confused on cancelling flights and credits

[Dznypal]

unfortunalty we had to cancel our hawaiian but not because of the the virus but my mom is receiving hospice are and didnt feel

right being so far from home in case something happened--anyways so we have trip insurance with our CC so that part is all taken care of

but what confuses me is we were supposed to leave out of canada which now the last I heard canada has shut its borders and hawaii isnt letting one in

yet when I check the status of our refund I can still book the flight that we were supposed to be on and all the airlines has written about no change fees now just doesnt make sense I know there letting you change and they give you a year to do it

my mind is out in left field now too much time on my hands

 

[JimMIA]

The policies vary from airline to airline. It doesn't matter what other airlines say, or what DISers post here. What matters is what your airline says.

I would call your airline, explain the situation with your Mom, and ask for their help.

If you bought trip insurance, get a letter from your Mom's doctor explaining the situation, and they will probably refund your money. Understand that the insurance company policies govern that kind of refund, not the airline.

 

[alliecat523]

Refunds and unused tickets are two separate items. With trip insurance you should be able to get a full refund for the ticket cost. If, for some reason you cannot get the refund, you would be issued an unused ticket which is basically like a credit to use in the future. Typically you’ll pay a change fee and any difference in fare in reissue the ticket. Most airlines are waiving the change fee but you would still have to pay any fare difference if the price increases.

Flights are still going all over the world but with vast reductions in service. People do have essential needs to get places and/or return home so travel is still available although everyone is urged to consider the importance/need of the travel.

 

[Jimsig]

Here is what happened to me when we had to cancel flights (and a cruise but I'll only cover what happened with the airline) due to my wife's pre-existing condition in which we had trip insurance that covered pre-existing conditions.

1. I called the TI company and told them what was going on and ask what I needed to do. They told me to call the airline and tell them I needed to cancel. They either e-mailed me or sent me the link on the paper work I would need to fill out to make my claim. They also told me to make copies of the credit card statements showing I purchased and the airline confirmation email. I also had to make a copy of the email showing I had canceled the flights.

2. Called airline (Jet Blue) to cancel and they deposited what I paid into a travel bank. Normally they will only deposit what you spent on the tickets less the airline change fee. So in our case we paid about $800 for two tickets and the change fee was $150pp. So they should have deposited $500 into our travel bank. However when I mentioned that we were cancelling due to my wife needing emergency surgery they said they would waive the change fee and deposit the $800 in the travel bank and could be used to book a ticket with in a year.

3. Called TI as I was confused if I was still eligible for a refund as the funds were put in a travel bank that could be used. He asked if I was planning on using the funds and I told him I did not know if we would be able to due to my wife's condition He then said it was eligible for a refund and to file the claim.

3. Filled out paper work and waited. Got reimbursed for the full amount of the flights by the TI company.