non-refundable, non-changeable

[essouira]

We have non-refundable transatlantic tickets with United for June. The wedding we were going to has been cancelled (and that's a whole other story !) Does anyone know of any way of appealing to anyone's heart to try and get some money back ? Have you ever done it successfully ? Who is the best person to approach on the company ? Or is it just a waste of £500 x2 ? All suggestions welcome

[SLF]

Have a holiday :D :D :D

[Tolsti]

does your travel insurance not cover cancellations?

[essouira]

My travel insurance (like most, I suspect) only covers cancellations due to sickness or jury service or redundancy - nothing about people changing their minds about who they want to marry ! It does cover cancellation due to your house burning down or being needed as a witness in court - or a car/plane going into your house. All a bit serious to blag ...............

[AOG007]

As the tickets say, "Non-changeable, non refundable"

These are because they are the cheapest tickets in the house, and therefore carry the biggest penalties.

You can try contacting the Customer Relations department for United Airlines, but I don't think you will find much joy.

I would just go and enjoy yourselves.

Sorry, not much help I know,

:cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

[PAXboy]

It may also depend upon who issued the tickets - an agency or UAL themselves? You can only return to the company from whom you purchased them.

If you are going to attempt to get your money back, you had better have a genuine letter from the (putative) bride and groom, explaining about the cancellation, appologising and so forth. It may also hinge on whether the folks getting married were CLOSE family or simply friends.

Given the downturn in the market, I have to agree that your chances of a refund are slight. Which reminds me, I am going to a long-haul wedding in December!

[FOMere2eternity]

Air Canada have the same non-refundable, non-changeable, non-cheap fares, but I also understand that that isn't as bad as it sounds.

If you want to change the ticket it costs, and if you want to cancel you don't get a refund, BUT I believe they will offer you a credit note (to be used in the a year or so), in the absence of the cash. Maybe you could get the same from UA and, perhaps even use it with another Star Alliance partner (whichever scheme UA are signed up to)

Just a thought, but worth a try :cool:

[PaperTiger]

I'm pretty sure that most non-changeable tickets are in fact changeable provided:
a) you pay a change 'fee' (which keeps increasing)
b) you pay the difference (if any) between the original fare paid and that now in force.

Sometimes the combination of a) and b) comes out to more than the original cost, in which case I just throw it away :(

But the situation is fluid, and if you got the tickets from a consolidator or online broker then they probably are worthless if unused.

[Memetic]

Most credit cards insure purchased goods and services for 90 days. Many have travel insurance cover for travel wholly purchsed on the card.

If you paid on plastic it may be worth talking to the credit card company.

However as the policies are effectively "free" the cover anbd restrictions are probably worse than the travel insurance you bought.

Best bet, probably to use the tickets to have a holiday.

Good luck!

[essouira]

Thanks everyone for suggestions. As you know, the tickets are marked non-changeable and the travel agency said that we could not do anything. However, wonderful United Customer Service have agreed that we can change the flights as long as the new ones are:
- europe to USA
- within 12 months
- more expensive than the originals
We will have to pay the difference between our heavily discounted fare and the published fare of the new flights but that's a lot better than nothing. FOMere2eternity and PaperTiger were right - it is worth asking.