Can I cancel holiday due to realatives imminent death

Bright*

I booked a 5 night trip to Las Vegas as a surprise for my husbands 40th birthday back in April via EBookers. There are 4 of us due to travel this Sunday. On Tuesday of last week my mother in law attended hospital for her second session of chemo but was admitted due to an infection. On Friday of last week we were given the devastating news that the infection had taken hold and that there was nothing that could be done to save her life. She has been receiving end of life care since then and her life is now slowly ebbing away in the cruellest way imaginable with my husband at her side. Our trip is not an option, so since Monday I have been trying to postpone to a later date rather than cancel and loose the £4500 cost of the holiday. Unfortunately the charges incurred to do the change and the cost of the new flights are extortionate and not financially possible. However EBookers are trying to contact Virgin to see if in these exceptional circumstances we may be able to cancel, thier T&C's do state that for the death of an immediate family member a full refund could be given with the proof of a death certificate but obviously at this stage although death is certain my mother in law is still alive all be it in a very deep sleep and unable to communicate or move, its just a case of when she slips away. It goes without saying that no holiday or cost of it compares to losing a loved but I hope you understand that I have to at least try and salvage something from this awful situation. Any help or advice would be gratefully appreciated.:sad:

DomRavioli

Bright* wrote: »

I booked a 5 night trip to Las Vegas as a surprise for my husbands 40th birthday back in April via EBookers. There are 4 of us due to travel this Sunday.

On Tuesday of last week my mother in law attended hospital for her second session of chemo but was admitted due to an infection. On Friday of last week we were given the devastating news that the infection had taken hold and that there was nothing that could be done to save her life. She has been receiving end of life care since then and her life is now slowly ebbing away in the cruellest way imaginable with my husband at her side.

Our trip is not an option, so since Monday I have been trying to postpone to a later date rather than cancel and lose the £4500 cost of the holiday.

Unfortunately the charges incurred to do the change and the cost of the new flights are extortionate and not financially possible.

However EBookers are trying to contact Virgin to see if in these exceptional circumstances we may be able to cancel, thier T&C's do state that for the death of an immediate family member a full refund could be given with the proof of a death certificate but obviously at this stage although death is certain my mother in law is still alive all be it in a very deep sleep and unable to communicate or move, its just a case of when she slips away.

It goes without saying that no holiday or cost of it compares to losing a loved but I hope you understand that I have to at least try and salvage something from this awful situation. Any help or advice would be gratefully appreciated.:sad:

Do you have travel insurance?

richardw

Sorry to hear about your MIL.

Is there anything in your travel insurance to cover this?

Do you have any other insurance that might cover you, perhaps with a premium bank account?

Who are the other 2 people on the booking?

If you are on twitter you could perhaps tweet Virgin and see what they say?

Bright*

I did not get insurance with the holiday, it was on my to do list! Idiot I know!

Bright*

I am frantically searching to see if I have insurance elsewhere. I tweeted Virgin Atlantic late last night but they have advised that I need to go via Ebookers. I have been on the phone for 45 minutes this morning holding on whilst Ebookers try and get through to Virgin, they are going to call me back when Virgin answer them. The other two traveller's are my sister and brother in law and they do still have the option of travel.

Bright*

Quick update, EBookers have just called me back, without a death certificate Virgin Atlantic will not refund!

richardw

I'm not surprised.
Perhaps your sister and BIL can go without you.

In the mean time look for other insurances that might cover you, any with your husband's job?

Quentin

Bright* wrote: »

I did not get insurance with the holiday, it was on my to do list! Idiot I know!

Although idiot is the correct word (because you could have been knocked down by a bus at any time since you booked), this wouldn't have been covered by insurance anyway (because it was a pre existing condition)

suki1964

Quentin wrote: »

Although idiot is the correct word (because you could have been knocked down by a bus at any time since you booked), this wouldn't have been covered by insurance anyway (because it was a pre existing condition)

Op doesn't say when the cancer was diagnosed

peachyprice

Bright* wrote: »

Quick update, EBookers have just called me back, without a death certificate Virgin Atlantic will not refund!

Is she likely to die before Sunday?

leylandsunaddict

I'm not surprised the airline won't refund you at this stage. It really was a job for travel insurance. It's a pity you hadn't taken it out, because you never know, they may have paid. Leaving it until a few days before travel really isn't the right thing to do. You could have had to cancel at anytime for umpteen reasons since you booked.

I know you're in a horrible situation. I lost both my father in law and my mum to cancer. They died 12 weeks apart, to the day. Both were on end of life care for a while before they finally passed away, and I sat with both of them for a part of every day.

We cancelled a holiday when father in law was dying. I hadn't declared his cancer when he was diagnosed, nor when it spread, so I wasn't going to bother trying to claim. A couple of weeks after he died MIL persuaded me to, so got a claim form, she got FILs GP to fill in his bit and I sent it with the relevant cancellation documents. I had a cheque for payment for all the elements with 2 weeks of them receiving the documents. Don't ask me how, I don't know, but they paid no problem. I was very impressed. At the end of the day it was only money and was of little consequence. FIL had gone by the time we received it, my husband nearly died and missed his dads funeral (ironically, had we gone on holiday he might not have been so lucky. He had a pulmonary embolism). My mum was getting progressively worse.

Of course I can understand you wanting to try to get something back out of what is a truly awful situation, but you've done your best, and that's all you can do. Your husband needs you to spend time supporting him.