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Allegiant policy didn’t fly with couple
YOUNGSTOWN
Sometimes it pays to dig in your heels and fight when you think you are right.
The Lowes – Joseph and Teresa of Youngstown – had a beef with Allegiant Air over the airline’s bereavement-ticket refund policy.
They wanted their money back – $645.68 – for a flight booked to Florida to visit Joseph’s mother, who was dying of cancer.
Their flight was scheduled for 5 p.m. April 23, but his mother, Patricia Manger, an Ashtabula native, died about 1:30 a.m. that day.
Because his mother was to be brought back to Ohio for burial April 27 in Dorset Cemetery, there was no need to go to Florida.
On Friday, they got their wish. Allegiant said it would refund their money in lieu of the credit voucher previously offered.
An Allegiant customer-relations representative said in an email to The Vindicator that Allegiant had reviewed the Lowes’ case, granted an exception to the airline’s bereavement policy and agreed to refund the price of the tickets.
The disagreement “seems to be just a misunderstanding,” and the Allegiant spokesman said a refund was issued to the Lowes.
“I’m definitely glad Allegiant had a change of heart. We can use the money to catch up on some bills,” Mrs. Lowe said.
But getting the refund did not come without a fight.
The morning of Joseph Lowe’s mother’s death, the couple went to the Allegiant Air counter at the Youngstown Warren Regional Airport to explain the reason for canceling their flight and to request a refund.
“We were informed by the ticket agent that Allegiant Air does not have a bereavement policy. The ticket agent contacted corporate offices on our behalf to explain the situation. I faxed all the documents they asked for within a week after the funeral,” Mrs. Lowe said.
On Aug. 6, they received Allegiant’s decision: They were issued a credit voucher to be used for travel in the next year.
“We did not need the flight and we could not sell the voucher to recoup our losses, as you need be present with ID to pick up tickets,” Mrs. Lowe said.
“For me, it seemed a callous blow to my husband and his family. He had already lost so much; his mother, hours at work, and now the nearly $700 we spent on a flight we did not take,” said Mrs. Lowe.
The Lowes moved to Youngstown after Joseph, who grew up in Ashtabula, got his degree from the New Castle School of Trades and went to work as a mechanic at Valley Industrial Trucks. Mrs. Lowe is a night-shift supervisor at Perkins restaurant in Boardman. They have four children, age 10 through 17.
“My husband is a hardworking, honest man. He is not one to make waves. He just keeps his head down and provides a comfortable life for us and our four children,” Mrs. Lowe said.
The Allegiant customer service representative said that though the airline’s normal cancellation policy states that for an air-only flight, one must cancel prior to 24 hours of departure time; otherwise, it is a forfeiture of funds.
However, he said Allegiant does offer customers the right to send in a request for exception to this policy to the company’s customer-relations department.