Sherri Osgood and Helen Johnson were due to spend 22 days in Peru this year, booking tickets before the coronavirus pandemic shut down international travel, but the pair claim money they want refunded is being given to tourism operators in South America.

Mrs Osgood and Mrs Johnson have been offered future credit to use before 2022 or partial refunds, but are out of pocket $3646 each due to what they say is a donation being made on their behalf to South American companies.

The pair booked through Flight Centre in Orange, and while Flight Centre has refunded all money and Mrs Osgood and Mrs Johnston have no concerns over the way the company operated, the third party company Chimu Adventures has sent an email saying it wouldn't refund all their money which had been given to operators in Peru.

The letter, signed by Chimu co-founder Chad Carey, said most South American countries don't have "the kind of safety nets we do".

"The other issue is many operators in Latin America retain a considerable amount of the funds that have been paid to us," he said.

"We could demand the funds back from operators but a) I very much doubt we'd be able to get them back b) if we did, it would likely leave them insolvent."

The letter also urged Mrs Osgood and Mrs Johnson to watch an SBS Insight documentary about how the South American tourism industry had been hit by coronavirus.

Mrs Osgood said the letter was "so patronising".

"We know there are terrible things going on in the world, trust me, we understand, but seven grand is a lot of money between the two of us," she said.

"We're getting older, not that we're going to die tomorrow but the pleasure has been taken away.

"It was this wonderful thing we were planning for ... but I was made redundant in December and now I need that money to live."

For Mrs Johnson, the trip was one she'd always planned to make with her husband, but he died several years ago.

"My husband and I always wanted to go there [Machu Picchu] but he died a couple of years ago but that was our big bucket list item.

"I wanted to do Lake Titicaca as it's only around the corner so because I've always wanted to do it Sherri said 'I'll do it with you'.

"We've got no breakdown of any of our costs, nothing ... we're yet to get an itemised account."

Mrs Johnson said she didn't expect to get her money back, which was a "lousy" feeling.

"It's been three months, I've sort of nearly expected it but in the end I'm so sure we're not going to get our money back."

The pair said they felt the "arbitrary" $3646 each was in effect being donated to Peruvian companies without their consent.

"We've got no idea what the money's for," Mrs Osgood said.

"That's a lot of money to now lose. We paid this money in good faith and get nothing in return."

She said it showed the travel industry in Australia was poorly regulated and travellers have "no protection", and they have joined a class action with Slater and Gordon.

They've also joined forces with consumer advocate Adam Glezer, who runs several 1500-people strong Facebook groups, including Travel Industry Issues - The Need For Change For Australians - where people who've had run-ins with travel companies share stories.

Mr Glezer said Chimu's actions were "bizarre and wrong on every level".

"If they wanted to donate to charity themselves, then sure, but what right does a company have to decide to do that," he said.

"I've never had anyone been told 'your money is going to charity' without their consent."

Mr Carey said it had been a difficult time for the travel industry.

"I feel that we have tried our best to explain the situation to our clients despite that fact that we, like many other internationally-focused travel companies, are facing near zero revenue at the moment and no doubt will do for some time to come," Mr Carey said.

"I feel that we're doing the best that we can in the circumstances."

He said the lack of an international legal mechanism to force companies to return booking fees left them in a tough spot.

"In broad terms though, we have payment terms that mean that many services in South America were paid prior to the clients travelling," Mr Carey said.

"This is just necessary to ensure that client's services are confirmed and secured prior to departure.

"We have of course asked these suppliers to refund these monies but in almost all cases suppliers are only offering credits and not refunds.

"There is no simple solution to this as we don't have an simple international legal mechanism to force these local operators to refund us."

He said he disagreed with the notion that the money was being 'donated'

"Their funds were paid to us for the purpose of securing these services in South America and it's just a natural part of any tour operator's business that these funds are paid to help secure their services," he said.

"I've never heard anyone suggest that tour operators should be required to check with a client each time an individual service provider is paid deposits."

A spokesperson for Flight Centre said the company had to accept third party terms and conditions, and detailed them for clients before payment was made.

"We are certainly aware that many customers are feeling frustrated regarding the refund process, which is completely understandable, and in our capacity as an agent, we are using our relationships with suppliers to advocate hard for our clients to ensure the very best outcome," they said.

"Where hardship or known medical conditions exist, we are certainly taking these conversations back to providers and have had success with some travel providers."

"Every travel provider has different T&Cs and our job is also to ensure we stay up to date with any changes to conditions on behalf of our clients and when we can negotiate a better outcome, we are certainly working towards this as our ideal."