My wife is in intensive care — what about her airline ticket?

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By Christopher Elliott

A medical emergency derailed Thomas Hinrichs’ anniversary plans. Can he change the name on his wife’s ticket and take his son to Paris and London, instead?

Question

Earlier this year, I booked flights with Expedia on Icelandair for a trip to Paris and London for my wife and me. It was to be in celebration of our 30th wedding anniversary. Since the day I bought the tickets, our lives have changed in a dramatic way.

A very serious bacterial infection has stricken my wife. She has been struggling for her life in the intensive care unit at the hospital If she can recover. She will be in rehabilitation for several months and will not be able to go on the trip.

I am writing to you today to see if you would consider helping me. Since my wife cannot go, I would like to take our son, who is 19 years old and is a college student. I have called both Expedia and Icelandair to ask if this was possible. Both times they told me it was not. Each of these companies told me to call the other. I have since sent a letter via email to Icelandair but have not yet received a response.

Willing to pay the difference

I would be willing to pay the difference between the original ticket and today’s price. Unfortunately I can’t afford another full-price ticket. It would seem reasonable to me that if I only need two seats, then I shouldn’t need to pay for three seats. The airline has very little if any risk in this situation. It could gain a loyal traveling customer for life as well as good PR for themselves.

I have heard of airlines that have special fares for families in crisis and I hope that they would have some compassion for my situation. I did not buy trip insurance and now wish I had, so this may be a dead end but I thought it was worth a try. Thank you for any advice or help you could provide. — Thomas Hinrichs, White Bear Lake, Minn.

Answer

I’m sorry to hear about your wife’s illness. Under those circumstances, you could have requested a refund or a ticket credit for your wife. Icelandair would have offered her a credit for the full amount, as long as the flight hadn’t left. Refunds are handled on a case-by-case basis. (Here’s a story about a remarkable reader’s journey: battling a brain tumor and seeking a refund for a non-refundable airline ticket.)

What led to some confusion is that you asked to use the same ticket and change the name on the reservation. Name changes are generally not allowed on a ticket (airlines cite “security” concerns, but it’s mostly a money thing). If you’d requested a refund and bought a new ticket for your son, I think this would have gone a lot smoother. (Related: IcelandAir changed my flights — can I get a refund for my tour?)

AirAdvisor is a claims management company. We fight for air passenger rights in cases of flight disruptions all over the world. Our mission is to ensure that air passengers are fairly compensated for the inconvenience and frustration caused by delays, cancellations, or overbooking.

Let’s be clear about this, though: Under the terms of your ticket, you were not entitled to a refund of any kind in the event of an illness. You could have received a refund if your flight had been canceled by the airline, but otherwise, your money belonged to Icelandair. (Here’s how to get a refund on a non-refundable airline ticket.)

Still, I thought you were getting the runaround from Expedia and the airline, and given your situation, I wanted to help. Had your written request not worked, and I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t’ have, then you might have also appealed to an Icelandair executive. Email addresses at Icelandair are the person’s first name @icelandair.is. Here are a list of a few executives.

By the way, I love this airline. It publishes its executives’ email addresses online for the world to see. How awesome is that?

My advocacy team and I contacted Expedia on your behalf, and it worked with the airline to secure a 50 percent refund for your wife’s ticket, and helped you book a new ticket for your son. You were happy with that resolution.

Should airlines publish the names and email addresses of their executives?

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Christopher Elliott

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers consumers to solve their problems and helps those who can't. He's the author of numerous books on consumer advocacy and writes three nationally syndicated columns. He also publishes the Elliott Report, a news site for consumers, and Elliott Confidential, a critically acclaimed newsletter about customer service. If you have a consumer problem you can't solve, contact him directly through his advocacy website. You can also follow him on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn, or sign up for his daily newsletter. He is based in Rio de Janeiro.

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