Child's emergency near takeoff time voids rebooking despite 'Flex' airfare

A family from Fergus, Ont., had a vacation dream dashed after a medical emergency and now they're warning others to pay close attention to the differences between flexible tickets and travel insurance.

Mark and Nicole Ruzycki and their two children were at the airport early in the morning on May 22, set to celebrate their daughter's 8th birthday in Cuba. But about an hour before boarding, 3-year-old Jake developed a rash.

Airport paramedics recommended they not fly and instead, go right to the hospital.

"This has never happened to us, it was quite the scare," Mark Ruzycki said.

The doctor at the Toronto-area hospital where they first went said it appeared to be a virus and sent them home. On the way home, Jake's conditioned worsened and his face swelled up. They went to the emergency facility at the Fergus hospital, where doctors determined it was an allergic reaction.

It's unclear what Jake reacted to and he has recovered, but the family missed their flight.

When Ruzycki tried to rebook their flight, Air Transat said they couldn't rebook without further payment.

Credit offered

Ruzycki says the family paid $5,000 for the trip, including $59 per ticket for Option Flex through Air Transat. Option Flex allows people to change their flight up to three hours before the scheduled departure.

Because Jake had to go to the hospital less than three hours before takeoff, Air Transat has said the family cannot rebook without payment and will not get a full refund.

"When you book your dream vacation, you want to make sure you enjoy the ultimate level of flexibility should something unexpected happen. Option Flex lets you," the airline states on its web page.

Air Transat has offered the family a $2,000 travel voucher, which is equivalent to the tax and fuel surcharge from their unused tickets.

The website also notes, "Option Flex allows travellers to change their departure date, destination or hotel up to three hours before departure, or to transfer their vacation package to a family member or friend up to 30 days before departure. They can also cancel their trip and obtain a full refund." A footnote explains that the three-hour notice period also applies to cancellations.

Not insurance

The airline declined an interview request with CBC but in a statement said it's "important to distinguish" between travel insurance and the Option Flex service.

"Option Flex is not a travel insurance and does not replace such insurance coverage, both of which should be purchased prior to departure," Air Transat's marketing director of social media and public relations Debbie Cabana told CBC in an email.

"The purchase of travel insurance could have prevented these customers from losing the value of their package."

They did not purchase travel insurance, Ruzycki said, because they didn't expect they'd have to cancel for any reason and if something were to happen, they'd just want to rebook the trip.

'Feels for the passengers'

Ruzycki said his wife worked part time to pay for the trip.

"My wife was in tears," he said. "Every penny she saved for this has gone down the toilet."

The family says it's considering taking the $2,000 travel voucher so they don't lose all their money.

Gábor Lukács, founder and co-ordinator of Air Passengers Rights, says he "feels for the passengers."

But unless an illness happens while on board the flight or is caused by the airline, it's not the airline's responsibility. He said the airline is within its rights in this case.

Lukács also said this kind of situation would not fall under the new airline passenger bill of rights recently introduced by the federal government. Lukács has been critical of the new bill of rights, saying it favours the private interests of airlines over legitimate concerns of travellers.

'It just breaks your heart'

The Ruzycki family took a smaller vacation to Collingwood to celebrate their daughter's birthday.

Ruzycki says his daughter was upset about not going to Cuba, but she understood the situation.

"We keep saying, 'Look honey, we will go another time. But right now we have to concentrate on your brother's health," he said.

"But even our boy, now that he's getting better, he goes, 'So are we going to go on a plane now?'" he said. "It's hard. It just breaks your heart."

Ruzycki says he hopes Air Transat will change its mind and allow them to rebook their tickets rather than giving them money back.

"We just want to go on our family vacation that our kids and my wife were just so ecstatic to go on," he said.