Wellington, March 4: An American couple was charged a whopping Rs 13,000 New Zealand Dollars (about Rs 6.5 lakhs) for changing their return flight after the woman received a sudden medical prognosis, according to a report in Radio New Zealand. Todd, 60, and Patricia Kerekes, 75, were vacationing in Aotearoa when she received the news that she had only four months to live due to gallbladder cancer. They flew business class on Air New Zealand in January from New York to Auckland, where they planned to stay until April.

Patricia was diagnosed six weeks into the vacation. Their surgeon advised the 60-year-old to come home immediately, so she phoned the airlines to rearrange their journey. The cost of the roundtrip tickets was 37,500 NZD. US: Couple's Date Night Turns Nightmare After Stranger Breaks Into Their Home, Takes Shower and Sits Naked on Couch Before Getting Arrested in Tennessee.

I informed them on the first phone that my wife was very sick, that we were on vacation, and that we had to return home. There were extended intervals of silence during which I was unable to discern if they were having discussions with fellow employees or using the computer for some other purpose. However, I would have a string of 15- to 30-minute hold times, and occasionally the people would basically come back and tell me something I didn't want to hear, like it was going to cost me NZ$13,000 to change my flight, Todd explained. Todd said he was "momentarily stupefied" and that the new seats were around $100 more expensive than what he had previously paid. US Couple Kills 11-Year-Old Son by Forcing Him to Drink 3 Litres of Water in Just 4 Hours as His Urine Was Dark! Here's What You Should Know About Death By 'Water Intoxication'.

It seemed impossible that the number of flights could have increased by so much because it was such a huge quantity. The amount they were billing me was four times higher than the rise in the cost of the flights, according to Todd. In his four hours of trying to negotiate a fair price, he said, he was disconnected three times. He wasn't asked for paperwork or evidence supporting his wife's diagnosis, nor was he presented with any humane alternatives.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 04, 2024 12:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).