[poppy46]

This is a story of my son trying to come home for Thanksgiving



He is a college student in Michigan and was coming home for the Thanksgiving holiday. He had a flight from Grand Rapids, Mi to Minneapolis on 11/25 arriving at about 8:30PM. He then had a connecting flight to Eau Claire, WI to end the day. He paid for this ticket himself and made the reservations way back in July to be sure of a seat.

He became violently ill while on the first flight and as a result, missed the second leg as he could not fly. The next morning he felt better and was driven to Eau Claire. When checking on the return flights he was told that as a result of missing the second leg his reservation was cancelled!! But the ever gracious Northwest said he could reconfirm for $150! I do not see why they would care if he was on the plane – he paid for the ticket in advance and was physically unable to make the flight.

Supervisor Wayne Taylor graciously gave me the “just following the rules” speech when I know he could have made and exception for a sick and poor college kid! His Thanksgiving spirit was in full bloom. This could have been a moment to give some good publicity to an airline that routinely has issues with customer satisfaction. Instead, they continue the policy of alienating the flying public.

[airhead]

The reservation computer automatically cancels a ticket if a leg is missed. It is systematic. The airline, upon notification before the next flight should be able to accommodate your son. In other words, let the airline know that the passenger is sick before the next flight departs and they ought to be able to hold the ticket for the at least the next day. The agent has no authorization to reopen a canceled ticket and rebook additional flight segments especially if the original fares are sold out. Sometimes, however, if the same fare is open, then the airline might be able to rebook it. I am sorry to hear about this. I think many of the rules are ridiculous but they are there for a good reason. People would take advantage of the system otherwise.

[PHXFlyer]

It sounds like Wayne Taylor was actually cutting you a break since it was well within NW's rules to not only charge the $150 fee to re-instate the return portion of the trip but also charge you the difference in fare to re-book the return at the going fares for a new O/W ticket. Unfortunately illness during travel happens. Had your son become ill after traveling the entire outbound trip would you expect to be able to change the return portion of the ticket without any fee whatsoever?

[poppy46]

How utterly compasionate!

[PHXFlyer]

How so? I have re-scheduled trips for many reasons including personal illness and other factors which were completely out of my control and no fault of the airlines. I was aware of and agreed to the fees involved with changing the tickets when I purchased them.

Is it unfortunate when "stuff happens?" No doubt. Do I expect special treatment when situations arise that I can't fly as scheduled and have to pay a fee to re-schedule? Absolutely not.

Bottom lne, why do YOU feel that your son's situation is any different from the thousands of people who miss flights every day and have to pay a fee and sometimes additional fare to get where they want or need to go? My suggestion to you is next time spend more for a ticket with no change fees, fly Southwest which doesn't assess a change fee but will re-fare the ticket and possibly charge more anyway, or go Greyhound. AFAIK they don't charge a fee to change a bus ticket.

[poppy46]

How so? well, I am a 1,000,000 miler on Northwest and Delta - I have had similar occasions and have never been charged a fee - the reservation was intact - missing a leg did not change the return - I am well aware of the regulations - I am also well aware of the latitude that supervisors have - I maintain that there could have been other considerations taken - rules are in place to keep order - common sense is still a factor in the decision making process - I can appricate your clinging to the "that's the rules" mantra but unless you could prove that each and every rule is applied the same in each and every instance by every airline employee every day the bucket dosen't hold water.