Aussie slams major airline after ‘mistake’ costs her more than $6,000 as she desperately tries to get her money back: ‘They’re ignoring us’

An Aussie woman has lashed out at a major airline, claiming that a mistake by staff turned her trip to the US into a nightmare that left her $6,000 out-of-pocket.

Melbourne woman Daniella Melfi explained that she, her partner, and children flew to America on July 1 to visit her husband’s family.

‘This was a trip that was, financially, a bit of a struggle, but we knew it was really important to take,’ she said in a TikTok video on Friday.

Ms Melfi said she was excited and that the trip ‘overall’ was ‘beautiful and amazing’.

She said the trip was ‘tainted’ because of a mistake made by American Airlines, accusing the carrier of not notifying her that one of her return flights had been cancelled, with Ms Melfi only finding out about it on the day of her departure.

Ms Melfi said the airline had a duty to notify her under DOT regulations, and argued that she would have been able to avoid this whole dilemma and book new flights well ahead of time, if she was notified about the change at the start. 

The frustrated traveller explained that she and her family had initially travelled from Austin to Minneapolis via Dallas.

‘That flight was very odd, because we had a very small connection time in Dallas to get to our next flight,’ Ms Melfi said.

‘We just assumed the gates were near each other. They weren’t. We had to run through the airport Home Alone-style.’

Ms Melfi claimed once the family reached the gate, they were stopped from boarding the plane because the ‘doors were closed’.

She said a staff member ‘booked us on the next flight to Minneapolis’.

Ms Melfi claimed the staff member accidentally cancelled the return flight they would need to catch back to Dallas.

‘We didn’t know about it, because there was no email, no notification, so we went about our trip like nothing was wrong,’ she said.

‘We knew we were going to return home on July 24.’

Ms Melfi said the day of departure came and she said her ’emotional goodbyes to everyone’.

‘We get to the airport to be told, “Your booking does not exist”,’ she said.

She explained her family needed to catch an American Airlines flight to Dallas so they could catch the international flight back home to Melbourne with Fiji Airways.

Ms Melfi said she was informed at the desk at the airport she should have received an email about the change to her flights.

‘No, an email wasn’t sent to us,’ she said. ‘We have been blindsided.’

She claimed staff informed her there would be no flights available until the next day, meaning Ms Melfi and her family would miss their international flight from Dallas.

Ms Melfi explained she tried to speak to Fiji Airways, but couldn’t get a flight a couple of days later, and she would need to make a new booking and pay a penalty fee.

She claimed the total cost came to $6,322.

Ms Melfi said she did everything she could to try and find a way around it. 

‘In the end, after being at that desk for over four hours, with our family and kids, we had to pay the $6,322 so that we would have a seat on the plane two days later,’ she said.  

‘Two days later, we fly home. We’ve missed work, the kids have missed school, and American Airlines are coming up with nothing.

Ms Melfi claimed she was offered some ‘miles’ and a ‘$50 voucher’ by American Airlines.

She said she just wanted her ‘money back’, prompting them to file an official complaint.

Ms Melfi said she has yet to hear back from American Airlines since their last correspondence on July 31.

Social media users were left divided, with some arguing a traveller should always use the same airline for their connecting flights.

‘This is a prime example not to do separate bookings when travelling internationally,’ one wrote.

‘The little savings she originally saved, cost her big $$$. Now she’s crying wolf. They were only responsible for the domestic flight. Good luck. You’re wasting your time.’

Others shared their sympathy for Ms Melfi.

‘I hope you get your money back!’ one wrote.

Daily Mail contacted American Airlines for comment.