Airline won't refund ticket after passenger dies

Q: I recently bought a pair of tickets through Expedia for my husband and myself. We planned to visit Germany this fall as part of a retirement trip. Shortly after that, my husband passed away very suddenly.

I contacted Expedia about a refund, but was advised to get in touch with our airline, Lufthansa, directly. Lufthansa told me my husband's ticket was nonrefundable. I asked if they would resell his seat, since he couldn't make the flight, and they admitted they would. When I said that it appeared that Lufthansa would profit from the death of my husband, they admitted that that was the case. This really offended me. I tried to send an email to Lufthansa's president, but they have turned me down. What would you advise? -- Ursula Maul, Wynnewood, Pa.

A: My condolences on your loss. Most airlines refund tickets -- even nonrefundable ones -- when a passenger dies. What's more, it's highly unusual for a representative to "admit" that the airline will profit from the death of a passenger. Maybe the representative you reached was having a bad day. I certainly hope so.

I'm concerned about your online travel agency's role in this debacle. Why did Expedia hand you off to Lufthansa in your hour of need? One of the reasons you do business with an online travel agency is that they are trusted intermediaries in case something goes wrong with your flight. If they simply sent you to the airline when you needed help, then why not book a ticket directly with Lufthansa the next time, cutting out the middleman?

I might have started the refund process by sending a brief, polite email to Expedia, explaining that you wanted a refund for your husband's ticket. It may have still referred you to the airline, but at least you would have given it a chance to do what it promises it will do, which is to take care of you.

I would have stayed off the phone, too. These days, the odds of you getting put through to an outsourced, overseas call center, where someone is just trying to process your complaint quickly, is too high. Your case required special attention, which neither your agency nor your airline seemed willing to give you.

You had the right idea with the email to Lufthansa's president. I might have started a little lower on the corporate food chain. I list the names of the managers on my customer-service wiki, On Your Side at (http://onyoursi.de/). If Expedia was unable to help you, then a polite email with your husband's death certificate should have worked.

I contacted Lufthansa on your behalf. It apologized for the "inaccurate" response to your request and agreed to refund your husband's ticket.

Christopher Elliott is the author of "Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals" (Wiley). He's also the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine and the co-founder of the Consumer Travel Alliance, a nonprofit organization that advocates for travelers. Read more tips on his blog, elliott.org or e-mail him at chris@elliott.org. Christopher Elliott receives a great deal of reader mail, and though he answers them as quickly as possible, your story may not be published for several months because of a backlog of cases.

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No Refund For Airline Taxes

The IRS has decided that passengers who purchased airline tickets before the lapse of the FAA's authorization, but also traveled during that time, will not receive a refund for the taxes collected.

Maybe the better news for passengers is that the IRS is not forcing those who purchased tickets during that lapse, to pay taxes for those future flights, now that the FAA authorization has been reinstated.

Since the FAA Reauthorization Bill was delayed for about two weeks beginning July 23, 2011,without an extension agreed upon in the House and Senate, there was a loss of at least $20 million in taxes that were not collected from passengers during that time frame. Plus around 70,000 workers were furloughed. Taxes are now being collected and those were workers should be back to work.

The new extension will last through September 16, 2011. By then a new Reauthorization Bill is hoped to be agreed upon by the House and Senate. There has not been a permanent FAA Reauthorization Bill since 2007.

The shutdown also caused airport construction projects to shut down. The FAA also could not collect tax on avgas as well, creating pricing problems with companies who sell the fuel.

What problems or questions came about from passengers to their travel agents during this period? Did clients save a lot of money overall?

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