Non refundable flight cancelled by customer

a5972s

Hi there,

A bit of advice really...

I booked 4 non-refundable flights to Canada in the first week of January. We were going to stay with family.

Two weeks later the family member who we were going to stay with has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. We we're hoping that he would still be well enough for the visit but it hasn't turned out that way.

I contacted the airline, explained the situation and they told us that we would have to pay $600 to cancel the booking and the remainder would be held in an account that we could use to book later flights.

Having explained the situation, the airline (under the circumstances) would waive the $600 cancellation charge, however the full amount would be held in an account for 1 year. We could extend the 1 year cutoff if we pay an additional $20.

If we don't book within the next year we lose the money altogether.

We're not sure at this point when we are likely to be able to again so we were hoping to get a refund in full.

Any ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

jpsartre

a5972s wrote: »

We're not sure at this point when we are likely to be able to again so we were hoping to get a refund in full.

As the name suggests, non-refundable bookings cannot be refunded. Travel insurance could have covered you but based on your question I'm assuming you don't have any. Two options spring to mind: Take the flights and stay elsewhere or keep the flights and hope for a schedule change/cancellation that will allow you to cancel for a full refund.

Caz3121

a5972s wrote: »

We're not sure at this point when we are likely to be able to again so we were hoping to get a refund in full.

the offer of full credit on a non-refundable ticket is excellent
unless your travel insurance will cover refunding you, you may have to just take the hit if you don't want to use the credit although you should be able to claim the APD etc back

a5972s

Yeah, we always shop around for travel insurance and get the best deal before we depart. We hadn't looked at insurance options by the time we received the news.

I don't understand how airlines are able to keep hold of money in this way. Anywhere else you should be able to get a refund for services not received surely?

...and yes the airline was pretty accommodating to refund the cancellation charges but I felt they could have gone further with a full refund under the circumstances.

Caz3121

a5972s wrote: »

Anywhere else you should be able to get a refund for services not received surely?

...and yes the airline was pretty accommodating to refund the cancellation charges but I felt they could have gone further with a full refund under the circumstances.

Airlines offer a variety of different different fare types and they sell tickets that are fully refundable (expensive) you chose a non-refundable ticket and that's what you have.
I have had tickets for concerts, bookings for hotels, cinema and theatre tickets that I have lost because I was unable to go...all were non-refundable (the hotel did allow credit if used within 3 months)

Insurance should have been bought in January when you bought the tickets ...the airline doesn't give refunds on non-refundable tickets because you chose not to insure at the time
As someone who has had to purchase refundable tickets in the past the cost is high but if you want the option for a refund without travel insurance then buying refundable tickets is the way to go

z1a

"Yeah, we always shop around for travel insurance and get the best deal before we depart. We hadn't looked at insurance options by the time we received the news."

Hmmmm.

Ballard

Airlines offer various types of ticket with the cheapest option being non-refundable. It’s cheaper for a reason and they’re under no obligation to refund. Indeed, giving a refund would be very poor business practice.

You’re in a very unfortunate situation but it seems that the airline have been fair with their offer.

blindman

a5972s wrote: »

Yeah, we always shop around for travel insurance and get the best deal before we depart. We hadn't looked at insurance options by the time we received the news.

Next time get the best deal the day you book the holiday :eek:

I don't understand how airlines are able to keep hold of money in this way. Anywhere else you should be able to get a refund for services not received surely?

...and yes the airline was pretty accommodating to refund the cancellation charges but I felt they could have gone further with a full refund under the circumstances.

Really?
I think you cam out of your mistake exceedingly well.

NON refundable means-well -non refundable. :rotfl:

You have a year (or two) to organise a Canadian holiday.

Surely you can do that-

CardinalWolsey

By the number of threads on here, I often wonder why there isn't a sticky titled "I booked a non-refundable room / flight / car / ferry / train and now I need to cancel. Why can't I get my money back?"

photome

a5972s wrote: »

Yeah, we always shop around for travel insurance and get the best deal before we depart. We hadn't looked at insurance options by the time we received the news.

I don't understand how airlines are able to keep hold of money in this way. Anywhere else you should be able to get a refund for services not received surely?

...and yes the airline was pretty accommodating to refund the cancellation charges but I felt they could have gone further with a full refund under the circumstances.

I think you are being hard on the airline considering they have gone out of their way to offer you credit when in reality they didn;t need to give you anything, the service is still there it is your choice not to receive it

I think others have mentioned, there are many things that are non refundable .

Also as others have said insurance should be in place as soon as you have something to lose , ie non refundable flight tickets in this instance

stevie11

IMO the airline have been very generous, take up the offer and extend for a year then book again. Or if your family member isn't well enough to visit or to stay with maybe carry on with your plans but stay in a hotel/Airbnb etc or arrange to go to another part of Canada so you don't lose your money altogether. Canada is a beautiful country with many tourist locations worth visiting.

Hope you work something out.