Pregnant Travel

[Dee15]

My boyfriend and I were planning on travelling through Central America from January until Next July. We bought our tickets, but had not yet purchased travel insurance unfortunately.

I am now 3 months pregnant and we have tried to cancel our flights and get a partial reimbursement at least, but are meeting with some difficulty.

Our flights were with Air Canada and as we were travelling out in January and back next July and my baby is due in June, we will definitely not be able to travel!

Has anyone got any ideas on how we could get our money back, or what our rights may be as we were uninsured?

[funnywebsite]

Well this is a difficult one. Travel insurance should of been bought straight away just in case something went wrong. Well it has and you cannot do much about it now.

I would check with the airline to see if you could postpone the flight and take it another time. They will probably charge you an admin fee to change the flight but it is better than loosng all of your money.

[waimarie]

Sue your boyfriend!!!

[dzug]

Your rights will depend on the T&C of the particular ticket you have booked with Air Canada, and of the travel agent if you booked through one.

It's also possible they will make a compassionate refund - North American airlines are more generous with this than European ones, particularly in the case of a death.

Not sure that insurance would have helped - many policies exclude pregnancy claims.

[Buenchico]

You ask what your rights are. Regrettably, in terms of refunds, they're non-existent. You've entered into a contract with Air Canada which basically says "we'll pay you some money, you provide us with some seats". If you don't sit in those seats (for whatever reason), there's no legal obligation on Air Canada to refund your money. This doesn't mean, however, that there's no point in trying to get some money back. (Just ensure that your attitude is seen as 'requesting' rather than 'demanding').

First of all, if your attempts to get a refund have been through a travel agent (or other third party), try contacting Air Canada directly. Phone [phone] and politely explain the position. Remember that you're probably speaking to call centre staff who may not be authorised to offer refunds. Try to get put through to an Air Canada manager. If this doesn't work, try a letter:
Customer Relations Department
Air Canada Complex
Radius Park
Hatton Cross
Middlesex
UK
TW14 0NJ
(Once again, remember that you're basically 'begging' for 'compassion'. Don't try demanding what you're not legally entitled to - that'll be the quickest way to alienate the person who reads your letter!).

If none of that works, contact your local newspaper. Once again, don't try saying that your 'demands' haven't been met. Simply express your disappointment that a major airline is unable to show some flexibility, particularly in regard to some flights which are 8 months away where they might easily be able to find other customers to fill the seats. It's amazing how a phone call from the press can suddenly turn a 'bureaucratic' company into a 'caring' one.

None of the above guarantees that you'll get anything back but, at least, it might improve your chances!

Good luck!

Chris