Originally Posted by
sydneyracquelle
If you are a PM/DM then book the trip on miles and decide 72 hours before if you are going to go or not. Even as a non-DM/PM the cost to reinstate the miles will be $150 per ticket if they make you pay it after asking for a medical waiver. So sorry for the terrible diagnosis. Pancreatic has the highest fatality rate unfortunately.
This. Or if you are happy to pay (as it seems you are), either buy the cheapo fare with him so he sees it, then upfare to refundable tickets within 24 hours without him knowing. Or just buy the refundable tickets and fudge the receipt before you send it to him to show the amount he expects to pay for the cheapo ticket. He saves his pride and you have the peace of mind knowing that the ticket can be changed or canceled if he is unable to go.
I did this recently for a friend. We bought (together) the cheapest possible tickets. Within 24 hours, I canceled them and rebooked us into a higher fare bucket and used an upgrade instrument to get us both into F. She knows I have status and is not savvy on how it all works so it was an easy sell to convince her that we got complimentary upgrades due to my status.
A little white lie to allow a friend his pride yet do a nice thing for someone you obviously care about.