Airline ???s UPDATE on pg 2

[SleepyMom]

A little backstory...

My Mom bought a plane ticket (actually I did it for her) to go visit her brother in September. My siblings and I had concerns because she doesn't have the best of health, but there is no telling her anything other than what she wants to hear. The trip is for 2 weeks. She is flying with Delta and has a regular ticket.

She has had additional health issues come up the last several weeks, and frankly we feel she is no longer able to make this trip at this time. The chance of her being healed and feeling up to a 2 week trip by September are pretty slim at this time.

Her brother called me this morning and now feels as we do, and doesn't want her to come in September because he doesn't have accommodations that will work for her.

So, my question is (and yes I do plan to call Delta, but wanted to know all my options before making that call) if there is anything that can be done. I am hoping we can explain the medical side of this issue and hopefully they can issue a voucher for her to re-purchase another ticket next Spring. Is this a possibility? What other options should we look into? Thanks so much for any help!

 

[rwdavis2]

A little backstory...

My Mom bought a plane ticket (actually I did it for her) to go visit her brother in September. My siblings and I had concerns because she doesn't have the best of health, but there is no telling her anything other than what she wants to hear. The trip is for 2 weeks. She is flying with Delta and has a regular ticket.

She has had additional health issues come up the last several weeks, and frankly we feel she is no longer able to make this trip at this time. The chance of her being healed and feeling up to a 2 week trip by September are pretty slim at this time.

Her brother called me this morning and now feels as we do, and doesn't want her to come in September because he doesn't have accommodations that will work for her.

So, my question is (and yes I do plan to call Delta, but wanted to know all my options before making that call) if there is anything that can be done. I am hoping we can explain the medical side of this issue and hopefully they can issue a voucher for her to re-purchase another ticket next Spring. Is this a possibility? What other options should we look into? Thanks so much for any help!

Based on everything I've read lately, you can ask but don't expect Delta to do anything for you. They don't have to. Sorry.

 

[Disworldluv]

Many airlines charge a surcharge to change an existing ticket, $75.00 being a common price to issue a new ticket. Most airlines then give you up to a year to take the new flight. Some tickets are refundable but the cost for these tickets are very high in comparison to non-refundable tickets.

 

[minkydog]

You made a reservation for someone you admit has serious health problems, but didn't think it necessary to buy travel insurance, just in case?

You can try to appeal with Delta nut don't be surprised if they are not willing to refund the money.

 

[Micca]

Not an expert, but you can probably pay a fee ($100?) to rebook the ticket for another time. Someone with all the answers will be along shortly.

 

[minnie mum]

Did you purchase travel insurance when you bought the ticket? Does the credit card with which you bought the ticket have travel insurance as a card benefit? If either of these is a yes, then you MAY be able to recover the cost of the ticket thru them Assuming she isn't disqualified by a preexisting condition

But if you are expecting an airline to be sympathetic to a tale of woe (from their perspective) I'm afraid your hopes are slim. What type of ticket did you buy? The terms and conditions will tell you what your change/cancelation terms are.

 

[gwynne]

Many airlines charge a surcharge to change an existing ticket, $75.00 being a common price to issue a new ticket. Most airlines then give you up to a year to take the new flight. Some tickets are refundable but the cost for these tickets are very high in comparison to non-refundable tickets.

I'm fairly certain Delta's charge for making a change on a ticket is $200.00, plus any additional amt in the cost of the new ticket if applicable.
In the past, I think my tickets were good for a year from date of original purchase. (Not from the date I made a change.)

 

[DizBelle]

Typically what you can do with a non-refundable ticket is cancel the reservation but you will not get your money back. You can consider it a credit with Delta on a future flight but it has to be booked for use within a year of the original ticket date (this is the date the ticket was purchased, not the date of travel). When you reschedule, you will also have to pay the change fee which for Delta looks like it is $200.

ETA - you would also have to pay any difference in fare.

 

[SleepyMom]

Thank you for the replies... they are pretty much what I expected, but thought I would throw it out there in case someone else has been through this and had suggestions.

Yes, I made a reservation for her without purchasing insurance. I tried to talk her into it, but there is no telling her anything. In her mind she is going and nothing will stop her. She does not believe her health issues are a problem, and does nothing to take care of herself (a whole other issue).

