Allegiant softens hardhearted policy on refund for dead son

In June, I found evidence that our son and his girlfriend had airline reservations with Allegiant for round-trip travel from Orlando to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport the following month.

Given the circumstances, I thought I could contact Allegiant, explain the facts and request a refund.

A representative was quick to “parrot back” to me the Allegiant refund policy, which I had already grown very familiar with.

When I told him I could not believe Allegiant could be so uncaring and insensitive, he told me he would submit my request for assistance for management review.

While $349 may seem like a small amount of money, it puts us further down the road from paying off real obligations.

Only Allegiant has met my request for assistance with barriers to receiving a reasonable and just resolution.

When a passenger dies, the industry-standard policy is to refund a ticket to the next of kin or to that person’s estate.

[...] a closer look at Allegiant’s terms and conditions suggests that it might not follow that standard.

The airline doesn’t address the death of a passenger, but it takes a hard line on passengers who have a death in the family, saying that you can get a refund only if it’s within 24 hours of purchase (that’s a federal law) but otherwise are stuck with your ticket.

While it may be true that this policy can “keep our fares low for all passengers” and allows Allegiant to “stay competitive,” it also sticks passengers with a bill for a ticket they’ll never use and unjustly enriches Allegiant’s investors.

[...] adding the penalty fees to the point where you were getting only $49 back was incredibly insensitive.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine.