American Refuses Refund to Cancer Patient Family
Joe Cortez October 12, 2016
Family claims airline refused full refund on grounds that cancer was “not an exceptional circumstance.”
A family of British flyers is speaking out against American Airlines, claiming that the legacy carrier will not give them a refund for a vacation after their three-year-old child was diagnosed with leukemia. Britain’s Manchester Evening News reports Susan Long and family are rallying to receive a full refund of around $1,550 from American, after being forced to cancel the trip for the child and his parents.
Long and her family were planning to travel as a group of ten to Florida for a family vacation. However, two weeks after booking the trip, her grandson, Oscar, was diagnosed with leukemia. As a result of his treatment, the child would not be cleared to fly on the trip, nor would doctors allow the child to board an aircraft for the next three years.
Long approached American with the news, including notes from the child’s doctors, and requested a refund. According to the family, their request for a full refund was denied due to the airline’s policy.
“When I asked for a refund they told me they only offered them to the next of kin if someone died and that leukemia wasn’t an exceptional circumstance,” Long told the Evening News. “I went absolutely ballistic. We then got passed from The Flights Guru, who we had booked with, to American Airlines and they just kept blaming each other.”
According to American’s policy as published online, refunds on nonrefundable tickets are granted under very specific circumstances. These situations include “…when the ticket is cancelled within 24 hours of purchase, when we make a schedule change that results in a change of 61 minutes or more, upon the death of a passenger or passenger’s travelling companion or because of military orders.” Now, Long is working with their booking agent to receive a complete refund.
In a statement to the newspaper, a spokesperson for American said: “We are very sorry to hear of Oscar’s medical condition.” The airline also noted they processed a partial refund in July, but the family says they have only received just short of $914 from the carrier this week.
[Photo: Photo: Ted S. Warren/AP]
i booked a flight on united last year from st john's Newfoundland to florida.After i booked the flights my wife got diagnosed with cancer and united refunded me every penny and also waved any change fees i had after. take note american show some compassion
If you think American is at fault, consider this scenario: While shopping for a flight, you are presented with a refundable fare of $1,000. In the checkout screen, a notice pops up that says "If you would like to waive a refund in the event a family member takes ill, click here and save $200." You click the button and pay $800 instead of $1,000. If a family member does get sick, should you get a refund even though you accepted the $200 discount?
@WorldLux...Correct!
Sorry for the family, but this is a case for travel insurance. I've never travel without it (unless I could afford to just write the tickets and stays off). This might seem cruel, but even a partial refund is already more than they are supposed to get if we start reading the fine print.
I've got to say, this is pretty clearly policy and the unfortunate circumstances of today's tiered ticket policies. This is heartbreaking, and I would be equally upset with AA if I were in this situation, but as a seasoned traveler, it's hard to argue for an exception here. This is precisely the reason all of the airlines now require you to "waive" travel insurance before booking on their own sites, and why any travel agent worth his salt, will recommend the same. I personally pay for travel insurance now that I'm buying four tickets instead of one or two, and because with kids, you never know if an illness or emergency could occur. Again, this is devastating and I truly feel for the family, but having gone through similar experiences with deaths in the family and dealing with airlines over faxing death certificates to receive bereavement fares...etc., this is entirely not surprising and it's hard to determine where one draws the line between policy and human decency. Not to get political, but with you-know-who running for USA's highest office, our world is sadly tilting away from all things decent.