Airline levies death tax
Fees have become common for airlines but questions are being raised about a $75 “death fee.”
That’s what California resident Jane Wilkens says Hawaiian Airlines essentially charged her for canceling a three-person trip after one of the passengers -– Wilkens’ mother -– died prior to the planned journey.
Ms Wilkens tells the Los Angeles Times she was able to cancel her $600 resort hotel suite reservation with no problems.
But she says she got a different response when she contacted Hawaiian, on which she had originally booked three first class tickets to Hawaii for a total of $4,287. Like Delta, Hawaiian requested a death certificate.
But Paul Whitaker, Hawaiian Air’s ‘resolution coordinator, said the airline would refund each of the three first-class tickets but would deduct a $75 ‘service fee’ per ticket, or $225.” Mr Whitaker said Hawaiian agreed the death was “an uncontrollable event” but that it still believed its fees were “fair and reasonable.”
Lazarus contacted Hawaiian spokesman Keoni Wagner, who described the fee “as a refund fee for processing the refund.” He explained that “there’s administration involved — paperwork, computer entries. The processing of the refund takes staff time that costs the company money.”
Still, there was a happy ending for Wilkens–- at least as far as the fees are concerned. Since she used an American Express card for the purchase, she decided to contest the charge with the credit card company, which refunded the $225 to her account.
As for the airline: “We dropped the ball on this,’ said the airline’s spokesman. ‘It’s a blunder that we regret.”’
Report by David Wilkening
David
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