A BRIT couple stranded in the Maldives by the Iran war say they’re facing a staggering £12,000 hotel bill after being forced to extend their stay in paradise for nearly two weeks.
Holidaymaker Andrea Pendrey and her partner flew out for a relaxing break before she began breast cancer treatment back in the UK.
But their dream trip turned into a nightmare when missile strikes across the Middle East shut down airspace, grounding flights and leaving them stuck thousands of miles from home.
Andrea was due to start treatment last Thursday, but she is now desperately trying to get back to Britain as the costs pile up.
She told the BBC: “Even though this place is paradise, we’ve been crying and feel really upset.”
The pair arrived at the airport expecting to fly home on March 1, only to discover their flight had been cancelled hours after the war erupted.
“Emirates just told us we need to find a room, at our own cost and the airport was filling up with more and more people,” Andrea said.
They eventually found a room at a resort, but the price tag is eye-watering.
“We reckon we’ll have forked out an extra £12,000 by the time we leave,” she said.
The couple have had to stick the costs on a credit card, with Andrea admitting: “The money is stressing me out.”
Her partner had already lost his job before the holiday, piling even more pressure on their finances.
Andrea added she is trying not to dwell on the delay to her cancer treatment.
“I’m trying not to think about it too much. I need to get home for my chemo. It’s not helping being here.”
Most travel insurance policies do not cover disruption caused by war, meaning many stranded holidaymakers must pay the bills themselves.
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Andrea’s insurer has since classified the situation as a medical emergency, and the couple now hope to fly home via Frankfurt on Monday.
They are far from alone.
More than 140,000 Britons registered their presence in the Middle East with the UK government after the US and Israel launched a major attack on Iran.
Other British travellers say they too have been left stranded, stressed and out of pocket as flights across the region are cancelled.
Lauren Higgins and Adam Wilson were also stuck in the Maldives when their return flight via Bahrain was scrapped.
The couple had booked a “once in a lifetime luxury holiday”, but are now staying in a £500-a-night Holiday Inn, the Daily Star reports.
They have already spent £2,500 and fear they could be trapped for three weeks.
Meanwhile, Sarah Short, 54, and her husband Ed, 58, were forced to take a desperate eight-hour taxi ride across the desert from Dubai to Muscat after their flight home was cancelled.
The pair shelled out £1,500 for the 300-mile journey.
“It was absolute chaos, ” Mrs Short said of the airport.
“There were people who were absolutely in floods of tears, sobbing, shaking.”
In Thailand, Laura and Paul Webster say they’ve been told there are no flights home for two weeks after their connections via Dubai kept getting cancelled.
“We’ve got work, we’ve got kids. We want to get back ASAP,” Mrs Webster said.
“It’s just horrible. It’s literally a holiday from hell.”
