Expert: Matthew Smith - 2/4/2009

Question
we missed our flight due to bad weather there was traffic on the way to the airport, when we arrived by check in we were told that to be booked on the next flight we have to pay $100 for each ticket me and my wife and six children, i had no other choice but to pay it!
is there any way to get back the money?
why may the airline delay there flight due to bad weather?

Thank you

Answer
I'm afraid that you will not be able to get your money back.

I hate to say it, but it's really your fault.  You should have accounted for the bad weather and given yourself extra time.  I'm originally from a rural area where the airport was an hour away and the route was all country roads through farm land.  We would leave about three hours before our flight because we never knew if the road was going to be plowed, or if it was going to be foggy, or any number of things that were out of our control.  The only way for us to get control of our destiny in this case, was to assume the worst, plan ahead, and make sure we gave ourselves enough time to make it through the fog, snow, rain, or livestock crossing the road (no kidding!).

On the other hand, I do feel sorry for you that you had to pay so much money to the airline.  Sometimes those fees are out of the CSR's hands, and the computer won't let the CSR over-ride the system and waive the fees.  In other cases, a CSR may be able to waive a fee or give a voucher, but the customer was so rude that any incentive the CSR had to be helpful disappears.  (I see this all the time at my airport.)

You may want to write a letter to the airline's customer service.  Accept the responsibility for being late, but suggest that with a family your size, the $100 per ticket change fee was excessive and ask if there's anything they can do to help ease the burden.  The worst that can happen is thye will send you a letter apologizing for the inconvenience, yet stand by their policy.  But you never know, they may throw you a bone and give you a voucher for a free drink or headset for your next flight, or maybe even $100 off your next flight.  Try it.  Can't hurt.