Hundreds of holiday makers have been stranded in Bali. Photo / 123RF; File
Hundreds of holiday makers have been stranded in Bali. Photo / 123RF; File
Stranded tourists are being charged hundreds of dollars for overstaying their visas in Bali as they battle flight cancellations and delays.
Travellers have taken to social media to vent their anger at being forced to pay $100 a day to remain in Indonesia as they wait for their flights home.
One commenter noted they had been forced to pay $600 after they were unable to leave the idyllic island.
"I just spoke to an operator re my cancelled Bali to Darwin flight, I am re-booked for Tuesday which will incur a one day visa overstay fine," one man from Darwin wrote in a Facebook group about Jetstar.
"The operator said they will not take responsibility for this fee."
An Adelaide woman echoed his grievances after experiencing a similar struggle on her return home.
"Our 23.45 flight out of Denpasar was cancelled and our visas expired. Two days later we finally got a flight and paid $200 each to Immigration in a tiny office in Aust(ralian) cash," she wrote.
"Jetstar will not help with 1 cent. We tried every possible angle to extend with no success anywhere."
A Jetstar spokesperson told NCA NewsWire that travellers impacted by cancellations were entitled to receive compensation for accommodation up to $150 per room and meals up to $30 per person.
The spokesperson also said customers were entitled to other "reasonable" expenses that would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
A South Australian woman noted that compensation did not include the pricey visa fees.
"We had absolutely no luck at all with Jetstar recouping $400 … not a penny," she said in an online forum.
Travellers have been forced to pay hundreds of dollars after overstaying their visas due to flight cancellations. Photo / Kharl Anthony Paica, Unsplash
The added financial stress comes as travellers have been forced to wait days to fly home or pay thousands of dollars for new flights amid a raft of Jetstar flight cancellations.
Due to the lack of direct Indonesian air links from New Zealand, many Kiwis have been caught up in the travel chaos.
Since the start of September, flights between Australia and Bali have been cancelled every day due to engineering issues and staff shortages.
Last week, thousands of Aussie and Kiwi travellers were stranded after a spate of flight cancellations by the aviation operator.
Jetstar said four Boeing 787 aircraft had to be taken out of circulation due to a range of issues.
"These aircraft have been impacted by issues including a lightning strike, a bird strike, damage from an item on the runway and delays sourcing a specific spare part from the US due to global supply chain challenges," the spokesman said.
