Can You Use Family Death to Waive Flight Change Fee
Question: My son purchased a ticket for a Dec 24 trip to Argentina on LAN Airlines. He booked his itinerary through Orbitz.
On the morning he was to depart, his grandad's health took a plough for the worse. He called Orbitz's customer-service department and was told the only affair he could practice was immediately book some other flying to Argentina at a later appointment. He had no demand to go to Argentina again since the trip was for a friend'southward wedding, and so he canceled his trip and did not rebook. Instead he flew to be with his family, and his grandfather passed away two days afterward.
After the funeral, nosotros contacted Orbitz again to ask for a refund. Per their instructions, we faxed the death certificate and pertinent information to the refunds section. Nevertheless, it'south been more than three months and we haven't heard annihilation. He also contacted American Express over the charge, but after nearly six weeks, they contacted him and said they couldn't do anything.
My son spent $2,110 for his ticket. Can y'all help?
— Chitra Narayanan, Phoenix
Respond: Narayanan was right to be concerned about months passing with nary a discussion from LAN or Orbitz. That was a sign that something had gone wrong with her son'southward refund, especially since LAN's website indicates it usually processes refunds within 20 days of requests.
Nearly airlines allow for ticket refunds, fifty-fifty for nonrefundable tickets, when an immediate family member dies, though a few carriers refuse to issue bereavement refunds at all. LAN does grant full refunds in such cases.
Travelers typically must produce a decease document—a requirement that sometimes offends the bereaved, but unfortunately documentation is necessary to process refunds. Details vary by carrier; some will issue futurity travel vouchers with alter fees waived, while others will mail service refunds to credit cards.
When an Orbitz customer cancels a trip due to a expiry in the family unit, the travel site offset looks over the paperwork to ensure the customer has submitted all the required information, according to Orbitz representative Marita Hudson Thomas. Information technology and then gives the rider'southward documentation to the airline, which directly refunds the passenger, if the asking is approved.
"All online travel agencies are spring by the rules of the airlines," says Thomas. "The time information technology takes to issue and process a refund varies—some airlines act faster than others."
Orbitz records show that Narayanan contacted Orbitz on December 31 to inquire well-nigh how to apply for a refund of his ticket. 2 days later, he faxed Orbitz a letter with his ticket details, a copy of his grandfather's death document and a supporting letter from the funeral managing director listing him as immediate family and attesting to his presence at the funeral.
Orbitz, in turn, forwarded the documentation to LAN, co-ordinate to Thomas. In theory, the LAN refund should take posted soon thereafter to Narayanan's credit carte du jour. But information technology didn't, and the months ticked by.
I sent Narayanan'southward complaint to Orbitz, which responded with the curious news that American Limited refunded the total amount back in January. Narayanan insisted no such refund had ever materialized.
I asked both American Express and Orbitz to find out where Narayanan's $2110 went.
As it turned out, the involvement of both companies made LAN'due south refund process grind to a halt. Narayanan's straightforward bereavement refund request by mode of Orbitz was sidelined by a parallel, merely entirely separate, refund request via American Express.
During his family crisis and travel reshuffling on Dec 24, Narayanan called American Express to dispute the charges for his tickets to Argentina, since he indicated Orbitz had initially told him he couldn't get a refund. American Express then contacted LAN every bit function of its standard-procedure dispute investigation. When LAN responded that the tickets were nonrefundable, American Express informed Narayanan that his dispute was denied.
"The cardmember both disputed the charge and tried to ask for a refund, hence the defoliation, as they are two dissimilar requests and processes," says American Express representative Desiree Fish.
Not but did his American Express dispute not pan out for Narayanan, it besides halted his in-process bereavement refund, to avoid a scenario in which "the customer could be refunded twice," according to Thomas.
"The refund procedure stops once a customer disputes the accuse because the credit bill of fare company gets involved at that point," says Thomas.
That's a catch-22 for consumers, who can't ever beget to wait around for a potentially ho-hum refund procedure. The Off-white Credit Billing Human action (FCBA) protects consumers from billing errors, goods and services that weren't delivered as agreed and missing merchant credit. The FCBA specifies that you must file disputes in writing with your credit-card issuer within 60 days of the mailing appointment of the billing argument on which the charge first appeared. That timeline is oftentimes problematic for travelers, who often volume months alee to land the best prices. Protracted delays in processing refunds tin also torpedo your FCBA rights.
American Limited and Orbitz chop-chop verified that Narayanan's $2110 refund was non processed as it should take been in Jan. The full credit was then posted to his American Limited account.
How can you avert trouble?
•Detect out what'due south required for a refund if you must cancel a flight when a family member dies. Airlines have specific rules near what documents are necessary; typically such refunds are limited to immediate family members, though some may cover traveling companions too. Airlines may also accept rules well-nigh whether passengers should submit requests directly or if they must exist candy past travel agencies. Submit all paperwork at one time so your file is consummate.
•Focus your efforts—but keep an eye on the timeline. If you're entitled to a refund, follow standard procedures with the airline or travel bureau offset. Notwithstanding, if you stitch against the FCBA borderline, y'all may need to involve your credit card company to protect your rights.
•Follow up. Check in regularly, first to ensure all required paperwork has been received and processed, and so to find out the status of your refund and when yous should wait a credit. You'd think a refund would be straightforward, but it's not ever a simple process, particularly when you lot're dealing with a travel booking site, an airline and a credit card visitor. The more parties get involved, the higher the potential for mistakes.
Linda Burbank first began troubleshooting travelers' complaints for the Consumer Reports Travel Letter. She now writes regularly for Consumers Union publications and is a contributing editor for National Geographic Traveler. Due east-mail her at travel@usatoday.com. Your question may be used in a time to come cavalcade.
Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/columnist/burbank/2013/06/12/is-death-in-the-family-cause-for-travel-refund/2412933/
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