In October my wife and I booked a cruise that was to depart from Tampa on January 1, 2011. I decided to try Expedia.ca to book our flights to Tampa for December 31, 2010. After selecting my flights on US Airways (non-refundable), I was prompted with the option of buying flight insurance for an additional fee ($105) which I did (winter travel in Canada is risky).
Christmas came and went and we started to prep for our trip when we received devastating news. My wife's grandfather had passed away unexpectedly on the morning of December 27th, 2010. My wife was extremely close to her grandfather and her entire family (we are a 5 minute walk from his house).
The funeral service was scheduled for December 31, 2010 which meant that we had to cancel our trip or miss the funeral. The choice was clear as we always put family first.
I contacted the travel insurance company (Mondial) first, and they directed me to contact Expedia and have them send me an e-mail confirming that I purchased a non-refundable ticket and the value of the tickets. Their terms also stipulated that they could not cover any losses for which I had received a credit.
I then contacted Expedia's toll free line (in India I believe), and they e-mailed me as requested. When I received the e-mail my jaw dropped when I noted that US Airways was penalizing me for $300 and putting $1200 into a credit to be used by the end of October, 2011. I knew immediately that this would not fit into the terms of the insurance.
I then contacted Expedia again and they explained that this is US Airways policy over which they have no control. My point to them is that if they were aware of this policy, they should never have offered that insurance policy as an option for a US Airways flight because consumers would be paying for insurance for which they could never collect. Expedia was the agent that put those two items together as a package. The implication was that the insurance was suitable for the flight that I selected. Additionally, I wouldn't have bought the tickets without insurance. Expedia said that this is not their problem and to take it up with US Airways and Mondial Insurance separately.
At this point I have a credit for $1200 that I will not use as I have no other travel planned for this year unless I book a trip just to use it up (which will put me further in the hole). This feels like a scam bordering on fraud.
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