetstar will not cover any further accrued expenses.
The airline offered the Sharps a return flight to Sydney on Saturday before they found an alternative Qantas flight the night before.
While an extra week in Bali may seem ideal to many tourists, the family’s nightmare trip has left Sharp feeling hopeless and exhausted.
“My kids are very upset, they’re all ready to go home, they’re missing school, David’s missing work, we’re also in the process of selling our house, so that was pretty stressful,” she said.
Ms Sharp said they have spent hours on hold on the phone with airlines and insurance companies instead of enjoying their extended holidays.
Daily Mail Australia understands that, like other budget airlines around the world, the technological failure affected multiple systems at the airline, including the system used to communicate with customers.
On Friday evening, more than 150 flights were cancelled and Jetstar offered customers free flight changes for up to 14 days or a voucher refund.
Ms Sharp said it had not been as long a holiday as people thought, as she had spent “hours” making calls to the airline and her insurance company (pictured, tourists in Bali watching the sunset).
A Jetstar spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that they can understand how “frustrating” the experience has been for their passengers.
“We appreciate your patience and understanding as our teams worked to resolve the impacts of the IT issues and get you up and running as quickly as possible,” they said.
The Sharps were offered and accepted an alternative flight leaving on Wednesday.
Most customers affected by international flight cancellations have now been rebooked onto other Jetstar and Qantas flights, or have chosen the option of a full refund.
Daily Mail Australia understands that all affected flights are being compensated, including those on the day of the technology incident.
The software flaw, which affected 8.5 million computers worldwide, has caused a loss of revenue believed to be at least $1 billion nationwide.