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Original poster

Flight Reimbursement

21 replies

catmam · 03/10/2019 20:48

My friend's daughter plus two friends were in USA for a few days. On the plane home one of the girls admitted having a headache so captain put them all off the plane and told her to get a doctor's note to say she was ok to fly home. This is what we are being told back home anyway! Long story short they had to stay in a hotel plus pay £250 or $250 each to get a different flight home later on. The thing is their insurance expired at midnight. How would one go about getting reimbursed?

OP posts:
AlwaysCheddar · 04/10/2019 06:21

Do you really think the captain took someone off a plane for a headache???

TanteRose · 04/10/2019 06:26

Haha yes they probably missed their flight and didn't want to tell you Wink
You might have to cough up the penalty for changing the flight

smugmug · 04/10/2019 06:38

Probably too drunk to fly or missed the flight , they are spinning you a line , and to stay in a hotel ? Why not just hang around the airport to save on money if they didn't have any

Back to the original "headache" causing them to be turned off the flight this would have happened at a time the insurance was valid so they should be able to claim

OLP2019 · 04/10/2019 07:13

Ha ha total bollocks I'm afraid ! The captain wouldn't even bother ! I'm intrigued by the real story

Apolloanddaphne · 04/10/2019 07:15

I would be asking them for the real story. No captain ever put someone off a plane for merely having a headache. They either missed their flight or were drunk and/or lairy when they boarded it.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 04/10/2019 08:46

I also think you have been spun a tall tale here. I would also question the fact that their travel insurance expired at midnight too.

SJane48S · 04/10/2019 08:48

Sounds extremely unlikely! Did the girl with the headache get a doctors note?? I don’t think any of them stand any kind of chance of getting any kind of reimbursement! Can you imagine the reaction of an insurance company to a claim that a perfectly fit customer was ordered off a plane as her friend had a headache?!

Original poster
catmam · 04/10/2019 11:25

@AlwaysCheddar @TanteRose @smugmug @OLP2019 @Apolloanddaphne @AttilaTheMeerkat @SJane48S

Seven replies and not one of them is helpful! Yes of course we realise there are probably 3 or 4 different versions of the one story. Yes of course they were dehydrated from drinking (hence headache/being unwell). Yes of course they probably still smelt of booze or had gone straight from pub to airport. They've been in contact with airline who've been very helpful and going to sort it out. Thankfully it's not my problem.

OP posts:
AnchorDownDeepBreath · 04/10/2019 11:28

The thing is their insurance expired at midnight. How would one go about getting reimbursed?

Sadly, it's unlikely that you will. The airline will investigate but it's a condition of flying that you must be in a fit state to fly, and although the Captain won't have seen the girls personally to make the decision, if a member of his crew decided that they seemed unfit to fly, your insurance would step in and pay the costs.

If the insurance company were notified of the issue before it expired at midnight, they may still have some liability for the costs that extend after it expired, although that does get complex.

Best of luck getting it sorted.

tweedledeedo · 04/10/2019 11:54

Or didn't make it to the airport at all. Since when does the captain chat to passengers about headaches?!

Original poster
catmam · 04/10/2019 12:10

@AnchorDownDeepBreath thanks for advice. My friend rang me in a panic yesterday as she was worried about her daughter (who is on epilepsy medication) and was stranded at the airport on the other side of the Atlantic. I came on here hoping someone else had had a similar experience. I'll now leave it up to my friend and her daughter to sort out with insurance/airline.

OP posts:
Original poster
catmam · 04/10/2019 12:14

@tweedledeedo Yes I know they actually did make it to the airport, checked in and boarded the plane successfully. You weren't on the plane. I wasn't on the plane. I'm only going by what my friend (one of the mums) told me when naturally she was worried as it was the middle of the night over there and rang me to see if I knew what the next steps would be

OP posts:
BuzzShitbagBobbly · 04/10/2019 12:23

You may not think them helpful replies OP, but they are probably relevant and accurate.

Captains are very busy in the preflight period. They delegate authority to the several ranks of cabin crew and pursers, and only when that has been exhausted (or if someone is so rowdy they need to be offloaded) does the captain make the final call.

On that basis I think its a hard financial lesson to learn for the people involved. They made their beds...

Bouffalant · 04/10/2019 12:26

There is no way they were removed from the aircraft over a headache.

If they were removed because they were drunk, or if they were removed because one of them was being actively ill from drinking then they will not get reimbursed. They are adults, if they were removed due to their own actions or behaviour why should they be reimbursed?

tweedledeedo · 04/10/2019 12:27

No, I wasn't on the plane but the story your friend has been spun is so far fetched that it's reasonable to assume it's total rubbish

Apolloanddaphne · 04/10/2019 12:35

So did she have a headache or was she taken off to receive medical treatment as she had a seizure? The second scenario would make so much more sense.

Original poster
catmam · 04/10/2019 13:20

As I've said previously I'll now leave it to friend and her daughter to sort out between themselves.

* CASE CLOSED *

OP posts:
AlwaysCheddar · 04/10/2019 16:45

If it was a genuine illness then insurance would cover it. But it wasn’t!!

Bouffalant · 04/10/2019 17:05

It sounds like OP certainly hasn't got the full story.

Rivkka · 04/10/2019 23:47

I'd love to know what really happened!

Hope they are all home safe now.

ElleEmDee · 06/10/2019 10:17

Assuming the story is real, definitely worth checking the insurance. I’m a travel agent and the policy we sell covers you til you get home, regardless of the policy expiry date, if the reason for the delay was an insurable event (ie illness etc) But they would probably need proof by way of doctor ,letter etc

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