Bereavement refunds received

My husband and I were to depart on a trip to England and Scotland on June 13, 2011. The primary goal was to explore the Orkney Islands, home to my ancestors. I personally made all the reservations, mostly via the Internet, including flights, accommodations, Orkney Island ferries and car rental. Some of these reservations were classified as “nonrefundable.”

Sadly, five days before our departure, our daughter died from an acute asthma attack. Our lives were turned upside down. Within the next several days, however, I contacted all concerned, explaining the circumstances and saying that we had canceled our trip.

We were astounded by the responses we received from almost all the contacts. They expressed their sympathy for our loss, canceled our bookings without question and hoped they would see us sometime in the future. British Airways (BA) was the exception.

For the two of us, I had purchased a separate (not connected to overseas flights) one-way airline ticket from Heathrow to Edinburgh for June 19, using Expedia, at the cost of $249. On June 13 I e-mailed British Airways, which answered on June 14 saying that they couldn’t do anything; any refund had to be arranged through my travel agent. So on June 15 l contacted Expedia via e-mail, and they responded on June 16. On July 7 Expedia forwarded the information to BA.

On Aug. 16 Expedia notified me that BA was requesting more information, namely a copy of the death certificate. This was promptly sent. On Aug. 28 I received an e-mail from Expedia saying that all information had been forwarded to BA and that BA would take at least 45 days to respond.

As of today (Nov. 28), we have heard nothing further from BA. We do realize that this ticket was “nonrefundable” but had hoped they might say we could use the fare for future travel.

The real reason I write this letter is not to bemoan the loss of $249 — peanuts in the scheme of things — but to give thanks to the many people and organizations who responded to us so positively in our time of sadness.

I was very grateful to the following for their kindness: Royal Scots Club, Edinburgh; Old Minister’s House, Aviemore; NorthLink Ferries; Ayre Hotel, Kirkwall; The Lime Tree, Fort William, and the Hilton Edinburgh Airport Hotel.

MARGARET STRICKLAND
Albuquerque, NM

ITN sent a copy of Ms. Strickland’s letter to British Airways (2 Park Ave., 11th Floor, New York, NY 10016) and received no reply. ITN also wrote to Expedia.com (333 108th Ave. NE, Bellevue, WA 98004, expediapr@hlgrp.com) and received the following reply on Jan. 17.

Expedia’s customer care team certainly understands the nature of the situation and sympathizes deeply with Ms. Strickland. Expedia advocated strongly on her behalf to secure a refund with British Airways; unfortunately, it is up to British Airways to offer a refund for the nonrefundable ticket.

Expedia is diligently following up with British Airways on Ms. Strickland’s behalf, and our last correspondence to them was on Nov. 26, 2011. British Airways informed Expedia’s customer care team that it can be at least 45 days before a decision is made. The team continues to follow up with British Airways and will keep Ms. Strickland in the loop with any updates.

DAVE McNAMEE, Media Relations, Expedia.com

Responding to an inquiry from ITN in February, Ms. Strickland wrote, “On Jan. 26, 2012, I found two postings from British Airways to my credit card for the total amount of $249.20. I had had no communication from them whatsoever. Needless to say, I was very happy.”

She also informed ITN, “The airfare from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to London and from Edinburgh, Scotland, to Albuquerque was covered by trip insurance with Access America. The cost of these tickets was $3,000. I initially included the British Airways costs when I applied for a refund, but they nicely pointed out that that was a separate ticket and I was covered only for the $3,000 of ticketing. Access America was very prompt in providing us a refund.”