DES MOINES, Iowa — After an exciting win against Kansas State, thousands of Iowa State fans made the trek back across the pond, but for some fans, they never even got to Ireland in the first place.

Iowa State expected 10,000 Cyclones fans to make the trip over to Ireland for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic vs. Kansas State. Many of those fans booked travel packages through the official event travel agency “On Location”. 

Last week, WHO 13 introduced you to Eva and Tom Powers, who booked their trip to Ireland through On Location.

Also on their flight were John and Teri Sweeney, Iowa State alums from Pleasant Hill, who also used the agency to book their trip. Similar to the Powers family, the Sweeneys were flying out on Monday for the game and had travel issues due to weather in Chicago, where their layover was going to be. The only difference is that they never made it to Ireland.

“We did not feel like they were advocating for us at all, just putting us off,” said Teri Sweeney.

Teri says that after their flight was canceled on Monday, she and her husband went home and called On Location around the clock, even trying the agency’s emergency air team to get rebooked.

The Sweeneys saw other flights to Ireland and tried to rebook on their own, but were told that since they went through a third party, they might not get reimbursed for those flights. So, they instead decided to trust that On Location would rebook them.

After days of calling, it wasn’t until late Wednesday that they heard back, with On Location offering them a flight where they would fly to Denver on Thursday, have an eight-hour layover, and then arrive in Ireland on late Friday evening.

Teri said by doing that, they would miss all of their pre-booked tours and all events hosted by ISU leading up to the game. So instead, they opted to deny that flight, hoping to get a refund, given they had already missed the majority of their trip.

“After so many days, we just got frustrated and just didn’t think it was worth it, flying that far because friends of ours did say the first day you’re so tired anyway because you flew all night, and our first day would have been the day of the game, and then, there’s just not much of the trip left,” said Teri.

So, instead of being in Ireland for Farmageddon, John watched from home, while Teri went to a friend’s watch party.

Teri says that On Location told her there would be no refund for the $14,000 she and her husband spent for the trip, and said to her that since they had not heard from her on Wednesday regarding that Thursday flight, their case was closed. Teri says she has the email where they communicated they would not be taking the flight and pursuing a refund, and is still pushing for one.

Teri said they did not purchase travel insurance for the trip.

WHO 13 reached out to On Location regarding their issue, along with the Iowa State Athletic Department, and has not heard back.