CO Refund/Having Problems
 

My husband and I had booked a flight out of BNA to HNL. Two weeks before our flight date 05/23/11 he was in a auto accident punturing both his lungs, breaking all of his ribs, councusion, and breaking a bone in his back. I have been trying to get a refund for our trip every since the accident. I have sent in all the required documentation (letter from Dr., Emergency room report, etc..) and have had no luck getting a refund. Continental Airlines denied us a refund because we did not qualify for an exception and have disputed it. At this time I don't know what to do and feel like I should get a full refund plus additional miles or something. Any help would be appreciated.

Does your fare allow a refund? If not, why do you think you are entitled to a refund? Travel insurance usually covers this type of situation.

Yes, Continental Airlines requires proper documentation of the traveler who has the illness for a unplanned event

Most importntly, I hope your husband is doing OK.

Exactly my thoughts. Especially since CO offers travel insurance on the payment page. One takes a risk when purchasing tickets, much as many
pay heavy change fees on cheaper tickets.

Despite your husband's unfortunate condition, nothing comes close to meeting CO's requirements for a refund.

Read the t&c for the fare you purchased. If it's non-refundable, there would also be optional insurance to cover exactly what happened to your husband (and generally would cover you as well). Non-refundable fares are cheaper, but they need to be insured.

I would also carefully look at your homeowners and umbrella policy as well as any other coverages you or your husband might have from work. You would be surprised what some of them cover.

If all else fails, you are at CO's mercy because you are entitled to nothing. You will most likely receive a credit, not a refund.

Well, I screwed up my knee and CO did refund the change fee on a ticket of mine. Had to send formal documentation "snail mail" to Houston and wait a number of weeks, but they eventually came through.

That is, however, different than asking for a full refund.

As the others above have noted, Continental is not obliged to refund a non-refundable ticket.

We did not purchase the tickets through Continental Airlines. We purchased the tickets through Priceline and Priceline directed us to Continental Airlines because we had the most flights with them on the tickets. It's not like it was a planned event. Even if my husband felt like going at the time, they would not of allowed him to fly because of his lungs.

Thank you very much. He is still in the healing process, but both of his lungs have healed. Now he is going through the pain of his ribs and back bone healing.

Priceline has its own insurance -- not sure why they didn't direct you to it because it covers exactly your husband's situation. A link follows and that link contains yet another link to the minute details:

http://travelc.priceline.com/custome...95661&plf=PCLN

It seems like an optional service. This would work if she had chosen such insurance at the time of purchasing the tickets.

Sorry to hear about your husband. Regarding Priceline tickets, the terms are pretty clear: they are non-refundable and non-changeable. Unlike a ticket purchased directly from an airline, Priceline terms and conditions don't even provide for a refund in the event of the death of the passenger prior to travel, let alone an injury. You agreed to the "no changes, no refunds, ever" clause up front in return for the discounted price. When you "self-insure" against certain unlikely situations in lieu of more expensive options, sometimes it doesn't work out the way you'd like. It would certainly be gracious of CO or Priceline to offer a refund in this case, but I don't think they're under any obligation to do so.

I agree, if the OP used the "hidden" side of priceline. If she booked at normal rates, her issue is with Priceline.

Either way, CO has nothing to do with this, and the thread should be closed.

One last thought - Check the t&c as well as benefits page for the credit card you used to pay for the tix. Some provide at least partial insurance coverage for this.

I much as I hate the way aacharya sounded, he/she is right - this is a done deal that has nothing to do with CO and thus the thread need to closed. FYI - aacharya is one of the good guys/gals here - he/she knows his/her stuff and is pretty informative and knowledgable.

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate sitatuion but the airline can't do anything more on this situation, and they shouldn't.