Just yesterday, I vowed to find renewed joy in travel. This morning, I received an Email with the following Email from a reader in southern California that is causing me to defer my quest for good travel news. I do not know her but did look her up on the Internet, and it turns out that she is in public relations specialist (hence the logical, well-written missive) and one of her specialties is social justice. There was nothing that even hinted of justice about the way US Airways treated her last year in the wake of a family tragedy -- and that was before the huge run-up of air fares and the plague of surcharges:
"The story:
"A husband and wife booked a flight on US Airways for October 2007 to join
the husband's parents on a vacation at a cost of $1,008. Then, the wife's
father suffered an out-of-town fall and broke his neck. He went into
intensive care, was med flighted home, and eventually died on October 15.
During this ordeal, the wife cancelled her and her husband's flight, and asked
US Airways for a refund.
"She was denied, but the agent advised her to write to the refunds
department. She did so, including with her letter a copy of her father's
death certificate and also sharing that she had missed a great deal of work
during the 2 months of her dad's hospitalization, her family had expended
$10,000 on the medvac flight to get her father home, and she and her husband
were not going to be able to reuse their tickets anytime in the next year; the
vacation opportunity was over, and the lost income plus the $10,000 hit her
family had suffered precluded any travel plans for quite awhile.
"US Airways denied the refund, merely repeating boilerplate stating that
the husband and wife had a year from the date of booking (not the travel date,
mind you) to reuse the tickets, after of course paying a $100 per-ticket change
fee. The wife then wrote directly to Doug Parker, CEO of US Airways
and cc'd president Scott Kirby to plead her case. The result was the same
answer, again from a customer relations rep. The wife then filed a
complaint with the Better Business Bureau, but the file was closed after
BBB contacted US Airways and was unable to receive a reply from
them.
"To add insult to injury, last week US Airways emailed the wife saying 'Our
records indicate that 14,954 miles [in your Dividends Miles account] were
forfeited because your last activity date was more than 18 months ago.'
Apparently, buying $1,000 worth of tickets and then being denied a refund when
the tickets couldn't be used, doesn't qualify as activity worthy of keeping
one's status as a dividend miles member.
"Here's a great quote from US Airways Passenger Refunds Representative
Samantha Gartung's letter to the wife: 'US Airways embraces an optimistic
outlook regarding passengers who are unable to travel due to unfortunate
circumstances. We remain confident that you will be able to utilize
the ticket for your travel enjoyment.'
"Isn't it comforting to have an airline express confidence that you can
spend money with them?
"Oh, and yes, the wife is me."
The writer asked me (and probably other travel writers and bloggers as well) to help get the word out. I don't know her, and I haven't checked on what US Airways' side of the story might be -- if, indeed, they even have a valid side, under the circumstances. I hope that her efforts to cast a wide net will result in the kind of publicity that will indeed persuade or pressure the airline to restore those frequent flyer miles and perhaps even refund the $1,008 for the flights she and her husband did not take.
Travel Insurance
Like most of us, the couple probably did not have travel insurance -- and if they did, it might not have included compensation for trip cancellation due to a serious accident/illness of an immediate family member. We never know what coverage we might need until an incident has occurred. But in addition to wishing her success in her battle against US Airways, I'll take this as a cue at least to explore buying travel insurance. I'll bet the with 20/20 hindsight, she wishes she had some. SquareMouth, a website comparing travel insurance, has been recommended by a number of respected travel publications.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder