[Butch Cassidy Slept Here]

For the type of travel you are talking about--medical treatment--it's not realistic to think you can "travel on the cheap." If you have unpredictable departure dates/times you will wind-up losing more money by buying deep discount tickets than if you just puchased a fully-refundable "full fare" ticket in the beginning.

The fully refundable ticket on Frontier is called "CLASSIC PLUS." On a "Classic Plus" fare there are NO change fees; your ticket is fully refundable (to the credit card used to make the original purchase), and you get to check TWO bags FREE for each ticket. For a flight to New York--LaGuardia, from Denver, the "Classic Plus" one-way fare, for a trip on Aug. 10th, is about $70 more than their cheapest ticket.

Southwest recently began flying to New York--LaGuardia. A trip, from Denver, requires a change of planes in Chicago--Midway, or Baltimore. Their cheapest fare is NOT refundable, but, in return for a fee, the full value of the ticket can be applied to a new reservation. Southwest also offers "Anytime" and "Business Select" fares both of which are fully refundable.

Also, make sure the doctor writes a note indicating your husband’s medical condition can tolerate air travel. Some gate agents have been known to get “power drunk” and unfairly stop someone from boarding because they felt their medical condition did not permit air travel and the passenger did not have a doctor’s note stating otherwise. American Air has a section in their Contract of Carriage with authorizes their gate agents to do just this.

Keep receipts for all monies paid-out for air travel in connection with your husband’s medical treatment. The IRS allows a deduction for the cost of transportation to medical treatment. File a return WITHOUT the deduction for transportation. Then, file an AMENDED return (Form 1040X) WITH the deduction. This way, if the IRS disallows the deduction, you can avoid interest and penalty charges.