Travel Troubleshooter: Cruise line gives refund, but airline holds out

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Q: My husband and I booked a Royal Caribbean cruise for last March. But before we left, my sister was taken to the intensive care unit and put on a ventilator. I have power of attorney, and the family was called in and there were some decisions that I had to make.

On March 7, I called both the cruise line and United Airlines and asked for a refund. The cruise line refunded our fare (thank you, Royal Caribbean), but I just received an e-mail from United saying it would not do anything for me.

They told me my ticket was nontransferable and nonrefundable. I thought they might do something for me, considering that this was a medical emergency. Is there anything else I can do?

A: I’m so sorry to hear about your sister. You certainly could have done without the additional stress of canceling your vacation and then worrying about a refund. It’s a good opportunity for your cruise line and airline to show some compassion.

It was exceptionally generous — and, I should add, highly unusual — for Royal Caribbean to offer a full refund under these circumstances. Normally, if you’re outside the cancellation window and you don’t have any travel insurance, you’re out of luck.

Nice work, Royal Caribbean.

I’m puzzled by United’s response. Normally, an airline would offer a ticket credit if you cancel a flight before leaving, which you did. In reviewing your paperwork, it seems United was confused by the fact that you were asking for a full refund, and after it rejected the claim, it also tagged you as a “no show” for the flight. In effect, you lost your entire airfare because of it.

United should have said, “No, but you can get a ticket credit” when you asked for a refund. It appears the airline sent you the wrong form response.

In a situation like this, you can appeal to the airline, but you have to know what to ask for. A ticket credit might have allowed you to use the money (minus a change fee and fare differential) on a re-do of your cruise, if you have the time for it. You can find the names of United’s customer-service managers online. Its e-mail addresses are formatted as firstname.lastname@united.com.

I contacted United on your behalf. It offered you a full refund.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. Read more tips on his blog, elliott.org or e-mail him at chris@elliott.org.