AirFjord

Last night, my 99 year old grandmother had an accident. I previously had booked first class tickets on US Airways to go to Hawaii next week. Obviously, now I need to change these tickets.

If anyone can help, please let me know the US Airways policy and procedure for a family emergency ticket change, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you kindly!

aztimm

Is this an award ticket, or did you pay money for it?

If an award, did you use US miles, or other airline miles?

AirFjord

Not an award ticket. It was a standard revenue First Class ticket that was paid for out of pocket.

gardener

Did you buy trip insurance? Since your grandmother is 99 I assume yes, but one never knows...

PHL

Was your grandmother one of the ticketed passengers? Trip insurance would help there, but I'm not sure if it would help if she wasn't on the itinerary.

If not, and assuming this was a nonrefundable First class fare -

If you purchased within 24 hours, then you can get a full refund by just calling and canceling.

If you purchased more than 24 hours ago, you can cancel the trip and get a credit for the full amount towards a future trip, minus a change fee of $200 per ticket.

If neither of those options works for you, do not change or cancel your trip right up until about an hour before departure. There is always the chance US changes flight times and/or cancels segments for operational reasons. In those cases, you could request a full cancelation and refund.

Biggie Fries

I think that we're a bit confused as to whether your grandmother was among the would-be passengers, or whether you are a sole passenger, or a passenger with others not including your grandmother, who now do not want to go on the trip.

Let's assume your grandmother was not a would-be passenger, and that the ticket was of the so-called non-refundable type. It's really pretty simple: US will let you change your ticket for a fee, which is now $200. In brief, your ticket keeps its value when you re-book, and you pay an additional $200 per ticket. Fortunately, F fares to Hawai`i have been holding low, so your new ticket may be little different from your current one.

If your grandmother was to be a passenger, then things are pretty much as above, except its possible that she could get some sympathy from US in all of this.

In all events, good luck to you and your family.

kudzu

US has no official policy for making exceptions in the case of medical emergency. There's refundable First, and restricted First - do you happen to know the fare class of your ticket?

Website page has the standard information. I will say that "one-time exceptions" have been made for me due to medical issues by the elite desk, but that's discretionary (and rather unusual) on their part.

Best wishes for your grandma's speedy recovery.

tangel

I had an emergency with my mother and the agents I worked with were extremely accommodating. Without me asking, they waived all change fees on two international envoy tickets.

I know it's not following the official policy but I do appreciate that they try to do their best sometimes. Good luck!

IADCAflyer

If they're full F class, they're refundable. If they're not, you're at their mercy.

Do you have status?

I got US to waive the change fee on a ticket error (my travel agent's error) last month after some pleading and letting them know I'm a loyal US preferred.

Had to pay the fee difference, but they did waive the $200 change fee.

flg8rmatt

Might be one of those "keep calling" situations. US is under no obligation if the ticket is non-refundable, but sometimes you can get a sympathetic agent. I was traveling to NYC to meet up with my entire extended family but my father broke his femur while fly fishing in PA. I was able to get my ticket changed from JFK to PHL with no fee less than 48 hours before departure. Had they said no, I would have just hopped on a train, but it never hurts to ask.