Travel cancellation medical grounds 13 February at 11:01AM in Credit cards 18 replies 884 views

Ghirst87

Hi all. 

I am due to fly from Barcelona to Brazil next month. Unfortunately yesterday I ruptured my Achilles, so I don’t think I’ll be able to make the flight and would like to cancel for medical reasons. I had not got around to sorting travel insurance yet and booked a non-refundable flight. I know this all points towards no refund, bad luck. However, I booked with a credit card which I understand has some sort of protection, and also am aware of EU protections etc.

I wonder if:

1) I should be able to cancel on medical grounds with the airline

2) If not, can I claim via the credit card?

Any help would be great!

MorningcoffeeIV

No. Travel insurance would have dealt with it, but the airline and card have no liability.

Wonka_2

As above - your lowest cost option is likely to be to negotiate a change to a future flight - if they'll do it there'll be a cost but it'll be less than losing the whole lot (exc taxes which you could probably claim back depending on airline and their admin charges)

comeandgo

I would ask the airline if you could postpone your flight to a later date but  they have no obligation to do so.  Your credit card helps if any problems between you and supplier, not for refunding due to medical problems.

DullGreyGuy

Ghirst87 said:

I wonder if:

1) I should be able to cancel on medical grounds with the airline

2) If not, can I claim via the credit card?

1) Only if you bought a flexible ticket which would allow you to change the date not cancel as you already said it was non-refundable

2) To claim under S75 you would have to prove the airline has breached its contract... clearly they arent to blame for your injury. 

born_again

No chargeback or S75. As it is you who would be cancelling. EU regulations? Think we left a couple of years ago.

As ML say's Always book your travel insurance at the same time as booking you trip.

Sorry, but you are in the hands of the airline to allow you to rebook.

eskbanker

born_again said:

EU regulations? Think we left a couple of years ago.

That's a bit disingenuous - the EU regulations pertaining to flight cancellations and delays, etc, were transposed straight into UK law at Brexit and remain there unaltered: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2004/261/contents

However, it's a moot point when neither the EU nor the UK versions cover this scenario!

Ghirst87 said:

I ruptured my Achilles, so I don’t think I’ll be able to make the flight and would like to cancel for medical reasons

Would a leg injury like that actually render you unfit to fly though?

Nebulous2

eskbanker said:

born_again said:

EU regulations? Think we left a couple of years ago.

That's a bit disingenuous - the EU regulations pertaining to flight cancellations and delays, etc, were transposed straight into UK law at Brexit and remain there unaltered: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2004/261/contents

However, it's a moot point when neither the EU nor the UK versions cover this scenario!

Ghirst87 said:

I ruptured my Achilles, so I don’t think I’ll be able to make the flight and would like to cancel for medical reasons

Would a leg injury like that actually render you unfit to fly though?

I was wondering that. Depends when next month, what kind of treatment the OP gets and how active a holiday (if it is a holiday) they were intending in Brazil. 

My mother ruptured her achilles many years ago and had a surgical repair, which needed a lengthy period of recovery. Treatment may have improved since then. 

Even then, given it is still some time away the flight could be okay - its the additional bits we don't know that could make it not worthwhile. 

Ghirst87

Thanks for all the comments.

I have certainly learned my lesson about booking insurance at the same time of the flight rather than waiting.

RE EU comments, I am actually flying from Barcelona to Brazil, so from the EU.

I have tried to contact the airline and hoping for the best. Unfortunately it seems they have a terrible reputation for customer service (Tap Air) so isn’t looking too good. I suppose a lack of reply, therefore making it impossible to proceed, doesn’t fall under any of the regulations mentioned?

When I try amend the booking it comes out at over 3000 Euro, but if I book those exact same flights as new, they are 600 Euro. 

In regards to comment about being possible to still travel, I think it’s very unlikely but still waiting for scan results. I will be in a cast for up to a month (which would take me to beyond the date of travel) and at high risk of re rupture and DVT for 3 months.

Ghirst87

TAP aren’t budging and have said I have two options
1) rebook through their rebooking system. Thing is in this system, 600 EUR flights are 3000 EUR
2) cancel flights and get taxes back

Im a little confused by option 2, as according to my booking confirmation the taxes are around 75% of the total cost as per attached photo. If that’s the case I’d definitely take that, but I assume it isn’t.

DullGreyGuy

Ask them?

In some countries not all taxes are refunded, from memory for example flights from India only 40% is recoverable but that's the law of the land not the airlines choosing. In addition some airlines charge an admin fee but this should be in the T&Cs