I don't want a refund of the money, I was hoping there was a way to put the trip off until next Spring and have the money already paid for this trip to go towards the next ticket purchase. Hopefully by then she will be able to go, but if not at least we tried and if she loses the price of the ticket at that point, well then it will be an expensive lesson learned for her. She is determined she is going, and sadly nothing us kids/grandkids have said has made her think otherwise. Even her brother saying she shouldn't come won't sway her I am afraid

 

[Albort]

You might also want to look into the credit card you purchase the ticket with. I know Amex have some policy in terms of travel cancellation, some cards i think give u a percentage back or something... i not too familiar but i heard its a pretty good deal.

 

[gwynne]

Thank you for the replies... they are pretty much what I expected, but thought I would throw it out there in case someone else has been through this and had suggestions.

Yes, I made a reservation for her without purchasing insurance. I tried to talk her into it, but there is no telling her anything. In her mind she is going and nothing will stop her. She does not believe her health issues are a problem, and does nothing to take care of herself (a whole other issue).

I don't want a refund of the money, I was hoping there was a way to put the trip off until next Spring and have the money already paid for this trip to go towards the next ticket purchase. Hopefully by then she will be able to go, but if not at least we tried and if she loses the price of the ticket at that point, well then it will be an expensive lesson learned for her. She is determined she is going, and sadly nothing us kids/grandkids have said has made her think otherwise. Even her brother saying she shouldn't come won't sway her I am afraid

This sounds like such a challenging situation. I wondered if there might be something that would help that doesn't involve travel. Do you think it might be possible for your mom to Skype with her loved ones? I even thought maybe you could assist her with getting some little (inexpensive) gifts and sending them. Then they could open them while she's chatting, and enjoying time with them. It's a not perfect solution, but maybe it will help to explore this early, and then possibly mention it down the road.

 

[pigletgirl]

If she can get a doctors note then they can get you a voucher for another time to travel. We've BTDT.

 

[SleepyMom]

If she can get a doctors note then they can get you a voucher for another time to travel. We've BTDT.

This would be the perfect solution, and would not be a problem to get the note. Thank you, I will look into this.

To Skype is a good suggestion, but she is legally blind and not able to see much on a computer screen. Her eyesight continues to get worse all the time, which is why she wants to go before she is totally blind. I am 5 hours away, so no help on a daily basis.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

This just happened to me. I had to cancel a trip to New York via Delta and they let me use the amount of the ticket to rebook a flight. The terms for this were that I had to rebook within a year of the purchase date, and the amount would be less $200 because of the cancellation.

 

[DebbieB]

Delta offers insurance when you buy tickets, it's like $20. I always buy it.

 

[SleepyMom]

Delta offers insurance when you buy tickets, it's like $20. I always buy it.

I agree, 100%... but she refused it, so I can't force her. Trust me, this is just the latest in a long line of bad financial decisions made by her against the advice of all around her.

After I call Delta (didn't get it done today because we were in flash flood and severe thunderstorm warnings all afternoon) tomorrow, I am going to call her brother back and tell him her options and let him work it out with her. I have thought all along this trip wasn't a good idea, and now that he is finally in agreement with us, he can be the one to break the news to her.

 

[gwynne]

I agree, 100%... but she refused it, so I can't force her. Trust me, this is just the latest in a long line of bad financial decisions made by her against the advice of all around her.

After I call Delta (didn't get it done today because we were in flash flood and severe thunderstorm warnings all afternoon) tomorrow, I am going to call her brother back and tell him her options and let him work it out with her. I have thought all along this trip wasn't a good idea, and now that he is finally in agreement with us, he can be the one to break the news to her.

Maybe when you talk to your uncle you could ask about the possibility of him coming to see his sister.
Elders get to a point where they worry that they won't get another chance to see a loved one. No other thoughts, other than if it's possible to leave open the chance of him coming it might help everyone in the long run.

 

[SleepyMom]

Talked with Delta today, I was told that they would need her Dr's name and phone number to confirm the medical reason and once that was done they would cancel her flight and issue a voucher for the full amount paid for the ticket and the only stipulation was she needed to use it to fly before the one year date of the original purchase, so April of 2015.

That was a big relief, and if she still can't go by April we at least tried and gave her as much time as possible to get better and make this trip.

Thanks so much for the replies!

 

[okeydokey]

Talked with Delta today, I was told that they would need her Dr's name and phone number to confirm the medical reason and once that was done they would cancel her flight and issue a voucher for the full amount paid for the ticket and the only stipulation was she needed to use it to fly before the one year date of the original purchase, so April of 2015.

That was a big relief, and if she still can't go by April we at least tried and gave her as much time as possible to get better and make this trip.

Thanks so much for the replies!

That's fantastic. It's nice to know the airlines are working with you. I hope she gets to do her trip in the spring.