Airline books 1-year-old onto a different flight than their parents

Can you imagine?

As a parent it's stressful enough planning a family holiday, especially if it's abroad. A big issue that a lot of families come up against on airlines is that sometimes children and their parents can't be seated together, but one airline took this to the extreme when they booked a one-year-old baby onto a different flight than their parents! Parents Stephanie and Andrew Braham say that Qantas Airways booked their 13-month-old onto a different flight than them when they were trying to return home to Australia. They say they booked the flights that went from Amsterdam from Rome, then from Amsterdam to Bangkok, Thailand, and finally Bangkok to Australia nine months in advance. The couple were told by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which partners with Qantas, at the check-in desk that their baby wasn't included in their booking on the flight and was actually booked on the following flight. In short, the baby would be travelling alone on the flight after their parent's flight had already left. Speaking to Insider, Stephanie said;

"She was on a different flight that departed 40 minutes after ours. We initially had flights booked through Qantas with British Airways. A couple of months later, I was notified there was an issue in relation to one of the connecting flights and so Qantas rebooked us over the phone with these KLM flights so I think that's where the error arose."

The airline on the other hand insisted that it was not their fault and the couple and their child had to miss their flight home and stay in a hotel over night.

"It was so stressful because we didn't know if we were ever going to get home."

The family eventually got back to Australia but at significant cost having spent $15,000 Australian dollars on extra accommodation, food and travel, of which they don't know if they will be conpensated for;

"[Qantas] haven't confirmed whether they'll compensate us for those financial losses."

What an absolute nightmare!