Ford, firstly wish you well for the future.
Back in 2005, my travel partner was advised not to travel due to a health reason. A copy of this advice was sent to American Airlines Customer Relations team. After due consideration they refunded our ticket costs in full. I am sorry to disagree with the comments made so far but there are rare exceptions and not all airlines follow their policies to the utter letter.
In 2008 a work colleague experienced the exact same scenario with Virgin Atlantic as yourself. They did not win.
Rules are Rules as it has been pointed out to you, but my argument in life has always been that rules can be bent a bit to suit each individual situation.
Concentrate on getting well. Remember to have travel insurance in place next time but then we all know even that is not a fail safe - insurance companies will try to wiggle out of paying up if at all possible
Take care.
NYLON wrote:......
I've noticed this wording on AA about illness: "Exception requests [i.e. to the blanket no-refunds policy] should be submitted through American Airlines Customer Relations."
Back in 2005, my travel partner was advised not to travel due to a health reason. A copy of this advice was sent to American Airlines Customer Relations team. After due consideration they refunded our ticket costs in full. I am sorry to disagree with the comments made so far but there are rare exceptions and not all airlines follow their policies to the utter letter.
In 2008 a work colleague experienced the exact same scenario with Virgin Atlantic as yourself. They did not win.
Rules are Rules as it has been pointed out to you, but my argument in life has always been that rules can be bent a bit to suit each individual situation.
Concentrate on getting well. Remember to have travel insurance in place next time but then we all know even that is not a fail safe - insurance companies will try to wiggle out of paying up if at all possible

Take care.