A woman who was traveling to Minnesota to visit her dying mother had missed her flight after a ticket mix-up with United Airlines and her traveling agency, Traveler Help Desk. Netizens are now slamming the airline once again for not showing compassion after the woman’s mother died while she was taking the road trip from Colorado Springs to Minnesota in hopes of still reaching the old lady before she took her last breath.
On January 16, Carrol Amrich received a call from her sister that their mother Dixie Hanson has been hospitalized. Because she had no money to buy the plane ticket, she requested her landlord Ines Prelas to cover for her, something that the latter readily did in light of the situation.
The plane fare for the next day was cheaper, so Ines bought a United Airlines ticket for Carrol at $585 via the Traveler Help Desk.
But Carrol would soon receive a call that her mom’s condition had worsened and that she might not last through the night. So, Ines immediately called United Airlines to rebook the flight to that day, thinking it would be faster to do it directly. She told the agent she had booked the flight via a travel agency but was assured there would be no problems.
Ines paid the extra $75 for the rebooked flight and immediately drove Carrol to the airport.
Carrol had no problems checking in and going through the boarding gate but a minute after she was seated on the plane, an agent arrived to tell her the ticket was void and she must disembark.
She tried to plead with the flight crew of United Airlines to let her fly because she had to visit her dying mom but her cries had fallen on deaf ears. Ines offered to pay for the flight again but the agents at the boarding gate said there was no more time to do it; though the airline later claimed the plane had already left when the landlord made that offer.
A devastated Carrol decided to drive to Minnesota as fast as she could, not even stopping for bathroom breaks but halfway through the trip, her mother died.
“We had no way of knowing this was a change by Ms. Amrich directly with the carrier. We voided the ticket to protect Ms. Amrich. I am just so sorry for Ms. Amrich’s loss. It is tragic. I understand it was unfortunate the ticket ended up voided. Had she contacted us directly to make the change, this all would have been avoided,” said Traveler Help Desk supervisor Carolyn Gallant.
It was sad that the mix-up had led to this sad situation…