Need

I had to cancel some non-refundable tickets due to death of an immediate family member. Delta website said I have to mail in the death certificate and ticket information. I did that. Does anyone have experience on how long will it take for Delta to response on this type of request?

What do they normally do? No refund at all? Waive the change fee (I do have credit for the tickets for the next 12 months)? Give us vouchers? Refund my credit card (Seems unlikely)?

exwannabe

Typically, waiving the change fee on the credit is what one can expect/hope for any of these type situations.

You will not be able to pry cash out of DL's hands once they have it. :-)

shocksim

As a DL Plat they helped me out over the phone when I had a death in the family. Asked a couple questions and I was set. I did request them to give it to me in a voucher since I knew I would need to rearrange the flight.

Have you talked with anyone?

Marq

When my mother died, I called Delta to cancel my wife's flight and they gave credit in amount of ticket minus $200 change fee and put notes in record that she was due the $200 due to death in family. No issues when I went to book her a ticket using the credit getting full value. Just a couple of questions from DL on phone was all I had to do.

It doesn't need to be a death only; DL also follows similar rules for grave illness (I had cancelled my trip due to downturn in my mother); just provided info such as name; hospice name, and location.

Marc

HWGeeks

I booked a rewards ticket for my sister back in 2011 she passed away 2 days before the trip. Delta refunded the miles and taxes paid didn't charge me anything. I was a plat at the time. The ticket was purchased 2 months in advance.

I didn't need to mail anything, they simply asked for the hospital she died at and the phone number. I always assumed they called to verify.

StayingHomeIsBetter

I am not sure what a hospital would reveal to a 3rd party under today's HIPAA rules. But I am glad that you were able to work this out.

In keeping with some of the other posts above that cite the willingness of DL front line staff to be of assistance... these are more examples of the wonderful attitudes displayed by the overwhelming majority of DL employees who actually deal with the customer on a one-on-one basis. ^^^

HWGeeks

I am unsure if they did call the hospital or not, but I recall all of this took place via Delta twitter account back in 2010, it was @deltaassist back then.

flyerCO

They ask for it, but AFAIK never actually call. The hospital cant disclose anything other then that patient is deceased. The fact a person is deceased is public record/non private info. (Though the death certificate listing cause is generally restricted access)

nichelle

OP - I'm very sorry for your loss. I can only say that Delta was very accommodating with me. A few years ago, when my father passed away, they waived any change fees. I started off fine but eventually was a mess on the phone and will always remember the customer service agent being so patient. I provided the hospice name and phone number.

Delta was absolutely fantastic as there were a number of travel plans I changed when my mother's health began to decline. They allowed me to change each one without penalty. I never had to provide any information in those cases.

Steve007NY

We recently had to cancel the return leg of an award ticket (and then ended up paying for business on KE) when my partner's father died and we had to immediately return from BANGKOK. DELTA immediately issued us half of the round-trip miles we had used for the trip with no penalty.

BTW HWGeeks- I was BORN at BRookdale, though at the time it was Beth El!

kitkat77

I can add to the info here that they were very accommodating when my father in law went into hospice and then passed a week later. I had two trips in a row that they allowed me to reschedule with no change fees, fare differences, or any other penalties. The phone rep asked for hospice and patient names.

The 2nd week, I had a flight out that night from XXX, but I had booked a last min award ticket to YYY to try and get my spouse there in time. Sadly, we found out upon arrival that it was too late. I went to the ticket counter in YYY to see what to do with my flight that night from XXX, and the ticket rep couldn't have been nicer. She did not ask for anything, just moved the ticket a few weeks ahead.

I would say to the OP that you might give them a call and let them know that the information had been sent, and see what to do from there.

dmarge18

Another possibility is to scan the death certificate and sent it to them via the website comment forum. Ended up doing this to change my wife's skymiles account to her new last name after mailing it garnered no response. Hope you get it figured out; sorry about your loss.

flyerCO

Death certificates arent available for a few weeks after death.

Zorak

It seems weird to see this stated so unequivocally and authoritatively. I would have thought this could vary a lot by location and other circumstances.

The only thing I can state as fact from personal experience is that my father passed away in a hospice on a Sunday and we were able to obtain certified copies of the death certificate from the state records office two days later on Tuesday.

flyerCO

Having dealt with issue in many states, can tell you that is not normally the case. Even if filed fairly quickly, with needed signatures, and no ME objections, its normally a 2-4 week wait.

In your case, being enrolled in hospice means the death was expected. Means no ME objections, that cause of death is known and means the medical director (doctor in charge of the hospice care) are ready to sign off right away. While quite a few are enrolled in hospices with a known terminal fate, most deaths are still unexpected. Means must wait for ME sign off, and for determination of cause of death.