Beth73

I need some advice. My husband and I have 2 tickets to London on USAir next week. One of the tickets is a Dividend Miles Award ticket.Unfortunately, my husband has to have a medical procedure done (the doctor picked that day!) and won't be able to travel for at least 5 weeks. I was hoping to postpone the trip until December but I'm now worried that US Air won't be around much longer. What should I do? My options seem to be to (a) beg the airline to refund my non-refundable ticket - I do have a doctor's note at least.
(b) beg the doctor the postpone the procedure for a week and a half (he seems reluctant so far to do this)
(c)change the ticket to leave as soon as the five weeks are up and hope I can still use my frequent flier miles and US Air is still flying
Also, given we have a doctor's note, do you think the airline will still charge the full fee to change the ticket?

seetheworld

Sorry Beth, this is a no-brainer - I pick A or C.

gail

A, C, yes

Jed

Has anyone had experience where a doctor's note was helpful in changing or cancelling a flight with less or no penalty?

nibblette

I did receive a certificate for future travel on USAir when I couldn't fly due to a very bad ear, no fee charged (non-refundable ticket). Was not allowed a refund. Had a doctor's note. This was several years ago. With all the problems USAir is having, don't know if they will do the same now.
USAir will probably be around through Dec. Saw an article where they said they only had enough cash for the rest of this year.
No harm in trying for either option A or C.

Cassandra

Everyone's assuming the medical procedure is non-elective, necessary, and needs to happen a.s.a.p. Probably a good assumption, but if by chance it's strictly cosmetic, I'd go for b, obviously.

gail

Doctor's notes do not carry the weight they used to in any aspect of life. Now, it is not all that difficult to get a note from some MD or other health care professional to say almost anything REASONABLE.

In my opinion, buying a non-refundable ticket is sort of like self-insurance. The money you save, over time and several flights, will pay for any loss you may have to take if you need a refund for a non-refundable ticket. Sort of like you playing one set of odds and the airline playing another. You just hope your odds are better.

Beth73

Thanks, everyone for your replies. Obviously, my husband's health is the most important thing here, and I don't want to risk that. Since the chances of a full refund don't seem too likely here, I'm going to see about getting a change for our tickets for sometime in November. I'll guess I'll just have to take my chances that they will still be flying then. I'll let you know if they charge me the full service fee for the change.

pilgrim

When my mother had emergency surgery (cancer) USAirways allowed me to postpone 6 weeks without penalty with a doctor's note.
I doubt they will liquidate before your trip.

Thoughts and prayers for his recovery.