Originally Posted by
Fiordland
It is not about being a charity. It is about trying to "enrich the lives of everyone in WestJet's world by providing safe, friendly and affordable air travel.”
That behavior does not quite meet the definition of "friendly". They created these basic fares knowing they were going to get some negative press when these things happen and in the process it would compromise the goodwill they spent a lot of money and effort building up over the years.
Honestly it would have cost them nothing to give this family a future travel credit, the seats go back into available inventory. WestJet keeps a few hundred dollars in cancellation fees, and lets face it, a good percentage of future travel credits expire without ever being used.
The family chose Basic Economy and chose not to buy insurance. So where does the line get drawn - cancer but not a heart attack or an ear infection?
Why should anyone buy travel insurance with this the rationale or book anything more than Basic Economy.
I loathe basic Economy and pay more not to have that ticket.I also pay for insurance when I chose not to I self insure.