Are Lingus - emergency surgery forcing date change

5p9arw38djv2b4

Family member had Christmas flights booked to come home from US for the holidays. Had a serious medical issue occur last week with no notice, resulting in surgery, and instruction not to fly for 6 weeks. They tried to rebook flight (changing date) and Are Lingus wants $300 dollars to change the flight date. Despite doctors letter etc. Aer Lingus in meantime is benefitting by also reselling a Christmas time fare on a very busy route.

Anyone have any idea what else we can do? Very disappointed that Are Lingus customer service have been really unhelpful to deal with so far (numerous calls and emails)

(And they had no flight insurance purchased so can't claim that way, US healthcare policy won't cover them either). Original flights cost $500.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Claim on Travel Insurance?

maxsmum

That's what travel insurance is for...then you need the doctor's letter. Not worth anything without travel insurance unfortunately. Most people get a shock and learn this the hard way.
The only exception (some airlines) will refund or change a flight for a death in immediate family but it's on a goodwill basis only.

L1011

There is no way to force a good will change - this is entirely in the realm of travel insurance so there really isn't any other option.

Atlantic Dawn

I am afraid the moral of the story is buy travel insurance the same day you book flights.

Tenigate

Look on the bright side, at least they saved $30 on travel insurance.

TheDriver

Travel insurance is for this reason. Why oh why do people skimp on this very small cost relatively

5p9arw38djv2b4

Thanks for the replies, I have an annual travel insurance policy, so berating me for him not buying insurance isn't helpful. I was only asking if anyone had suggestions on how else to approach it. Hopefully everyone reading this thread has learned to buy travel insurance

Tenigate

You need to weigh it up. If the policy costs €30 and the excess is €75, it might make sense to skip travel insurance.

Some people also don't mind paying extra for flexible tickets, and some airlines charge a much lower admin fee for change of date or cancellation, but tickets are usually more expensive with these airlines. Some budget airlines don't allow any changes whatsoever. You lose your whole fare.

So the lesson isn't so much as buy travel insurance, as it is read the terms and conditions for both the travel ticket and travel insurance, rather than just considering the cost of the flight.

CeilingFly

LadyLabyrinth wrote: »

Aer Lingus in meantime is benefitting by also reselling a Christmas time fare on a very busy route.

Anyone have any idea what else we can do? Very disappointed that Are Lingus customer service have been really unhelpful to deal with so far (numerous calls and emails)

(And they had no flight insurance purchased so can't claim that way, US healthcare policy won't cover them either). Original flights cost $500.

How are aer lingus benifitting? The seat is still booked.

Why do people always want to blame "the big bad company" for their own errors?

Aer lingus did not cause the medical issue

Aer lingus did not insist that non refundable, cheapest flight was purchased

Aer lingus did not prevent them purchasing travel insurance - they probably even tried to sell the insurance.

Sorry, but the relative went for the cheapest possible ticket with no flexibilty and added no insurance - yet you berate aer lingus?

Victor

How much will Aer Lingus charge for a name change? Can someone else travel?

5p9arw38djv2b4

CeilingFly wrote: »

How are aer lingus benifitting? The seat is still booked.

Why do people always want to blame "the big bad company" for their own errors?

Aer lingus did not cause the medical issue

Aer lingus did not insist that non refundable, cheapest flight was purchased

Aer lingus did not prevent them purchasing travel insurance - they probably even tried to sell the insurance.

Sorry, but the relative went for the cheapest possible ticket with no flexibilty and added no insurance - yet you berate aer lingus?

The seat is not still booked - they are changing the flight date to a date they are medically fit to travel, and paying 300 dollar for the change - thus Aer Lingus can resell the peak season Christmas flight.

Tenigate

LadyLabyrinth wrote: »

- thus Aer Lingus can resell the peak season Christmas flight.

Jesus, get over it! They're the conditions your friend agreed to.
Your friend is getting a change of flight for €300. Had the flight they're changing to cost more, it could well be €300 + fare difference. So just as well they're changing to a cheaper flight or you'd have even more to moan about.

5p9arw38djv2b4

Tenigate wrote: »

Jesus, get over it! They're the conditions your friend agreed to.
Your friend is getting a change of flight for €300. Had the flight they're changing to cost more, it could well be €300 + fare difference. So just as well they're changing to a cheaper flight or you'd have even more to moan about.

Super helpful reply, thanks so much.

faceman

Feel your pain OP but unfortunately your friend has no come back here without having purchased travel insurance or a flexible ticket.

You could try write a letter to Aer Lingus and pull on their heart strings but given how poor their customer service is I doubt you’d get much of a reply.

CeilingFly

LadyLabyrinth wrote: »

The seat is not still booked - they are changing the flight date to a date they are medically fit to travel, and paying 300 dollar for the change - thus Aer Lingus can resell the peak season Christmas flight.

But still they had the choice of a non-refundable ticket or a flexible ticket.

They had the choice of insurance or not.

Sorry for them, but I simply cannot see how aer lingus have any blame for this.

boardzz

Aer Lingus give the option of buying a flex rate ticket for making changes like this. You can't expect free changes if you didn't pay for this option.

endofrainbow

Most of the legacy airlines charge for a chance of date PLUS fare difference so no point in taking frustrations out on Aer Lingus (and no, I don't work for them).