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A family is outraged over WestJet's no refund policy on base airfare tickets. Nicki Adamson and her husband Trevor Drummond’s 77-year-old mother Angel passed away after she had purchased a base fare ticket from the airline to attend a family wedding in early July.
At first, Adamson asked if they could change the ticket so another family member could use it and attend the wedding.
The couple told the Delta Optimist that they went directly to the airport to speak with a supervisor as they weren't getting anywhere on the phone.
While the WestJet spokesperson did express sympathy for the family, they told them there is nothing they can do as it's company policy for base airfare bookings.
WestJet stuck to their policy and in the end did not refund the ticket. The family was very upset that the airline woudn't make an exception in the case of a family member passing. Adamson said she has never heard of an airline that doesn't offer some kind of bereavement clause for refund or at least a credit.
In a similar incident Global News reported that a woman dying from cancer was also denied a refund by WestJet for a base fare ticket. Eric Wynne’s wife Kathleen has been battling cancer since 2015. It had gone into remission so she booked a ticket to visit her nieces but unfortunately her disease returned. The condition worsened to the point where she could not make the flight and when Wynne called WestJet, his request for refund or credit was rejected.
Seriously @WestJet ? My wife purchased from Halifax to Ottawa to see her nieces one last time before cancer takes her?
— Eric Wynne (@EricW_Photos) July 17, 2019
Unfortunately the brain tumours are taking her faster than before she is supposed to leave Saturday.
But I’m being told you can’t offer refund or credit?!!
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Cover photo credit: (The Canadian Press/Larry MacDougal)