I purchased 3 tix (not points...$$$) for myself, wife, and 3 year old son to Mumbai on our way to Pune.

Subsequently our pediatrician ordered us not to go due to H1N1 / swine in Pune/Mumbai. Jet, through their email system, has said they will not honor the doctor's note and we must pay change fees (nearly $600). I'm seeking assistance from Jet to simply waive the change fee...not asking for a refund on the tix or anything.

Any ideas how to get assistance?

Thanks,

considering that the whole world is engulfed in Swine Flu, the airlines will not cut you any slack. I think the only way you could possibly get a refund from Jet is if the Indian Government advise people not to travel to India or something.

otherwise i think looking at your travel insurance policy is the best way to go

Can your family (including child) get the vaccine for that flu variant before day of flight?

Am not sure if there is as much of an issue with H1N1 now as compared to say, a month back. Having said that, I have a 4 year old son myself, and I can completely understand if you didn't feel able to travel with your child. BTW, what class of travel were you booked on? If it is O or above, the charges are Rs 750 per passenger sector (that's for INR quoted and paid tickets, not sure what the $ charges are).

Incidentally, I also saw this on 9W's site: "Cancellation charges do not apply to domestic tickets where U.S. Dollar fares are applicable" (http://www.jetairways.com/EN/IN/Term...onditions.aspx). Would this help?

Thousands die of regular flu every year in the US and in India, they just don't make headlines. A couple of hundred (or so) have died of H1N1 so far in India, a country of 1 billion --OK, probably more unrecorded, given the poverty, but still, so far it's not a big deal. Swine flu is not shaping up to be a lethal epidemic, just somewhat more virulent than a typical flu season.

There are all kinds of germs in India, not just what you read in the paper: diarrheal diseases (including cholera); malaria, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, encephalitis, kala azar, bilharzia, west nile, filariasis, leprosy, cutaneous anthrax, bubonic and pneumonic plague... Also you may die in a road accident (much dangerous driving there), snakebite, rabid monkey bite, elephant stampede, etc.

OK, I admit that the mortality rate due to elephant stampedes is quite low. But the others are all things that happen.

Best not to go to India. Give up the money you paid, and count your blessings.

I dont think plague is endemic to any part of india right now.

I would have thought the first and most obvious suggestion would be to talk to your travel insurance provider , this is exactly the sort of situation that travel insurance is for .

I didn't buy travel insurance...typically don't...I've expected that doctor's orders would help the situation...so far they aren't being helpful. Thoughts?

The doctor's letter is not relevant in this case because swine flu applies to everyone, not just you or your child, unless you have a special condition where you are allowed to travel and immune to all other Indian diseases and all other types of flu----but swine flu will kill you. (This would be hard to prove.)

If there were an official advisory against traveling to India, you would have a good case. But there's no such thing; swine flu is everywhere. You don't have any case for special treatment.

I assume you are not disputing the above, but you want someone to suggest how you could beat the rules? Some carriers have a lenient policy about doctors' letters and such (although fewer and fewer airlines are eager to give up revenue these days), but Indian carriers are particularly hard-assed. And, let's face it, many of us are constantly seeking ways to go around the rules, so you can't blame the airlines.

Tell your pediatrician he's being silly.

I know you are being sarcastic and it is amusing...not terribly helpful but amusing.

I agree that the swine flu thing here was overblown. There was one case found out here in Chennai 2 or 3 months ago and the media called it an outbreak. Tamiflu sales rocketed...even illegal outlets sold out. Everyone freaked out and hospitals were full.

I do not have a child so I can't speak for the OP but he has to do what he thinks is in his and his family's best interest. I personally do not regard Mumbai and Pune unsafe and I think his GP is a little off.

Agree with oontiveros. It was blown up quite a bit, and not just in Chennai I think. My sister who lives in BOM is now in MAA, and she says all the hype that was there then, has died down.

I would speculate that in this case the doctor only did what he or she was asked to do.

You are very unlikely to get sympathy from the airline in a case like this.

Airlines have been deluged with requests for waivers, refunds, compensation, etc... from passengers citing fears of H1N1 - quite often paranoid or even fraudulent.

This is what travel insurance was created for, although to be honest, most travel insurers are also taking a stricter line with regards to H1N1 paranoia.

I read somewhere online a couple of days back, that the number of articles on the Internet about H1N1 in India, in the last one month, has reduced to 27% of the number of such articles in the previous month! Saying something?