Will Airlines Change Ticket for Death in Family

Question: My son purchased a ticket for a December 24 trip to Argentina on LAN Airlines. He booked his itinerary through Orbitz.

On the morn he was to depart, his grandfather'southward health took a plow for the worse. He called Orbitz'due south customer-service department and was told the only affair he could practice was immediately book another flight to Argentina at a later date. He had no demand to become to Argentina again since the trip was for a friend'southward wedding, so he canceled his trip and did not rebook. Instead he flew to be with his family, and his granddad passed abroad two days afterwards.

Afterward the funeral, we contacted Orbitz again to ask for a refund. Per their instructions, we faxed the death certificate and pertinent information to the refunds section. Still, it'due south been more than three months and we haven't heard annihilation. He also contacted American Express over the charge, but after about six weeks, they contacted him and said they couldn't do anything.

My son spent $2,110 for his ticket. Can you help?

— Chitra Narayanan, Phoenix

Respond: Narayanan was right to be concerned about months passing with nary a word from LAN or Orbitz. That was a sign that something had gone wrong with her son'due south refund, especially since LAN'southward website indicates it normally processes refunds within 20 days of requests.

Almost airlines allow for ticket refunds, even for nonrefundable tickets, when an immediate family unit member dies, though a few carriers refuse to issue bereavement refunds at all. LAN does grant total refunds in such cases.

Travelers typically must produce a death document—a requirement that sometimes offends the bereaved, but unfortunately documentation is necessary to process refunds. Details vary by carrier; some will event future travel vouchers with alter fees waived, while others will post refunds to credit cards.

When an Orbitz customer cancels a trip due to a death in the family, the travel site first looks over the paperwork to ensure the customer has submitted all the required information, according to Orbitz representative Marita Hudson Thomas. It then gives the rider'south documentation to the airline, which directly refunds the passenger, if the request is approved.

"All online travel agencies are spring past the rules of the airlines," says Thomas. "The fourth dimension information technology takes to issue and process a refund varies—some airlines act faster than others."

Orbitz records show that Narayanan contacted Orbitz on December 31 to enquire about how to apply for a refund of his ticket. 2 days later, he faxed Orbitz a letter with his ticket details, a copy of his granddaddy's death certificate and a supporting letter from the funeral manager listing him as immediate family unit and attesting to his presence at the funeral.

Orbitz, in turn, forwarded the documentation to LAN, according to Thomas. In theory, the LAN refund should have posted shortly thereafter to Narayanan's credit card. But information technology didn't, and the months ticked by.

I sent Narayanan's complaint to Orbitz, which responded with the curious news that American Express refunded the full amount back in Jan. Narayanan insisted no such refund had ever materialized.

I asked both American Express and Orbitz to find out where Narayanan'southward $2110 went.

As it turned out, the involvement of both companies fabricated LAN'south refund process grind to a halt. Narayanan's straightforward bereavement refund request by mode of Orbitz was sidelined by a parallel, but entirely separate, refund request via American Express.

During his family crisis and travel reshuffling on December 24, Narayanan called American Express to dispute the charges for his tickets to Argentina, since he indicated Orbitz had initially told him he couldn't get a refund. American Limited then contacted LAN equally part of its standard-procedure dispute investigation. When LAN responded that the tickets were nonrefundable, American Limited informed Narayanan that his dispute was denied.

"The cardmember both disputed the charge and tried to ask for a refund, hence the defoliation, as they are 2 different requests and processes," says American Limited representative Desiree Fish.

Non simply did his American Express dispute not pan out for Narayanan, it also halted his in-procedure bereavement refund, to avert a scenario in which "the customer could be refunded twice," according to Thomas.

"The refund process stops once a customer disputes the charge because the credit card company gets involved at that point," says Thomas.

That'south a grab-22 for consumers, who tin can't always afford to wait around for a potentially tedious refund process. The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) protects consumers from billing errors, goods and services that weren't delivered as agreed and missing merchant credit. The FCBA specifies that you lot must file disputes in writing with your credit-card issuer within 60 days of the mailing appointment of the billing statement on which the charge first appeared. That timeline is frequently problematic for travelers, who oftentimes book months alee to land the best prices. Protracted delays in processing refunds tin can likewise torpedo your FCBA rights.

American Express and Orbitz apace verified that Narayanan's $2110 refund was not processed equally information technology should take been in Jan. The full credit was then posted to his American Express account.

How can you lot avoid trouble?

•Find out what'due south required for a refund if you must abolish a flight when a family member dies. Airlines take specific rules about what documents are necessary; typically such refunds are limited to immediate family members, though some may embrace traveling companions too. Airlines may also have rules about whether passengers should submit requests directly or if they must be processed by travel agencies. Submit all paperwork at once then your file is complete.

•Focus your efforts—but keep an eye on the timeline. If you lot're entitled to a refund, follow standard procedures with the airline or travel bureau commencement. Withal, if yous run up against the FCBA borderline, you may need to involve your credit menu company to protect your rights.

•Follow up. Check in regularly, beginning to ensure all required paperwork has been received and candy, and then to discover out the condition of your refund and when you should expect a credit. You'd recollect a refund would be straightforward, but information technology'south not always a simple process, particularly when you're dealing with a travel booking site, an airline and a credit card company. The more parties get involved, the college the potential for mistakes.

Linda Burbank offset began troubleshooting travelers' complaints for the Consumer Reports Travel Letter. She now writes regularly for Consumers Union publications and is a contributing editor for National Geographic Traveler. Email her at travel@usatoday.com. Your question may be used in a future column.

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Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/columnist/burbank/2013/06/12/is-death-in-the-family-cause-for-travel-refund/2412933/

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