NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Mike Ramsey’s annual trip with his daughter took them to Los Angeles this year, but getting there wasn’t so easy.
The good news is the Bentonville man decided a few years ago that it’s smart to buy trip insurance just in case something goes wrong.
Guess what? It did.
He paid $1,431 to Expedia to fly May 23 and come home May 26. Three nights in a snazzy Westin hotel were part of the package.
Trouble is, the flight from Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport to Houston was canceled due to weather, and so was the next flight out that night.
The Ramseys spent the first night in Arkansas and flew to Los Angeles the next day.
To Ramsey’s thinking, he’s entitled to be reimbursed for a night at the Westin plus one fourth of his flight’s cost. He thinks a $358 refund is fair.
BerkelyCare, a company selling trip insurance on Expedia’s website, told Ramsey he must get information from the airline to prove the flight was canceled.
The Guru got involved last week.
“The burden is on the customer to provide that proof,” BerkelyCare’s Donna Kennedy told The Guru.
The Guru suspects fear of a newspaper column about trip insurance caused Kennedy to make an exception. On her own, she confirmed the May 23 flights were canceled. She agreed Ramsey should be paid for the first Westin night, up to a maximum of $100 per night per person but not more than Expedia paid for the room.
She didn’t know last week how much that would be, and she didn’t say when the company would send the money.
Kennedy disagreed with Ramsey’s $358 figure.
After all, the airline did get the Ramseys to LA, she said.
The Guru’s view is that Ramsey is right in thinking there should be something refunded for being a day late. What if, hypothetically, the flight hadn’t left XNA until May 25, just a day before the May 26 return to Arkansas?
Any sensible person would agree that would be ridiculous and a horrible trip. Yet BerkelyCare’s argument would be that the Ramseys made the flight, so “mission accomplished.”
BerkelyCare, which was paid about $100 for the insurance, has a policy that says it will pay for delays of 12 hours or more “up to the amount shown in the schedule for unused land or water travel arrangements, less any refund paid or payable and reasonable additional expenses incurred by you for hotel accommodations, meals, telephone calls and economy transportation to catch up to your trip, or to return home.” The Guru has no clue what that means.
Bottom line: The Ramseys deserve more than the Westin money. A day late was significant. Here’s hoping BerkelyCare does right by the Ramseys, but The Guru fears a bad outcome.
Robert J. Smith’s column about people on the move in Northwest Arkansas appears each Monday. He can be reached at [email protected].
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 07/04/2011