Filipino resident of Oakhurst NSW bought his plane ticket from a travel agent based in Blacktown but was unable to board the Qantas Flight. He was told that his e-ticket issued by the travel agent was not valid.
Jaime Reyes (not his real name) had earlier paid Travel Access $1,270.96 for a Sydney/Manila/Sydney airfare on board Qantas. The e-ticket included a connecting flight to Davao via Philippine Airlines.
Upon check-in, he was shocked to find out that the ticket he bought was not valid. To make the trip on the same day, he was compelled to buy another return airfare from Malaysian Airlines which cost him another $1,400.00. The trip took a bit longer because of a stopover at Kuala Lumpur, then to Manila and ultimately to Davao.
Upon his return to Sydney, he was accompanied by a former employee of Travel Access to its original location in Flushcombe Road. It was only then when he noticed that the name has been changed to Maya Travel. He was further informed that the original owners of Travel Access have retired.
Somehow, he got his money back from Maya Travel whose owner appeared to have assumed the liabilities of Travel Access.
The Travel Compensation Fund listed Allied-Summa Travel & Tours Pty Ltd (trading as Travel Access) as among those travel agencies that were terminated for the period 09/03/2014 to 08/05/2014. It has been alleged that customer claims have amounted to some $250,000.