If you’re holding a nonrefundable airline ticket, the rules are clear: You can get credit, valid for a year from the date of your booking, by informing the airline before your trip.
That’s what British Airways’ ticket rules say (see Rule 3b2).
What if you fall ill? Rule 3b3 stipulates:
If, after beginning your journey:
* you become ill
* your illness prevents you from travelling on your next flight within the validity period of your ticket; and
* you want us to extend the validity period so that you can continue your journey;you must give us a medical certificate. The certificate must:
* state the facts relating to your illness and
* confirm the date you will be fit to travel again (‘the recovery date’).
BA may extend the validity period until either the recovery date, as long as there is a seat available on the relevant flight in the class of service for which you have paid the fare.
But what if it doesn’t? Leslie Foote wanted to know after she and her husband, Stanley, were scheduled to fly to Spain last fall on British Airways.
I ended up having to cancel the trip because my husband needed emergency brain surgery to remove a cyst that was blocking a ventricle. I called BA and canceled our flight and was told that to get a refund or credit voucher I had to fax customer relations with a doctor’s letter.
I sent the fax October 17th. About three weeks later, when I hadn’t heard back, I got on the BA website and searched around until I found an email address for customer relations and emailed them. This resulted in a generic computer generated response saying they had received my email and would respond.
I waited several weeks and still no response so I sent a second fax with the same doctor’s letter, the information about our flights, etc.
I have still not heard anything back from them. I provided my email address, street address and phone number. Nothing. Is there something else I should be doing?
The answer is: no. Foote had done all she could to get a response from the airline. The least she could have expected was a timely acknowledgment of her request.
By the way, BA’s rule is written in such a way that there’s some wiggle room for sick passengers — the airline could have denied her husband a credit voucher. However, most airlines, as a matter of practice, will offer a voucher for up to a year when your plans change, regardless of your health. Change fees apply, of course.
I contacted the airline on her behalf. A day later, I got the following note:
I heard back from them today. They’ve issued us a credit voucher for the full ticket amount to be used within one year from today.
Bravo, BA. I think the delay may have been caused by the holidays and the threat of a strike, rather than the airline’s negligence. Either way, I’m glad it helped Foote and her husband recover their ticket. I wish him a speedy recovery.
(Photo: FrancoisRoche/Flickr Creative Commons)
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Don’t think so, Chris. I think they got their credit because YOU intervened for them. That seems to be a pattern on this blog: No action, no action, no action. Chris makes a call. All is well.
Will you be blogging about the trial you and Peter Lay will be involved in? When does it start?
@Billie, I don’t think there’s going to be a trial. But if there is, I will blog about it.
There’s no doubt in my mind that BA would have let this slip through the cracks without Chris’ intervention.
I certainly wish Leslie’s husband a full and speedy recovery so they can fly on BA.
I think BA spoke with the brain surgeon on how best to proceed with this complex problem. You know what the brain surgeon said, right?
“Hmmm….this is NOT rocket science.”
I’m a little confused here, or there are facts missing. BA’s contract of carriage states, “If, after beginning your journey…” Did Foote already begin her journey? It doesn’t appear so from the facts provided. If not, was BA *required* to give a credit for the trip? If not, then this is a case where again, people purchased non-refundable tickets expecting a refund or credit. Nice, but who’s paying the bill?
Believe this is SOP for BA. Ignore any contact and maybe passenger will give up! So many carriers are going to – no refund no changes on over priced tickets. Also believe we need more “Chris” intervention. I enjoy your column. Thanks!
I am glad to find some airlines has a heart ! My wife and I traveled to Portland OR on Jetblue our son lives there and he read about a treatment for a problem that my wife had which has been mistreated for 3 years . Not knowing that we had a chance of seeing the DR. we were going to be there 4 weeks but we got to see him but he was going to be gone till the 4th week he said he could do the brain surgery the day after he returned . we called Jetblue to change our tickets for 2 weeks later even with a DR.letter they still charged us $160.00 for I think it was a $49.00 flight when we got them . We love Jetblue because its a nonstop flight its their call center that’s a problem
Uhmmmm…there’s no bill to pay if you dont actually USE your non-refundable tickets. In fact, refund or no refund, BA can sell those seats as last-minute at a hefty price tag! So, even with refunding a consolidator fare as an “exception” they make money…If not, well, that’s just plain stupid in a business sense!
Folks – actually it works without Chris’ *direct* intervention. In October 2008, I got sick and had to cancel some BA flights. After going a couple of rounds with telephone and email support, I asked Chris’ advice. On his suggestion I ended up writing a letter to Willie Walsh, pointing out that I should get credit, per their rule 3e. Because of the bad customer service before that point, instead of a credit, they issued me a cash refund, along with reimbursement for the cost of my mailings and telephone calls to England. Now it took 4 months (and listing Chris as a cc: :-), but everything worked out OK.
@Jennifer – the Condition of Carriage that fits is 3e
===============================================================
3e) Your rights if you are prevented from travelling by events beyond your control
If:
* you are a consumer.
* you have been prevented from travelling by events beyond your control and
* all or part of the fare for your ticket is non-refundable.
we will give you a credit for the non-refundable part of the fare. We will do this if you:
* have a completely unused ticket
* have told us promptly about the events beyond your control and
* have given us evidence of these events.
The credit can be used for future travel on us by you or any person you choose. We may take a reasonable fee from the credit to cover our administration costs.
============================================================
Glenn, thanks for citing the correct section of the CoC. I agree that this section would fit as long as the other factors are met. If the person fails to advise BA of the events beyond his control and simply fails to show, it’s a different story.
Please… Everyone wants to sit here and cite the rules of carriage regarding change fees and delays. What everyone fails to see is that even if none of this stuff was in the rules, the airline should still have some leeway for someone who needs brain surgery!